One of the interesting aspects of Acadia National Park is the access provided to the wilderness areas through hiking and carriage trails. Over 125 miles of hiking trails cross the parklands.
There are two mountain peaks located on the western side of Somes Sound, Acadia and St. Sauveur. Both provide opportunities to take a walk in the unspoiled Maine woods, as described by Thoreau 150 years ago.
A quick ride south on the Island Explorer bus leads to the trailheads for both mountains. The quarried granite steps, connecting the roadway to the trails, shows the painstaking efforts that have been invested in developing the trails. Most of the trails are untouched wilderness, but in areas difficult to pass or climb, granite has been placed to make footing a bit more secure.
St. Sauveur trail was selected for the first hike since it was rated as "moderate." Acadia National Park trails are rated as to difficulty - easy, moderate, severe, ladders. Some of the hike was an easy walk in the Maine woods.
Other areas were rocky and did involve some climbing. The blue trail blaze can be seen on the rock in the center. Such blazes are the foundation of the phrase, "Where in the blue blazes are you?"
The untouched nature displays a large variety of plant life, changing with the areas, soils, and altitude.
The soil layer on Mount Desert Island is thin, and often nonexistent. Some of the trail crosses bare rock along sheer cliffs.
Among the rewards of hiking the St. Sauveur trail were the vistas afforded along Somes Sound. This image captures the view north toward Somes Harbor.
The view south provides glimpses of the smaller islands to the south of Mount Desert Island.
While Acadia Mountain is only a few feet higher, the trail ascending the mountain is much steeper. This trail is rated severe by the park service.
The creek which descends down the side of Acadia Mountain has an important maritime history.
Schooners visiting Mount Desert would pull up next to the mountain and fill their water tanks with the stream water cascading off the side. The water remains deep right up to the edge of the mountain.
The Acadia Mountain trail had even more overviews than St. Sauveur.
