My goal for Wednesday afternoon was to climb another one of Acadia’s ‘major’ peaks, Champlain Mountain, and finish in time to roll around the island to Thunder Hole before high tide. So, after a quick lunch in Bar Harbor – lobster & Brie cheese panini (gosh, they put lobster in everything here) I drove out in hopes of a parking spot. Amazingly, this trailhead seems little visited, and I was soon striding along the rocky ridgeline toward this eastern-most peak. It was a relatively easy hike – unlike some of the brutally steep trails I’d encounter elsewhere in the park – and the views were broad and luscious.
I would like to have climbed this peak via the famous “Precipice Trail”, looping back via the Orange & Black Trail, but the former is closed to protect a nesting pair of peregrine falcons. (Indeed, I had earlier stopped by the trailhead parking area to scan the cliffs for any sign of a nest or falcon, but had no luck.) So today’s hike was an out-and-back.
See more photos in the photo gallery.
Hike stats:
Distance: 3.5km
Time: 1h18
Gain: 250m
David Kotz 