The weather this morning was making us a bit nervous… so much so that I started searching for “things to do indoors in Bar Harbor.” But thank the good Lord, “rainy” in Bar Harbor should be called “misting” because that’s what it did most of the day. We were headed out for a hike this morning with a couple of stipulations: not more than 4-5 miles; not too hard; not too high; and include swimming. Thankfully, the AllTrails app lets you set all kinds of perimeters, and after a bit of searching while the boys slept this morning, we were all set to tackle the Beech Cliff Ladder and Canada Cliff Loop. After a bit of a hiccup at the hotel breakfast, we grabbed some breakfast bars and packed our bags for the day.

Today’s hike took us to the southwest side of Acadia. It is much less crowded on this side of the park, and it seemed like there was a mandate for all the houses to be white. If we ever come back, we would stay in Southwest Harbor area. There are so many fewer people and traffic, and the town looks like a movie set.

We were able to drive in pretty quickly, park and check out Echo Lake Beach before we hit the trail.

AllTrails suggested we go counterclockwise on the trail, and I am so glad we did. It started off easy enough (famous last words), with a gently slope upwards, and then the stairs/rocks started. We followed the blue marks all the way up. The first 3/4 of the trail feel like they are straight up, on rocks and ladders! Not sure we (read I) could have done this on the backend of the trail.

We did pretty well with the climb. Granted, the boys were WAY faster than Mike and I, but we all made it. to the top. It was pretty creepy up on top because we couldn’t see anything with this fog! But still surreal to have a sandwich and just sit inside a cloud.

Mom’s Cafe now serving in the clouds 🤣

We laughed at our top of the climb picture… with the fog, we could literally be anywhere 😂

We headed back down the Canada Cliffs Trails. Again, just following the blue marks.

Have mercy, they still find sticks to be light sabers and guns ♥️😊

My friend, Amy, always has a Snickers on the trail, and this is my trail reward ♥️ Don’t worry, I drank almost 32 ounces of water on the way up 🤪

The Canada Falls Trail reminded us of Endor (where the Ewoks from Return of the Jedi), Muir Woods (with smaller trees) and the woods from the Hunger Games.

WE DID IT! It was only 2 miles but 492 feet of elevation with crazy fog and humidity made it feel much further!

Boys decided to cool off in Echo Lake. At first, they were just up to their feet… then they agreed to both go under. Michael backed out after Leo went under (I’m not sure how long the little brother is going to fall for that), but eventually peer pressure won out and they were both in. It was cold (Although not as cold as the beach yesterday or the Kennepac River from white water rafting). After a while, they were just numb so it didn’t really matter so why not swim all the way out to the bouys?

Again, it was a creepy with the fog – this time it looked like the set of Twilight! The video doesn’t show it well, but there were just waves of mist and fog rolling in.

We decided to drive all the way along the south end of the park, and then the western side but a collaped sea wall had other plans.

A bit of remapping later, and we were back on our way to the Bass Harbor Light House (at the Southern tip) We waited our turn to park (thankfully a old woman drove by every car to tell them they were just waiting to park 🤦🏻‍♀️), and then hopped out to see the lighthouse. The Bass Harbor Lighthouse was built in 1858 and automated in 1974. There is still a coastguard family residing here today. (Ya know how I know this? A plaque!)

Back in the car, we finished our trip all the way around Acadia. This fog is crazy but it has decreased the crowd a bit, so there’s a give and take. We made our way back to hotel to shower and get ready to head to Cadillac Mountain and dinner. Cadillac Mountain has gotten so popular that the park service now requires timed entry. The sunrise and sunset passes are released in waves starting 6 weeks ahead of time, and then 2 days ahead. We weren’t able to get sunrise or sunset passes but we did have a pass for 6:30 this evening… but again, THIS FOG was crazy.

We may be at Cadillac Mountain in these pictures or we may be on the rocks in front of the hotel? (We are at Cadillac Mountain, but how can you tell!?!?!) I will say I sure am glad we didn’t have sunrise tickets, wake up at 4:30a, and then not see a thing other than fog! We decided to just make the best of it, and decided it will be a fun story 😊

We descended out of the fog and headed back into Bar Harbor for dinner. Tonight we tried Paddy’s, an Irish Pub, and the boys were thrilled that they were showing the CopaAmerica games (soccer). I love watching soccer with them because they can explain why something is good or bad, beyond just scoring and blocking shots.

After dinner, the boys hit the gym, and Mike and I hit the laundry room one more… this time we used the game while we waited.

The trip I took to Bar Harbor was one of my favorite trips with my parents, and I think this may be true for the boys too. We’re hoping tomorrow we get a little sun so they can actually the coastline at least once before we head to Massachusetts 🤞🏼