Cadillac mountain

the highest mountain on acadia is mount cadillac, with its elevation of 1528 feet (470 m). having climbed mount washington (1912 m), we denominated ourselves mountain climbing professionals ;) being able to do any other mountain in the area. we choose a trail, but as parking was very limited, we were forced to start on another trail, a difficult one. steep it was. and tiring. and difficult at times, but... now we were professionals, so no complaining! at the end it became rock climbing again, but the trail was better marked than at mount washington, and less difficult. except at one point, where i really couldnt get myself up; tim had to help me. luckily 2 ladies watching me, said it was because i do not have real hiking boots, whereas tim does... :) by then, tim yet again was carrying my bag. stupid as i am, i again walked up a mountain with a real lady-shoulder-bag; absolutely useless when you try to climb some rocks (yes, i promise, i will use a backpack next time!). it was hot, it was tiring, i was sweaty, and i could only think of this; there are no showers at the campground (repeat 100 times), yegh.... but it was very pretty, although it became a little foggy, just at the moment we reached the summit. this time we did walk down; in total it took us about 4 hours (whereas mt washington was 5,5 hrs just one way!)

so, this mountain used to be called green mountain (green it was), but in 1918 it was renamed cadillac mountain, after mister cadillac (the cars were also named after him), a french explorer and weirdo, if you read wikipedia. apparently, this mountain sees the sun first of the entire usa. but only during fall and winter, so i dont quite understand why seeing "the nation's first sunrise" is a popular activity among visitors of acadia. 

here on flickr a few more pics.

Two amateurs

we took advantage of labor day weekend (an extra day off on monday), to go to acadia national park, in maine. after having seen photos of it from several friends, i was determined to go there as well. it is an island, approximately 6 hours away from boston by car. as this might well be one of the last warm weekends of the year, and just for the fun of it, we decided to go camping! we bought a cheap tent (60% discount) and off we went....

above is on the island, just before the campground. we had to stop to take in the beauty (as many other people did as well) and.... the mosquitoes. the person above is not waving to me, but trying to get rid of the enormous amount of mosquitoes. just before nightfall we were at the campground and managed to get the tent up before it was entirely dark. very dark. the campground was in a forest, and there was no light, but from the restrooms. luckily we had brought some flashlights! (although i had almost forgotten them). looking at the other campers, we were clearly amateurs, lacking fancy headlights, special outfits, airbeds and wood to build a fire. yup, an airbed might have been a better idea than our guestmattress; the ground was full of stones.... buuuhhh. and.... there were no showers. obsessed as i am with washing my hair, that was quite.... unpleasant. :) but we managed, and did not even go to the coin-op showers that were a 5-minute drive away.

but! it was great!! it was beautiful there, and the weather was perfect too. not too hot, not too cold, no rain, just thousands of mosquitos... and camping was fun too. we can, perhaps, do it again. only for a few days at a time though! however, we will always remain amateurs (even though i practiced quite a bit as a kid, with my parents; i realize now that it is quite different as an adult.. ) more photos later!