South Ridge.......

7:05 am - Tuesday - August 21st - Southwest Harbor, ME - 56º F, 94% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the northeast.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 66º F.....we are running our heater this morning for the first time in over a month!

Our first hike (May 30th) in Acadia National Park was the North Ridge trail to Cadillac Mountain.  We had resolved immediately after that first hike to hike the South Ridge trail at a later date.  Our reason for choosing the North Ridge trail for our first hike was its round trip distance of 4.4 miles, while the North Ridge trail was 7.0 miles round trip.  Well, that 'later date' came Monday.  While the North Ridge trail was rated as a 'Moderate' trail, the South Ridge trail was rated as 'Strenuous'.....uh oh!  We thought the North Ridge trail was very strenuous, so what is the South Ridge going to be like?

As it turns out we found the South Ridge trail to be much easier than the North Ridge trail in spite of it being 2.6 miles longer.  The gradient was much more favorable 98% of the time than the North Ridge trail.......

I know the sign post is almost impossible to read because of the shadows, but it says it is 3.5 miles to Cadillac Mountain

.....and while it began with the all too familiar granite staircase, there was actually very little of that over the course of the trail......

 The ubiquitous beginning of the South Ridge trail, and most trails here in Acadia National Park for that matter.

.....within half an hour we had covered 1 mile......just 2.5 to go.  After that first mile we finally came to a place where we could see the ocean, and for the rest of the hike the ocean was in sight.....

 For most of the remaining 2.5 miles we had the ocean in view

.....we were totally surprised at how the miles melted away under our steady upward pace......

.......we had been on the trail just 90 minutes when we came to this (above) sign indicating there was just 1/2 mile remaining to the top, which we reached in just another 10 minutes.....

 Once above tree line we were walking on nothing but granite....there were frequent rock cairns to keep us on the correct path

.....we arrived at the summit of Cadillac Mountain for the 4th time this summer around 1:40 pm.  We had begun the hike in partly cloudy conditions, but by the time we made the summit there were very few clouds remaining.....

 The summit of Cadillac Mountain for the 4th time this summer

 Without the rock cairns to mark the trail you would be lost in no time

....we spent about 15 minutes at the summit cooling down and snacking on Power Bars before we began the return trek to Highway 3 and our car.....  

.....in all we covered 7.1 miles (we walked around the top a little, of course) in 3 hours and 17 minutes of actual 'moving time' (total elapsed time was close to 4 hours) averaging just over 2 mph for the entire hike.  We had total elevation gain of 1,600', and burned 1,278 caloric units......

......this was one of the most relaxing, enjoyable hikes we have done in Acadia National Park, and if you had time for just one hike we would highly recommend this trail.  The final 2.5 miles to the summit, as well as the first 2.5 miles going down (five miles total) give you continuous, spectacular panoramic views of the the ocean, and surrounding islands.

Once we reached the car and had stowed our gear in the hatch I turned to TLE and asked "What's next?".......I could see by the glint in her eyes that she was thinking Atlantic Brewing was 'next', and that is where we headed.  Once again, in spite of the heavy tourist traffic in Bar Harbor we found a two hour parking spot right across the street from Atlantic Brewing.  For the first time since we began visiting this location we sat upstairs, outside, on the roof.  On our prior visits it was always cold, sometimes misting, or windy.....not at all conducive to alfresco dinning.......

.....we ordered a couple of appetizers to accompany our brews (a pint of Lil' Guy IPA for moi, and 'Something Dark' Porter for TLE)......tacos for me, and a quesadilla for TLE.  As always, the food was exceptional, and the brews just as good.....the alfresco dining was the final perfect touch!

We sat at the table under the second umbrella going from right to left

We were one our way home a little after 4 pm, arriving back at the Newell by 4:30 with big smiles on our faces.  We both agree that hiking several times a week, as we are now doing now,  is increasing our fitness rapidly.  Of course the much cooler temperatures, and lower humidity levels contribute significantly to how we feel after any hike, and they were perfect on Monday!

After I showered I walked over to Tony's house and spent about an hour chatting with he and Janet.....after all it was Monday, and what would any Monday be like without spending time with Tony?  We are blessed to have Tony and Janet as friends, and very blessed to be staying on their property.  They are so gracious and welcoming that we are beginning to feel like part of the family.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which helps defer the costs of producing this blog each day.