Weird Weather

This was about the only sun we saw today. Mostly we looked into light fog. Light fog meaning you could sorta see but hard to identify what you looked at.

Nonetheless, Acadia is breathtaking, despite the fog and unbelievable crowds of people. We thought we encountered all of Americas, in Yosemite, last year. This year it seems everybody vacationing on the east coast is in Acadia. It doesn't help that Bar Harbor is a cruise ship stop. This little town of 6,000 gets hit everyday with passengers from huge ships. Today there are 2 ships docking for the day.

I didn't plan well because i didn't understand the crowds we'd encounter. There's several tours we're going to miss because they're booked to the end of the season. Another couple, from Texas, said they booked in April and had trouble getting reservations.

No I'm not complaining. There's such beauty and many quiet moments. I love being here. For years I wanted to see Acadia. I'm so thrilled to be here, nothing disappoints. 

MF, these pics are for you.

We spent 3 hrs on the 27 mile loop road, making many stops - easily hitting 6,000+ steps and climbing a jillion steps. By 2pm, we're ready for a break, heading back to town. 

Town was mobbed, sometimes i walked in the street. Easier to avoid cars than people. We popped in at Beer Harbor Beer works. I was in heaven, 32 local craft beers! I had blue berry cider and a lobster roll. PB visited with a cruise ship couple. The ship is coming from the UK - a month long cruise.

 We seem to run into the Rockefellers frequently. A big part of the Tetons was donated by them. Today we learned most of Acadia Park was donated by the family. I'm starting to question the policy of letting everyone come into the parks. It seems to me, much like Yosemite, the parks I'm seeing are slowly being destroyed. Too many people and too many cars. I'm not sure what the solution is. I know Yosemite has tried various coping methods the last 50 years. None successful. 

Tomorrow, I'm not the driver. Instead we're taking a 2.5 hr trolley ride. Thursday we're venturing into the far, undeveloped part of the park so I can see the Sweetgrass Meadows. There's a fairly ugly history of the park vs the Wabanaki. It's the same old story, seizures of Indigenous lands and denial of Indigenous access to those seized lands for decades. Only recently did the Wabanaki regain access. Interesting, when i questioned a park ranger about going to the meadows, she very definitely gave me wrong information. If I hadn't heard Dr Kimmerer's talk a few weeks ago and done my research, we'd miss the meadows.