A Little Altitude Adjustment on Cadillac Mountain
With our home safely parked and set up at our “summer home” in Trenton, Maine, it was time to get out and start exploring. First up - Acadia National Park. While we hope to be able to enjoy all the ins and outs of the park during our time here, we decided to venture out to one of the well-known attractions, Cadillac Mountain. Cadillac Mountain is located within Acadia National Park and rises to its summit at 1,530 feet. While that elevation pales in comparison to many mountains out west, it is the highest point in Hancock County, the tallest mountain in the park, and the tallest mountain on the eastern coast of the United States. Regardless of its height, you may have heard something else Cadillac Mountain is known for - the nation’s first sunrise. Visitors flock to the peak either by foot on a hiking path or by car on the 3.5 mile winding road to the top. While that wasn’t the reason for our visit today, we do plan to arise early a morning or two to catch the beauty of the sunrise from the mountain’s peak. The sun sure does rise early around here, meaning catching a sunrise on Cadillac Mountain means a 3 AM wake up call. Don’t fear we will post photos for you while you stay tucked in and cozy under the covers.
The drive to the summit is beautiful and thanks to our private driver, Annette, we could spend all our time soaking in the views as we made the ascent. We pulled over to enjoy the views from one of the lookouts before proceeding to the top of the mountain.
The mountain is composed largely of pink granite and is covered with pine trees, boulders, and even a few wild blueberries bushes. The panoramic views are magnificent and definitely would be a wonderful reward after a day of hiking to the summit. While we didn’t work hard in order to enjoy the view, we were just as eager to soak in the beauty. As we looked out in all directions, Russ and I said it did provide us with just the perspective we needed to figure out the lay of the land on Mount Desert Island. We were able to point out Eagle Lake, Cranberry Islands, Bar Island, the Porcupine Islands, Schoodic Pennisula, downtown Bar Harbor, and even the runway from the airport that is right next to our campground. On a perfectly clear day with a great pair of binoculars, you might even be able to spot Charlie!
After oohing & ahhing our way around the short (~1/4 mile) paved Cadillac Summit path and snapping some photos we bid farewell to the summit until next time. Enjoy these photos from our visit ….
