Acadia National Park, Mount Desert Island and start of the trip back towards South

View from Sargent Mountain towards south

We visited Acadia NP already in August but Acadia is divided into two different areas Schoodic Peninsula and Mount Desert Island and now it was time for the Island.

We stayed in Seawall Campground in the south tip of the island and cause of the island is quite big we rented a car so I can get to the trails with Rhona and we get to tour the island better.

Ian rode his bike all around the island and had epic time. Truly he knows all the places much better than me as sees so much more on the bike. He rode up Cadillac mountain that is the highest mountain on the eastern seaboard (if you want to drive up you need timed vehicle reservation from mid May to Mid Oct). It’s hugely popular destination and as the island gets over 4 million tourists during the summer… it is crowded!!

I use All Trails App to find hiking trails and keep me on the trail in the forest. They have scale from easy/moderate/hard trails… and found out that if you go for the hard ones… there are no people on them!! AWESOME!!! So we headed once again to the hard trails with Rhona and Kaya when we arrived to the island and did 3 mile hike close to Echo lake and loved it. The kids were off leash, as there was no one around!!

Carter Nubble peak

Next day Kaya had a rest day and we headed to a five peak trail with Rhona. As it was Saturday and we did see little more people out on the trails but as it was hard trail.. again.. there were not many hikers!

Sargent Mountain.. and.. Rhona found a lizard!!!

Did some epic climbing and downhill running. Rhona had time of her life and I survived… ha! We summited 4 out of the 5 peaks.

The next day was a recovery day.. for the family… we drove around the Park Loop Road that is 27 miles scenic road around the east side of the island. We got to see the sights and eat some local favorites.

Looking east

The must combo to eat in Maine.. Lobster Roll and mussels.. so good!

We had 4 nights in Seawall Campground and had great time “dry camping”. We were parked on the section where we were allow to run a generator at certain times, and we had our solar panels so we did not miss out on any comforts.. There were nights that the generator hour in the evening was stupid loud but … it’s a price to pay for cheap camping in National Park.

We had great time over all in Acadia. It was definitely a bonus to be there” outside of the season” as one can imagine what it can be during the summer months. We had beautiful 70F (21C) days and nights were not that cold ether. We left on the 30th of September and island tourism was still in full swing.

With kinda heavy hearts we are starting our trip back south on the 1st of October. We will stop in Salisbury beach (just north of Boston) for two nights then close to Allentown in Pennsylvania for 2 nights on our way to next destination the we really want to see.. Shenandoah National Park in West Virginia

We stayed in Salisbury Beach State Park campground. As the season was over the dogs were allowed on the beaches (after 15th September ) and we did some good runs with Rhona on the beach and Kaya got her swims in. In the Mass State Parks the State residents get cheap deal to stay in the campgrounds so .. there were some doggier campers than we are used to in last 6 months but all was fine!

This is me as well…. darn princess… we been so lucky to be able to be away from masses of people for so long time that I have just forgotten that not everyone of us are so lucky to be able to get away from humans and the dirt that we bring along.

Kids hiking next to our campsite in Niantic, Connecticut

The drive around NY was.. hairy … traffic is very aggressive and fast.. the roads are “a lot not to desire for” , we had a bumpy ride far around New York City and got ourselves safely to Pennsylvania … we did visit 4 States during our 4 h drive though… ha ha. Always thought that LA was aggressive and fast on the motorways but… noooo… NY got the price on this one!

Ian got us a campspot on Blue Rocks family campground. Not necessary cause of “the family aspect” but cause it’s really close to epic hiking and bunch of covered bridges for Ian’s bike ride.

Rhona’s 4th birthday hike in Lenhartsville PA. Early start in our standards as it’s over 85F during the day… uhh.. it’s 5th of October?!?

Tomorrow we are heading to Shenandoah National Park in West Virginia… getting back into dry camping and quiet forest surroundings…