Great Head, Northeast Harbor, Flying Mountain
Another chilly night and another fire to get the day started! A quick trip to Toddy Pond’s edge yielded some pretty views of the yellow morning sunlight over the solid blue water. The air was crisp. The breeze was soft. It’s sad to see it go. We had to pack up as this was our last day. Stoke that fire just a bit more before a big breakfast. The camp was so cozy it was hard to depart. Perhaps a return next summer?
We took the short trip back to Acadia in hopes of a nice hike under the glistening sun. We were not disappointed! We started off at Sand Beach and hightailed it into the woods on the eastern end of the beach. There’s a little field of rocks at the beginning of Great Head Trail that, once traversed, leads upward onto the cliff. A little zigzag here and a mini scramble there and we hit the upper rim of the cliffside. The views here were astounding. The water was a mix between cerulean blues and teal greens but whitened where it hit the rocks far below. The sea ebbed and flowed into cracks and crevices slowly eroding the 500 million year old exposed bedrock. After stopping numerous times to stop and gaze we continued on. There is a little summit with cairns littered about. Eventually the trail loops around and brings you back to Sand Beach.
After Great Head we set out and followed Park Loop Road until we hit Champlain Road. We took that through Seal Harbor, then slightly north into Asticou, then a quick turn south into Northeast Harbor. Everything we passed was super cozy looking but Northeast Harbor was really quaint, cute, and welcoming. We found a good spot right on the marina next to the harbor master’s office and busted out our sandwiches. The sun was warm and it felt great. It was good to refuel and take a break before we set off on our last hike.
You can think of Northeast Harbor as a little peninsula that sticks out southward with the harbor on the east side. On the west side is Somes Sound, and that extends farther north than the harbor. We high tailed it around the sound and headed back south, past Echo Lake, and right to Flying Mountain, located on the western side of Somes Sound. The woods were pretty this late in the day and the views from atop of the sound were spectacular. There’s nothing like being at a high elevation and looking down over sun strewn hilltops and waterways. Simply beautiful. The trails extend pretty far north but we just hiked to Valley Cove and took a wide gravel path back to the lot. Valley Cove may have been the most serene view of the trip. What a great way to round everything out. Overall our excursion was a success!
