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

Deerz.

Jordan Pond.

Acadia Cairn.

Mike contemplating.

Directions.

Bumble Bee's Tuna.

Sargent Pond.

Hike on.

Little bridge guy.

Mike without swimmies.

Sunrise, Cadillac Mountain

Getting up at 4:30 am is a lot easier when it's to see something as awesome as the first sunrise to touch American soil, and while in Acadia N.P. I was able to do just that. In the fall and spring months Acadia's Cadillac mountain holds the title for being the first place in the United States to see sunrise. After waking up before the crack of dawn and driving to the top of Cadillac Mountain using the auto road, cheating I know but I was not in the mood to hike 4 miles before sunrise, We parked the car and found a spot on the summit to sit and enjoy the show. The weather was perfect and the low lying clouds shrouded Bar Harbor and most of the bay in a thick layer of fog that we were fortunately above. At first there wasn't many people but by the time sunrise was starting hundreds of people lined the top of the mountain to get a view. If you go to Acadia, I would highly suggest getting your ass out of bed and watching the sunrise, it was a completely awesome experience. And for the first time in my life, after heading into Bar harbor, I had to wait for a breakfast place to open instead of getting there after they close like I normally do.
And finally my attempt at wisdom, no laughing.

"Wander on as though you were meant to, as if your feet were not meant to stay put in any given place for too much time as to get used to it. Put on your boots and head down the trail that takes you to somewhere new, somewhere different, some place unlike any you have been before, and hopefully, just hopefully you will discover a part of yourself you’ve never known before. Carry the spirit of wanderlust in you throughout your life and seek out as much as our short time here will allow, because when that final bright day comes it is better to have tired feet and bones than a broken spirit and a lost sense of adventure." 

Once again thanks for following along!

Video Series: Cadillac Mountain time lapse sunrise

Mileage: Not enough to count.

Bar Harbor in the fog.

Bar Harbor fog covered.

Pre Dawn.

Momomomo8989898.

Thrilled.

Sun Come Up.

Sunrise Flowers.

Lahvas.

Awesome.

Rolling Fog.

From a plane window?

Dream Team.

Over the Horizon.

Acadia National Park - Precipice Trail

One of the best privileges of the time and place that we live in is having the opportunity to pack up the car and head in any given direction to some place that is completely new and different to us than the daily routines we have gotten so used to, it's what countless films and novels are written about from "Road Trip" and "Tommy Boy" to "On the Road" and "A Walk in the Woods" and it's something that everyone reading this has done at least once in some form and can look back on with good memories. And if you have never done this...yolo bro. This past weekend I had the opportunity to pack up said car, in this case a Ford Escape, courtesy of Meredith Auto and head north to Acadia National Park for a weekend filled with camping, hiking and exploring. Along with my goal to reach 100 miles hiked this year (which I may have reached, pending official tally) I have been trying to visit as many National Parks as I can, Acadia being the fifth. For some reason I have not yet been to Acadia NP and I had been tossing the idea to head up there around in my head for quite sometime, and as with all of my trips I wanted, scratched that, needed to convince some people to come experience the park with me. After proposing the idea to a number of people I was able to get two of my friends, Mike and Sarah to come along. We headed out on Friday evening around five, which anyone who lives in the Boston area can tell you, is the best time to try to get anywhere. After 6 1/2 hours of enduring traffic and fighting off Popeye's induced comas we arrived at Mount Desert Campground, which I might add was very nice, great campsites, good camp store and most importantly good bathrooms because after all, everybody poops. Save for some assholes ripping around the campground at 1230am blaring "Hell's Bells" it was a good stay, but to be fair I'm sure our neighbors didn't enjoy my "indoor" voice at 1am while I drunkenly peaced out 6 smores like Joey Chestnut. But enough about all that, I promised a hike, which this time comes in the form of the Precipice Trail, Acadia's most dangerous, most badass hike/climb/suicide mission up the face of Champlain Mountain. Now I won't hype it up to much because I know there are a lot more dangerous things one could do with a Saturday afternoon, but a simple Google search will yield obituaries and yelp reviews about crying at the top. So of course the best time to climb up said trail would be while it's heavily raining out, and if my last post tells you anything about my decision making as of late, this is what we did. Now in our defense, a bunch of other people did it too, and we even jumped off the same bridge as them afterwards. And since I'm about as much of an expert as anybody in a Jackass episode I'll spare the disclaimer and encourage you to go to Acadia and try out this hike. But you don't have to take my word for it because, in a new addition to the Wanderlust blog, I've GoPro'ed the hike and you can watch the video HERE. The hike up was not so bad at first, but an uphill climb turned into a series of metal bar ladders, which then turned into uncomfortably spaced handholds on ledges that would make even Alex Honnold think twice about his next move. This Vertical Limit-esque type of climbing gave way to a final, slightly inclined, easy hike to the summit of Mount Champlain that afforded awesome views of Acadia, Frenchman Bay, and the Atlantic Ocean. After taking some pictures, the heavy rain forced us to make our way down the easier, but still slip-n-slide like, north face of the mountain. The trail back wasn't much less nerve racking and there were a few moments, including one where Mike definitely saw a fast motion montage of his life flash before his eyes which, for his mom's sake, I won't go into detail about. But as with all hikes before this one, we made it safely back to the car and spent the rest of the day exploring some of the other sights Acadia had to offer. So if you've learned anything from this post, besides the fact that I do dumb things, I hope it's that even if the weather is crappy, you can still go out for a hike and have an experience you won't forget. Too Cheesy? Well then I hope it's that if you get drunk while camping and house a bakers dozen of smores, make sure you choose a campground with a good bathroom for the morning after. Cheers!

