Taking a hike
A stunning view from the top of Cadillac Mountain. (Gareth Henderson Photo)
After no camping at all in 2020, we opted to break that pattern this weekend and head to Maine for our first family camping trip of the year. Mount Desert Island is home to many campgrounds dotting the Island’s edge, including the Oceanside KOA, where we stayed.
We headed to Bar Harbor in one of Maine's numerous "green" counties — meaning Vermont has given Hancock County the green color on its non-quarantine travel map, so we don’t have to quarantine upon the return trip.
As one does in Maine, we took full advantage of the outdoors. We met some friends for several enjoyable outdoor excursions — including a bike ride around Eagle Lake and a day hike up Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park. Between the autumn beauty of riding a bike with woods all around, and the incredible blending of scenery up the mountain, these were special places to behold.
I'm sure I haven't done this much hiking at once since my mid-teens, but it's well worth the experience of being surrounded by nature's harmonious beauty and its many expanses. The hike has some lovely forested sections going up, with some fun, half-hidden shaded spots where you could sit on a rock and write for a while. Eventually, forest blends with rock faces until the rock takes over. In one spot fairly high up, you dip down into a forested trail with a beautiful field off to the side — including a few more autumn colors. Then it's quickly back up the rock faces, over some more shaded trail, to the summit — where you can see the Maine coast and its numerous harbors. On the other side, the view is nothing but ocean. It was a moment of awe to see that majestic wall of blue meeting the sky, especially when, on the way back down, you can view it over the tops of pine trees. A Vermonter doesn't get to put those two things together in his writings, unless he's somewhere like Maine. To finish off our day, we headed to the Thirsty Whale for the lobster rolls and enjoyed a lovely late dinner overlooking the harbor.
Though the mountain and ocean scenes were beautifully inspiring, for me the most inspiring part was interacting with other hikers on Saturday, though these were mostly little more than friendly greetings. They were multiple moments of kindness, and those moments always do good things for you. One memorable moment later that night was when our car battery died just before heading out for lobster, and not one, but two, total strangers stepped forward to help get our car started.
During the Cadillac trek, everyone was wonderful and always ready to share a smile and sometimes a bit of humor. Mask-wearing was common along the trail, as was social distancing, very respectfully done. It appears many have become used to hiking in these unique times of change, but one thing hasn't changed: Our inclination toward being inclusive and kind to others. That was the best part of the weekend, and one I plan to take home with me.
— Gareth Henderson
