Day 46: Exploring and Eating

Now that we are all caught up on sleep again, we were ready for another day of adventure. We headed over to the west, much less crowded side of the park, starting with the Beech Cliff Ladder trail. This hike required a very steep climb over large rocks, even including iron ladders. The warmer weather and our tired bodies from so many hiking days in a row made this a tougher one.

We found a woodpecker friend right next to the trail. None of us had ever been so close to one before.

After the hike we headed to Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse to wrap up a quick visit to this side of the island.

The final stop of the day was to the secret Anemone Cave, which some fellow bus riders told us about on our first day in the park. It used to be on official Acadia maps, but around 1970 they removed it due to being too slippery and dangerous and to reduce visitation. It’s another visit you have to time right, as it’s only reachable during low tide. The first other group we saw included someone walking back with a bloody knee, so we were on high alert for slipperiness. We made it safely to the cave and explored the tidepools inside before heading back. It was a cool experience that felt even more exciting since it was a bit of a secret trail.

Our list of hikes and activities is now complete. The only thing we didn’t get to was kayaking, but we have some more lake stops coming up.

Rob had a whole list of New England seafood he wanted to have while here, and this being our last day he got them all at once as an afternoon “snack”: steamed clams (“steamers”), clam chowder, and a lobster roll. He did share.