Mileage:  3 Miles

Watch the Video here: Precipice Trail

Triumphant.

Cruisin'

Ladder section.

Perfectly Safe Trail.

Even downhill had to be dangerous.

Just ignore these.

One of the caves.

Operation Pelican: Crane Beach

So this past weekend Mike, Patrick and I headed to Ipswich, MA to go for a hike at Crane Beach. For those of you who don't know, Crane Beach is part of the Crane Estate which may or may not be owned by Bruce Wayne. So this whole place is managed by "The Trustees of Reservations" who I'm sure at any given board meeting look like this. They have multiple nature reservations across Massachusetts, Crane beach being one of them. The reservation encompasses 1,234 acres and in addition to having a pretty well maintained beach that runs the entire coast of the peninsula, also has 5.5 miles of nature trails, and our destination for this trip; Choate Island. 
So as a bit of back story, Choate Island is where the majority of the 1996 film, "The Crucible" was shot. It contains several building that date back to the 1700's and is the cite of choate cemetery, which houses a bunch of really dead people. 
We arrived at the entrance around 2pm only to find out that it was $25 to enter, which all complaining aside, is probably worth it when you could be paying that much just for a parking spot at any nearby beach. After parking the car we headed up to the information kiosk to find out what the cost/departure times of the ferry ride to Choate island were, only to be greeted by two of the biggest morons ever allowed into The Trustees of Reservations. If you work at a place that has a beach and a ferry to an island, don't you think you could find it within your ability to know about these two things? After having an aneurism at the mere utter of the word ferry as if it was the first they had ever herd of this mythical water machine of the future, they responded with, "There is no ferry. You guys can't get onto island." Challenge Accepted. Operation Pelican consisted of a two mile hike to the inlet that separated the island from the peninsula, a half mile hike along the end of the marsh, Stashing of our dry gear in a shitty $.50 poncho, Transfer of cameras and shirts to a dry bag wrapped in a life vest code named: water baby, a short trek out on the sandbar and a few hundred yards swim across a boat channel to the island where we promptly lubed each other up with sunscreen, all while two boats filled with sunbathers anchored in the inlet 50 yards from us watched intently for the 45 minutes trying to figure out, I can only presume, what the fuck we were doing. So after getting all set we headed on the gravel road up to a large barn. After exploring for a bit, we realized it was getting late and that the tide was coming in so we decided not to walk barefoot on jagged rocks for another mile up to the old houses and graveyard and instead headed back to the channel in order to swim across. So every good outdoorsmen and survival expert with half a brain knows that the worst idea is to swim across an ocean channel while the tide is coming in, especially if that channel is in a boat lane and you have nothing to distinguish yourself from the water around you. Unfortunately we didn't quite have that half of brain requirement and dove into the water and started swimming across the channel, which was now at least a quarter-mile wide. I would like to note at this point that my largest concern was that we carry the two sip left gatorate bottle back across the channel in order to chug it at completion "Is it in you" style, so thank Mike for risking your life to allow me to have that victory sip. So after almost getting hit by 2 boats, being asked if we were ok by a number of other watercraft, almost drowning to ensure water baby's head did not go underwater, and loosing sight of Mike, we made it safetly across the channel only a half a mile down current from where we started. After miraculously locating our gear, Patrick shredded the ultra protective two for a dollar coating and we set off Vietnam style in what was now 4 feet of water that had once been the half mile beach trail we took to get there. We got back to shore and impressed the shit out of an old man who asked us what we were doing then dried off and repacked our bags and headed back the remaining two miles of the dune loop to our cars. The trail system inside the park is completely awesome, I would say the best i've hiked on in the north shore area and I would recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind hiking that long in sand. Also it's worth noting that we saw no one else hiking the trails the entire time we were there. The $25 entrance fee is fully worth it for the dune hike alone, not to mention atmosphere, beach, and any half stupid plans you can come up with while your there. Oh and if the dude from the Information Kiosk is reading this, we got to that island bro. Mission Accomplished.

