Built To Roam: Acadia National Park: Mt. Penobscot

Our first and longest hike in Acadia National Park was a loop from the Jordan Pond House up to the top of Mt. Penobscot, with a slight detour to Sargent pond for a swim. Since we got to Acadia late Friday night we weren't able to see the beauty of the park until we woke up on Saturday and headed in to hike up Mt. Penobscot. Acadia has a weird system for paying to enter the park, while you can drive into some areas without paying, if you get on the one way road that circles the park you are forced to go through the entrance gate and pay the fee (Which we didn't even end up doing till Sunday evening).
We started out the hike from the Jordan Pond House, first making our way through droves of hungry car hikers waiting in line for the breakfast place. There was literally over 100 people waiting to eat breakfast, apparently their Maine blueberry's were better than the billion other places around. After the zombies were behind us we headed up the trail, slow at first and then more steep, until we broke treeline and made a scramble for the summit of Penobscot. The views on the way up were the first ones we had experienced in Acadia and they did not disappoint.The summit afforded 360° views of the Atlantic, the island of Mount Desert, and inland Maine, friggen awesome if I do say so myself. After eating lunch with bumble bee's and tuna we headed on a side trip to Sargent Pond to go for a swim. We had originally planned to hike Sargent Mountain also, but opted for swimming instead. At this point in the hike we got stuck behind a woman in maybe her late 40's hiking with the most annoying adopted kid in the history of the god damn world. After 30mins of hearing the word mother (pronounced mudda) we finally made it to the pond and Mike and I proceeded to drown her. We didn't really. After changing we dove in and it was completely nice, like something out of a commercial with a fun. song as the soundtrack. After swimming for a bit we got out and toweled off and headed back to the top of Penobscot to take the Penobscot Mountain Trail down to the base and back to the Jordan Pond House to complete the loop. This turned out to be a great first hike in Acadia which raised our expectations for the rest of the trip which were inevitably met and surpassed in the days to come. Some other noteworthy stops we made in Acadia included: Thunder Hole, Otter Cliffs, Bar Harbor, and some horseshit lighthouse 45 minutes out of our way. All and all it was an excellent trip and I'm already planning my next jaunt there which will hopefully be sooner rather than later. Go to Acadia, Go to any National Park, they are the best idea this country has ever had, Ken Burns knew that, I know that, you should know that too.

P.S. Lost my National Parks Pass. Lesson for the day: Drinking and responsibility don't always go hand and hand.

Mileage: 4 Miles