Most people who know me would probably describe me as “indoorsy”. You know, the opposite of the adrenaline-junkie, adventure-loving, vegan outdoorsy crowd. The ones who wear their puffy Marmot coats and Keen sandals and stuff all their favorite belongings into a backpack the size of Rhode Island, then go hike up and down mountains for days on end. That’s not me. It’s safe to say I’m not too fond of outdoor adventures… or people, places, or things (other animals) related to being outside. In an ideal world, I would stay within a half-mile radius of my home at all times where I’ve scouted out all the trees, memorized all the scents, and identified all the neighborhood dogs. Somewhere like Beacon Hill, where a nap is always just a short walk away. #BaconHill
Following this logic, you can imagine I don’t do much traveling unless I have no other choice (except for that whole move from Ohio to Boston thing, which we can all agree was a little traumatic). I only make one exception to my Stay Home Policy – to visit my grandparents in Illinois and Missouri – where I am greatly rewarded with delicious bacon treats and belly rubs. But outside of these trips, I’m just a regular homebody.
So you can imagine the look on my face last month when my parents told me we were going on a road trip…
Excuse me, this is NOT Beacon Hill.
To ACADIA NATIONAL PARK.
Not sure how I ended up here, but I must admit this scenic view makes me look pretty good. #kingofthemountain
Look friends, going on this trip was definitely not my idea, but it turns out Acadia is just a short 5-hour drive away from Boston. Or as I like to think of it… a nap + lunch + another nap… and suddenly, we were driving past the park entrance sign. Acadia is located in Down East Maine, right on the rocky coast of the Atlantic Ocean. And since I only go to the coolest places in New England, Acadia is the first national park east of the Mississippi River. Not too shabby. This year also happens to be the centennial celebration of the National Park Service. So pretty historic.
Acadia National Park takes up a large portion of an island called Mount Desert Island and includes nearly 50,000 acres of mountains, dramatic ocean shoreline, woods and lakes. For the record, there is no way in hell I’m walking 50,000 acres, so consider this the abbreviated tour.
Once we reached the park, our first order of business was to drive up the winding Summit Road to Cadillac Mountain to see the sunset.
Pro Tip: The best way to summit a mountain is to be carried.
At 1530 feet about sea level, Cadillac Mountain is the highest point along the North Atlantic seaboard and due to it's eastern location and height, the first place to view the sunrise in the entire United States. If you're willing to wake up that early, which I'm definitely not, but unfortunately my crazy parents had other plans.
Sunrise view from Cadillac Mountain. Not pictured: Bacon, sleeping in the car.
Based on the beauty and location, there’s no wonder Acadia National Park is a popular destination for Leafers. Turns out “leafer” is a slang term used across New England to refer to those pesky “leaf peepers” or tourists who drive too slowly through scenic Northeastern towns in autumn with their windows down, poking their heads out to view the fall foliage. Native New Englanders are not too keen on the leafers, which you may already know if you watch Family Guy since the show did an entire episode on the topic. Since our trip to Acadia was in late October and the leaves were just changing into glorious yellows and reds, the park was swarming with leafers. My parents included, so embarrassing.
The next morning, we started our adventure around the island. Our first stop was Sand Beach.
As you can see, our first trip to Sand Beach was a little gloomy. Lots of fog and rain and mist. Perfect napping conditions if you ask me, which my parents obviously did not. Since the waves were about 5 times as tall as me, this is as close as I was willing to get to the water. But I think you get the idea. A few days later, we went back to have another look when the weather cleared up.
Pay no attention to the sweater. It was cold and desperate times call for desperate measures.
After Sand Beach, my parents insisted we hike along the Ocean Path to see the dramatic jagged shoreline. This trail may be considered "easy" but I am definitely counting this as a legit hike. Just look how brave I was, practically walking on the EDGE of the cliff. #YOLO
Here I am dancing with danger
Further down the Ocean Path is a placed called Thunder Hole where the giant waves of the ocean crash against a small inlet in the rocky shoreline, making a loud thunderous roar. Some might say the sound is almost as scary as my bark. This section of the trail is rocky and slippery when wet, which is basically all the time, and the waves are unpredictable. So pups like me are not allowed to roam freely. But I think we can all agree that just being there makes me pretty brave.
More evidence of my impressive courage
Watching the waves crash in
The next stop on this Tour de Bacon took us along the Park Loop Road, winding around Mount Desert Island, to a place called Jordan Pond. The Jordan Pond House is a historic, full service restaurant known best for serving traditional afternoon tea and popovers. Sounds pretty fancy, eh? Since I had no idea what a popover was, I asked the kind ladies at the information desk, but quickly lost interest when I found out they contain zero bacon. So more popovers for the rest of you Leafers.
Here I am at Jordan Pond on a foggy, rainy day looking a little creepy if I do say so myself
They say the water at Jordan Pond is so clear you can see all the way to the bottom, which in some areas is 150 feet! You know how I feel about water, so I’ll take their word for it. But you can see the mountains in the background, named North (left) and South Bubbles (right). Believe it or not, I actually climbed all the way up to the top of South Bubbles to see Bubble Rock (a.k.a. Balanced Rock), a gigantic boulder perched precariously at the edge of the cliff, ready to fall at any second. #livingontheedge
After a few days of courage and adventure around Acadia National Park, we finally took a break and headed into the nearby town of Bar Harbor. I fell in love with Bar Harbor as soon as I saw this gigantic Lobstah eating an ice cream cone. #soulmate
The biggest #Lobstah I've ever seen
In between the town of Bar Harbor and Bar Island lies a giant sandbar, which is usually covered by water except for a small window of time at low tide. When the tide is low, the sandbar is uncovered and pups like me get to run around on what is essentially the bottom of the ocean – without having to go in any water! That's what I like to call a win-win situation.
Who needs to go scuba diving when you can just walk out onto the ocean floor? Not me.
Check out Bar Harbor in the distance... I've come so far.
And if walking across the entire sandbar wasn’t enough, my parents decided we would climb to the top of Bar Island too. For the record, that makes not just one, but two mountain summits for me, Bacon the Adventurer. But I must admit the views of Bar Harbor from the top of the island are pretty nice, even on a foggy day. And as I learned on this trip, the best part of hiking is always the climb back down.
After all this hard work and adventure, you can imagine I was one seriously hungry pup. Good thing there is an amazing store just for pups (and other pets) right in the center of Bar Harbor, cleverly named Bark Harbor. After three days of pretending to be outdoorsy, the least my parents could do is take me there to get some delicious treats.
Thanks to my new friend, Tom, at Bark Harbor, I walked out of that great store with not one, not two, but three homemade pup cookies just for me. One of my favorite New England treats, a Lobstah. The other two cookies were more political - a Democratic Donkey and a Republican Elephant - which I later used to predict the winner of the most anticipated, contentious U.S. Presidential Election of my lifetime. And let me tell you friends, the rest of the country may have been surprised by this year's election... but I had my paw on the pulse of the American voters and picked the winner before any votes were counted. (For video evidence, check out my post on Instagram @realbacontheboston and yes, I am available for future consulting.)
With four tired legs and a full belly, my first ever National Park adventure came to an end. I was skeptical of this trip at first, but in the end I guess you could say I did #FindMyPark exploring the mountains and coasts of Acadia.
But in the spirit of full disclosure, I must admit I enjoyed my five hour nap on the way home just a little bit more.
So long Leafers, see you next year.
- Bacon