Mileage: Didn't use the boots!

Moon Dune.

Barn.

Inside of the Barn.

Choate Island.

Dune hike.

Hike Guy.

Mission Successful.

Hiking in the Wooded section.

Some folks were born to wear the flag.

Operation Pelican.

Dune Protection.

Hiking back.

View of the ocean from the dune trail.

Acadia National Park

Hey guys, I know I haven't updated in awhile due to August being the busiest weekend month of the year. A lot has happened since my last post, made some hard decisions, sent my brother off to boot camp, started getting some work for my photography business, among other things contributing to why I haven't had a chance to get out and hike lately. BUT all that is going to change soon as I will being going to Acadia National Park for Slaybor Day weekend. So don't fret, which I'm sure your not, for there will be plenty of fresh blog posts written with the English skills of a Lolcat coming to you soon. Oh and on a side note I went on a hike a few months ago to Mt. Holyoke in, you guessed it, Hadley MA. Everybody knows the Holyoke Mall is the only thing located in Holyoke. Anyways I went on this hike a few weeks before Utah in order to help break in my friends boots and prepare for the trip. I don't really have to much to write about this hike, but there was a great view of the Pioneer Valley from the top. It is possible to drive to the top of the mountain and there is a Summit House located at the peak. Also it's worth noting you can traverse the length of the Holyoke range including the seven sisters from Mt. Holyoke by following the M + M trail, which makes for one of the better, more challenging hikes in the Pioneer Valley. So yeah, more updates to come!

Mileage: 3.5 miles

Seek The Peak: Wanderlust's 1st Anniversary

Last Saturday, July 21 marked the one year anniversary of Wanderlust. Over the past year I have written and photographed over thirty hikes, logging a total of one hundred and four miles (also a few hikes that haven't been posted yet). I am excited to continue writing this blog and I'm grateful for all the support I've received over the past year, whether it be through reading along, complements and encouragement, and especially to all of the people who have come with me and agreed to my crazy, semi dangerous, and sometimes last minute plans. If it wasn't for you I wouldn't be able to write this blog or experience the places I've hiked to, so thank you. And please, please continue to let me drag you on trips. Special shout out to Nicole, Mark and Mike M. for being the top three hikers in that order, thanks guys!

