September 27, 2021
Day 119: Schoodic Beach to Trenton Outside Acadia NP
Last day on the DEST
“That mosquito is just waiting for us to get out of the tent,” Rachel says looking at the one lone mosquito flying on the other side of the tent mesh. We wonder how many more might be waiting for us this morning after the rain.
We pack up in a clear morning, the bugs are not bad as we had anticipated. Pushing our bikes back up the trail to the road also wasn’t as bad as we thought yesterday walking down in the rain. We cycle another mile and a half back to the Down East Sunrise Trail. We are between mile marker 17 and 16. The water that was standing on the trail yesterday has soaked in pretty good and we continue on through forests and marshes. Still no moose to be seen, but the trees continue to turn colors.
At mile marker 11, there is Franklin and a trading post, but we don’t stop. The trail surface is mostly hard packed with rocks, and occasionally soft wet sand, with still some puddles. When we are about 6 miles out from Ellsworth, the road surface greatly improves.
We have a second breakfast in Ellsworth, and shop for dinner and snacks at a Hanneford supermarket. On route 3 it’s another 8 miles to the campground in Trenton. When we are almost there, a car pulls over in front of us, and a woman shouts “Hi, it’s Kim.” Kim and Jim were our Warmshowers hosts in Carmel a week ago. She is planning to camp in Acadia and ride the carriage roads tomorrow. We reach the Narrows Too Campground and check in. We have a cabin booked for tonight and the next two nights. We are pleasantly surprised that there is a refrigerator and microwave. Patrick takes a shower in the toilet/shower building nearby. When Rachel goes, the building is closed for cleaning. It’s about 2 hours wait for a shower. While annoying, it is good to see they are taking COVID seriously here, and cleaning everything very well.
While Rachel is in the laundry building, another cyclist arrives in another cabin. This is Paul originally from Vermont, now living in Virginia. He joins us with his dinner, while we are eating our taco salad. We shared experiences riding the Northern Tier. He too experienced the “coal rolling” by drivers of trucks. Paul flies home tomorrow. We will stay here two days and go into Acadia National Park to ride the loop road.
We are pleased to have done most of the Down East Sunrise Trail. It is very doable for fully loaded bikes, only lower expectations on how fast to go. The trail is bumpy in parts, so by breaking up the distances and going off the trail to camp in some beautiful spots made the experience worthwhile.
| Heart | 1 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Today's ride: 28 miles (45 km)
Total: 4,577 miles (7,366 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 3 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |