June 24, 1989
At Bar Harbor
Today was our scheduled rest stop, and we made fine use of it. We managed to collect many enjoyable moments without too much physical exertion. We awoke slowly in our hotel room, and then wandered down the street for breakfast. The room we had chosen was ideal - inexpensive, clean, lose to the shops. It was a treat to be able to begin the day without packing everything up. For breakfast, both added to our omelet collection. Mine was constructed from Swiss cheese and tomato, and Rachael's was smothered in chili sauce.
We spent most of the day in Acadia National Park. Leaving our equipment at the motel, we effortlessly pedaled a few miles to the visitor's enter and then on to the trailhead to Dorr Mountain. The one and a half mile hike to the peak was almost a climb - up steep granite staircases much of the way. It is a lovely trail with a primitive feeling whose character reminded me of the climb to Angel's Landing I made in Zion two summers back. Views along the entire length of the walk were spectacular of surrounding bays mountains and islands.
We remained at the summit for a long while - three or four hours perhaps - sunning ourselves, napping, reading, soaking up the view. It was thoroughly enjoyable. A highlight of the stay for me came when we were visited by a brazen herring gull who wished to share lunch with us. I enticed it to within ten feet with bagel crumbs (but not with grapes, which he found uninteresting). He made a lovely sight at close range, his feathers satiny and resplendent in the sun, occasionally riffling with the breeze.
We stayed there until late afternoon, after which we hiked down, enjoyed a leisurely ride back to town, and settled into a restaurant for chowder and dessert before returning to Acadia Hotel to collect our gear. It was nearing sundown before we left town for the campground where we planned to stay the night. It was several miles north of the ferry terminal on Highway 3. The ride was stressful and very unpleasant - much traffic, little or no shoulder, and diminishing daylight. We ended up wishing we had hidden in the national park for free, rather than pay twelve dollars for a hard patch of ground three miles away.
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