Seek the Peak

In order to celebrate the one year anniversary of Wanderlust I decided to participate in the Mount Washington Observatory's yearly Hike-a-Thon to raise money for the non-profit organization. Basically the goal is to have people sponsor your hike to the top of Mount Washington where the observatory is located, by donating money which will go to benefit the organization. An individual is required to raise a minimum of $200 to participate in the event, and i'm excited to say that in the 7 days I spent fundraising, a total of $285 was raised, so huuuuuuge thank you to everyone who donated to help me reach this goal. My final total, and donors names can be found here, and more information on the observatory and the Hike-a-Thon can be found here. Also a big thanks to Mark for agreeing to hike with me, and even though he did complain and threaten to kill me more than a dozen times, I was glad to have him along.

We headed up to New Hampshire on Friday night during rush hour traffic which was one of the best decisions I've made in a wile. We pulled into the campsite in Shelburne, NH at around 10 pm and started setting up camp. After a short side trip to get Subway which resulted in us getting locked out of the campground until a half cocked dude let us in, we headed to bed to get some sleep before the big hike. At 6,288 feet, Mount Washington is the tallest mountain in the Northeastern United States and is home to some of the world's worst weather. We started up the mountain at 8:30am intending to take the Lion's Head Trail up to the summit and Tukerman's Ravine Trail on the way down. Seek the Peak doesn't require a set time or specific route to take up the mountain, just that you hike (or attempt to hike) to the top and back down again, and hopefully finish by 4pm in order to attend the after party and dinner. We powered up most of the mountain by around 11, with just the final Head Wall to go. Hiking at this point was on loose rock piled on top of more loose ass rock and my legs started to hate me making the pace slow down considerably. Usually when you are struggling up the side of a mountain, or maybe it's just for me, it seems like everyone who passes you is either a skipping eight year old kid or a smiling old man, which of course makes me beyond pleased. But I sucked it up and made the final push for the summit around 11:30 only to be greeted by a parking lot full of jorts and sandle wearing sons of bitches running around like a scene from a Richard Scarry show. Mount Washington is an unusual summit due to the amount of development located on the peak and the multple ways of transportation up the mountain, and while this does take away from the solitude and gratification that usually accompanies summiting a mountain, it's still a great experience and the views are world class. After eating lunch and and stealing some shitty cookies from the Mount Washington Observatory tour we headed back down the mountain, taking the Tukerman's Ravine trail this time. Tuckerman's ravine Trail heads down exactly that, a ravine, and it was nothing short of steep and brutal on the knees. on the way down we met a 39 year old dude who was hiking Mt. Washington four times in one day in celebration of his 40th birthday, which is completely insane considering it took me (a pretty alrightly in shape 26 year old) 7 1/2 hours to do it once. Four miles down the side of a steep mountain is way longer than you would expect when every step destroys your legs just a little bit more. By the time our limping bodies had made it back to the parking lot that dude had passed us a total of 3 seperate times, and as if that wasn't embarassing enough, when I went to shake his hand on one of his pass by's I tripped and he said "Careful there guy, wouldn't want you to get hurt.". I'm a moron. But we finished just shy of four o'clock and headed over to the after party to check out the vendor tents, get some swag and eat a giant meal. After filling a bag and my stomach full of stuff I didn't need, we sat back and "enjoyed" the band and prize drawings. It was at this point when our tiredness and soreness culminated into a 10 minute laughing fit over an older dude with a Santa like beard who, western grip or not, couldn't get a wooden fence stake out of the ground, and screamed "Fucken!". Needless to say, hilarious. We got in the car and headed home around 7:30 pm, finishing off a great weekend. Thanks again to everyone who donated, I completely appreciate it. I'm gonna need someone to hike it with me next year because I sure as hell don't think I can convince Mark to do it with me again. Cheers.

Mileage: 9 Miles

Ridgeline.



Waterfall.

Refusing to wait in line to get a picture at the summit.

Weather Tower.

Lake of the Clouds.

Mount Washington Observatory.

Dominant.

Sponsor Tents.

After Party.