Day 45: There’s a Four O’Clock in the Morning Now?

We woke up at 4 a.m. to start our day with the famous sunrise on Cadillac Mountain. This activity requires a ticket, which we secured 90 days ago when they became available [Rob note: Kelly is always all over this stuff]. We prepped the night before, so we just had to roll out of bed and head up the mountain–in the car, fortunately.

The views were spectacular at the top. There was low cloud cover, so the breathtaking sunrise experience didn’t really happen, but we did eventually see the sun, which was filtered through some haze from wildfire smoke.

All done at 6 a.m. so what to do but tackle one of the most popular hikes, Beehive Loop? This hike is reported to have lines like an amusement park if you don’t go early. This hike is fairly short (less than two miles), but the steep granite staircases, iron rungs, and exposed cliff faces make it extra exciting. Rob and Kelly set the bar a few years ago taking the kids on Angels Landing in Zion when they were 7 and 9, so now we assume they can tackle any hike.

Our traditional family hiking reward is a Tootsie Roll Pop, even at 7 a.m.

The parking lot for the hike is right by the appropriately-named Sand Beach, the only sandy beach in Acadia. Nicholas opted to read in the car, but the rest of us went for a quick stroll along the shoreline.

Before heading home we stopped for some donuts and coffee at Graffiti Donuts and then checked out some of the boats in the harbor (the kids are obsessed with yachts right now). We also made the obligatory national park sign photo stop.

It turns out the way you have a chill day in the RV is to wake up at 4 a.m. Kelly took a two-hour nap, but the others didn’t, so they were wiped all day. We hung around the RV, went to the pool, and did hot dogs and s’mores before calling it a night a little earlier than normal.