Kebo Mtn.

We left the cottage at 10:03, 55* and mostly cloudy and drove past the parking area again, hoping to score a space for the Cadillac North Ridge Trail but it appears we are not meant to hike that one this year.  We proceeded with Plan B again, Kebo Mtn.  Although my list of hikes completed has this checked off, neither of us remember it...at all...and there are no notes about the hike, which is very unusual for me.  I said maybe it was before my OCD completely took over ;o)

I think we found the last parking space in the Sieur de Monts Springs parking lot!  WooHoo ;o)  We headed out around 10:40, took the Hemlock Trail to the Kebo Mtn Trail to the summit. 

Hemlock Trail

An early trail marker "Strath Eden Path"

However...this was the completely, totally wrong way to go!  We got off the trail a couple of times but thankfully Bill found his way back without too much difficulty.  It had poured rain last night and it was very obvious that it did some damage to the trails.  We should have reached the top from the other side!  Also thankfully, the summit is only 407'.

The guidebook touts "great 360* views".  Here's the best one I could find.

If you look super, duper close you might see the ocean.

The way down, which should have been the way up, we did see some Showy Mountain Ash

and some peeks of the Kebo Valley Club, the 8th oldest golf club in the nation.

This section of the trail was recently reworked and was pretty easy on our legs.

Once we found our way down, we were still unsure which way to return to the car but Magellan figured out a way, although it turned out to be the long way!  

We ended up on the Great Meadow Loop, the Hemlock Road and the Jesup Path.  There was evidence of some early color along the Hemlock Road.

Admittedly, the Jesup Path is one of my favorites.  It's a nice boardwalk with benches located along the way.  We stopped and had lunch here but were a little disappointed that we didn't see any wildlife and it was very quiet...no birds, no frogs, no nothin'.

The View at Lunch

The ferns were beautiful!

Overall, it was an easy hike, even though we totally screwed it up.

We planned to go to the Asticou Inn for more popovers but it was too early so we headed to Northeast Harbor to walk around and kill some time.

It's a cute little town with a small Main Street and a large harbor, although there are a lot of places to visit on the town map.

We wandered into a couple of stores but didn't see anything we absolutely needed to have.  I did, however, want a cold beverage and we ended up in the 123 Main Street.  A small, clean "grab 'n' go" establishment with fresh sandwiches made daily, lots of yummy pastries (many gluten free) and cold drinks.  Since we were still planning on popovers and tea, we ordered lemonades.  

They were very good, not too tart and not too sweet.  We were siting on the available couch, just chilaxin and the owner brought us a palmier, saying she couldn't watch us sit there without something sweet and we should try this French pastry.  Well...it was delicious!  A very light sweet pastry and easily divided, although we both could have eaten the entire thing alone.

Very sly sales technique on her part because it was so good, we bought two to take with us.

By the time we left, we decided we didn't need to go for popovers, so we headed home.  But first, we searched out a "hidden gem" that I saw posted on a FB page I follow called I Love Bar Harbor Maine.

As it turns out, it isn't far from where we stay.  It's a small lake at the very fringe of Acadia, called Lake Wood.

We walked down a short hill from the small parking lot and voilá, there it was.  Funny thing...there were two women along the shore who turned out to be sisters.  They grew up in Bar Harbor, their father had been a summer park ranger for years and neither one of them was aware of this lake.  It had a nice beach and one of the sisters has a neighbor that says he swims here all the time.  This will be beautiful when the foliage is peak and the sky is blue.

We sat in chairs by the shore and read for awhile and I visited with Wendy.  It's totally different when the tide is out and is going to be one of the perfect places to spend my everafter.

Bill grilled chicken early and we went to Hadley Point to watch the sunset.  There was a large cloud bank along the horizon and we thought it would be a wasted trip, but we were very surprised.  The sunset was spectacular.

These were from my cell phone but Bill took better ones with the "real" camera.  

(insert sunset photos here)

We ate dinner when we got home, I took a shower and we watched the season openers of the Chicago shows.

Thanks for stopping by...
:o)