Et In Acadia Kebo
Together we climbed a mountain, called Kebo, whipped by wind and menaced by thunderstorms. The scrappy pines at the summit were wind-battered; they all grew to twenty feet tall, then stopped, and the branches at their tops were gnarled like claws.
It was not a large mountain. We'd arrived in Bar Harbor around 3PM, to find a gorgeous and oppressively large rental house waiting for us (my boss and his wife had made all the arrangements), with a jacuzzi and a bathroom mirror that opens into a window. Once we were settled and unpacked, it was 4PM, so we sought a simple hike to fill the time until dinner. It was just about exactly two miles, down the Gorge Path, across the Hemlock Trail, and up to the summit of Kebo, about 400 feet. I carried my bike GPS with me for the first time, and it worked like a charm: here is the map.
Dinner was at a new restaurant, Fathom, in the building that used to house one of our favorites, Maggie's. There were Siamese fighting fish in place of candles on the tables; I watched ours blow tiny bubbles, as though practicing his bubble nest for his future spouse. K and I split a halibut topped with fiddleheads and a perfectly tender crusted pork tenderloin, then returned home to eat some of the wild blueberry pie the neighbors had delivered.
Acadia in the off season is very quiet - we saw exactly zero people on the trail. It's nice to not be overswarmed by tourists, but there are some downsides, like the lack of wild berries and the fact that the free shuttle buses haven't started running yet. Peregrine falcons are nesting on several of the trails I was gearing up for, notably the Precipice Trail, which I was very excited to conquer before I learned it was closed for falconry. But I love this island so, and I am delighted to be back at our minimoon spot with my lovely wife. Time to open the map and plan some more hikes!
It was not a large mountain. We'd arrived in Bar Harbor around 3PM, to find a gorgeous and oppressively large rental house waiting for us (my boss and his wife had made all the arrangements), with a jacuzzi and a bathroom mirror that opens into a window. Once we were settled and unpacked, it was 4PM, so we sought a simple hike to fill the time until dinner. It was just about exactly two miles, down the Gorge Path, across the Hemlock Trail, and up to the summit of Kebo, about 400 feet. I carried my bike GPS with me for the first time, and it worked like a charm: here is the map.
Dinner was at a new restaurant, Fathom, in the building that used to house one of our favorites, Maggie's. There were Siamese fighting fish in place of candles on the tables; I watched ours blow tiny bubbles, as though practicing his bubble nest for his future spouse. K and I split a halibut topped with fiddleheads and a perfectly tender crusted pork tenderloin, then returned home to eat some of the wild blueberry pie the neighbors had delivered.
Acadia in the off season is very quiet - we saw exactly zero people on the trail. It's nice to not be overswarmed by tourists, but there are some downsides, like the lack of wild berries and the fact that the free shuttle buses haven't started running yet. Peregrine falcons are nesting on several of the trails I was gearing up for, notably the Precipice Trail, which I was very excited to conquer before I learned it was closed for falconry. But I love this island so, and I am delighted to be back at our minimoon spot with my lovely wife. Time to open the map and plan some more hikes!