Maine Trails and Sunset on Cadillac Mountain

On top of Flying Mountain

We are doing really good with our hikes so far in Maine, definitely getting in at least one good hike a day. On Monday, we got up early and had breakfast,  then decided to hike the Flying Mountain Trail off Fernald Point Road in Southwest Harbor.  A young guy who we met at the bar at Fiddler's Green on Sunday night recommended it as a not too strenuous hike with great views at the top of Flying Mountain. It's a steep climb but not too long, about a 1.4 mile loop, and it was a great trail to start with. From the top of the mountain we had great views of Somes Sound, Northeast Harbor, and Southwest Harbor.

So much green, firs and moss

From there, we drove into Acadia on the eastern side of the island and went to Jordan Pond. We were hungry so we stopped at the Jordan Pond House for their famous popovers and a cup of seafood chowder. We started sitting outside overlooking Jordan Pond, but the wind started blowing so hard and it seemed like a storm was coming in, and when the popovers started blowing away, we decided it was time to go inside. Oh well, we tried.

The popovers were pretty darn good

After we ate, we started walking the trail around Jordan Pond, thinking we would just walk for a half an hour or so. But about 15 minutes in, we both decided we were up for walking the entire trail around the Pond--about 3.4 miles. It was chilly and windy but surprisingly it felt great and it such a great trail. We did it when we were here 3 years ago, and it is a great mix of easy trail, major rocks you have to climb over, and wooden planks.

Yes, we climbed over those rocks

Jordan Pond

It was around 5:30 when we finished the trail around Jordan Pond, and I knew sunset was at 6:41 pm, so I talked Walt into driving up Cadillac Mountain so we could see the sunset. Cadillac Mountain is the highest point on the eastern seaboard, and is a very popular spot for sunrises and sunsets. I knew we would never get up at 5:30 am to get there for sunrise, so this was our chance. It was so cold and windy up there! People were bundled in sleeping bags waiting for the sun to set, and photographers were set up on the rocks with their tripods, waiting for the perfect shot. It's a pretty spectacular place. We were frozen by the time we left, so we went back to our cottage to warm up, and then walked into town and had a delicious dinner and some wine at Sips.

The Porcupine Islands are in the distance--don't they look like porcupines?

All the photographers getting ready for the big shot