Acadia National Park: Gorham Mountain Trail and The Bowl

Jack and I on top of Gorham Mountain

Tuesday I had tentative plans to climb Mt. Katahdin - which I have never done before.  It's a bucket list item that I hope to cross off next summer.  So with a day off from work and hiking plans fallen through, what was I to do?  Find another hike, of course!

I chose Acadia National Park because they are a dog-friendly park.  If I had followed through with Baxter State Park, I would not have been able to bring Jack with me.  When I got to Acadia, I was not sure what hike I would end up doing because they do not allow you to bring pets on every park trail.  A quick stop by the Visitor Center was all it took to figure out which hike to do.  The park officials were very helpful in answering my questions about the hike, how long it would typically take, and my dog's ability to complete the hike.  We settled on a loop that started at the foot of Gorham Mountain and traveled up and over the mountain with a quick hike up to The Bowl before heading back down to Sand Beach and the Ocean Path.  As I was coming back to the parking lot, I could hear people making comments like "I didn't realize dogs were allowed in the park."  Well yes, folks, they are!

There are some trails that you can take without actually going through the park gate, but this is not one of them.  Should you decide to try this hike, you will need to either pay a $20.00 access fee (good for 7 days access to the park) or you can pay a $40 access fee for a season pass if you plan on coming back again.  Both are available right at the park gate where they will also give you a complementary trail map.

To get to the beginning of the hike, take the Park Loop Road past Sand Beach and Thunder Hole.  The parking lot for this trail is clearly marked with signs.  In our case, the parking lot was full - but no worries!  A short drive past that parking lot there was another.  The loop that we hiked can be found here minus the quick hike up to The Bowl.  Without the added trip to The Bowl, the hike is approximately 3.5 miles at a moderate difficulty.  The trail is clearly marked with blue trail markings and cairns.

While it is a pet friendly hike, I'd like to make some recommendations when bringing your pet:

• I would not recommend taking any smaller dogs on this hike.  Jack is a 75lb dog, and he could easily navigate the climbing that was required.  I would not be surprised if any smaller dogs would need to be carried over part of the trails.
• Be sure to bring appropriate supplies including baggies to clean up after your pet, water/water bowl for your pet, and snacks for your pet.  Like any human hiker, dogs have needs, too!
• Do NOT bring your pet on this hike unless they are very good on a leash.  The trail can be very steep in places.  No hiker wants to tumble on their descent when their dog decides to pull on it's leash.
• Do NOT bring your pet on this hike if they are not good around other people and/or dogs.  This is a popular hiking trail for families with small children and pets.
• I would highly recommend alerting any hikers you may come upon with children of your presence before you get close.  No matter how friendly your dog is, some children have a fear of large dogs.  A simple "Is your son/daughter okay with dogs?" is much appreciated and gives you and other hikers a chance to scoot around each other in a comfortable manner.

Now - back to my hike! :)  This is the one photo that I got on my hike that day.  Unfortunately when I got to the actual summit of the mountain (about 525 feet), I was holding my phone in the same hand as Jack's leash when he decided to pull on it.  A < 3 foot drop later, and my phone was toast.  The photo above is courtesy of a very nice family that I met from NY.

From the Gorham Mountain Trail.

I took this at a little turn out just before reaching the summit where Jack and I stopped for a water break.  In the left of the picture you can see the coast over near Sand Beach.  There are spectacular views from this mountain, and I am very sad to have not gotten the opportunity to capture them.  But that gives me a reason to hike it again!

There were many people of all ages on the trail that day, and Jack and I stopped for a chat with quite a few families.  The family that took our photo at the top actually hiked most of the rest of the way down the mountain with us, and the little girl probably would have taken Jack home with her if she could! haha  We said goodbye at the start of The Bowl trail, as they were headed on their way directly to Sand Beach.

The Bowl is not a very long or difficult hike.  A map of the trail can be found here (minus The Beehive portion).  The "Advanced" difficulty rating you see when following the link is specifically for The Beehive which takes you up a cliff face with iron rungs set in to help you climb.  Jack's lack of opposable thumbs took that off our itinerary for the day ;)  I was surprised to find that The Bowl trail was made up of mostly steps that were set into the trail.  It was quite the flight of stairs to climb, but the view at the top was worth every one of them.

Looking across The Bowl.

Acadia National Park permits swimming only in certain areas of the park.  Lucky for us, The Bowl is one of them.  This is what makes it such a popular spot on a hot day.  Sand Beach is very busy during the summer months, as everyone wants to swim in the ocean.  While there were people here swimming yesterday, it was not over crowded.  As soon as Jack saw the water he was very anxious to jump in and cool off.  We made sure to make our way around to an area of the pond where there were no swimmers.  While the park has restrictions on taking your pet off a leash, I did sneak in a few minutes of free time for Jack to get a swim.  We spent 10-15 minutes just playing fetch in the pond before turning back to the trail to make our way down to Sand Beach.

The hike back down to Sand Beach seemed to take no time at all.  There were some very rocky areas on the trail, but it was fairly easy going.  Once we reached the Park Loop Road, the Ocean Path was like a stroll in the park - literally.  The Ocean Path is just what it sounds like.  It's a dirt pathway that takes you along the ocean between the shore and the Park Loop Road.  We walked by Sand Beach and Thunder Hole on our way back and stopped to talk with several people along the way.  Something about having a dog makes everyone want to be your friend, or so it seemed.

The entire hike took us 4 hours or less.  I was timing our hiking time on my phone, but we all know what happened there!  Jack was tired enough when we reached the Jeep that he took some coaxing to get him to jump in the vehicle.  I think he had a good time making new friends, getting some exercise, and swimming in a new pond, though :)

For more information on park trails, where you can swim, and where you can take your pets - please visit the Acadia National Park website at http://www.nps.gov/acad/index.htm.

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Stand Up Paddle Boarding

Last year I traveled to Las Vegas, NV in April to visit some friends, and while I was there I tried something called Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP for short).  I know - not your typical Vegas activity, but I'm more of an outdoorsy person than a gambler. :)  I had never even heard of SUP before, but a friend I was visiting had tried it and thought I would enjoy it.  So off we headed to Lake Las Vegas for a day on the water.  We spent several hours on SUPs around the lake - by the time we came back to shore I was hooked and determined to give it a try back in Maine.

If this is the first you've heard of SUP, you're probably wondering what exactly it is.  SUP originated in Hawaii, but it has rapidly spread in popularity in recent years.  A SUP is very similar to a surf board, and can be geared towards racing or recreation, oceans or lakes - just like kayaks, there are a wide range of boards to choose from depending on how you plan on using them.  They make boards that are built to carry gear (usually with bungee cords at the front of the board), and others have room for you to have a child sit on the board with you on your tour around the lake.  Or if you're like me - maybe you will try taking your dog out on the water with you.  I'm not sure how well Jack will take to sitting still, but we're going to give it a try!

After spending much of my summer last year playing ball, I was determined to pick up a SUP in the off season and get out on the lakes and ocean this coming season.  If you are interested in trying SUP, I recommend finding a place locally that does tours and lessons before investing in a board.  Buying a board and paddle new can be quite expensive - costing you well over $1,000.00.  Two places locally that provide SUP tours are Acadia Stand Up Paddle Boarding in Bar Harbor, ME and Thorfinn Expeditions in Lincolnville, ME.  They both offer a wide range of SUP tours, and in Bar Harbor they even offer Yoga sessions on the SUPs.

Personally I have tried neither of these companies, but I did purchase my SUP used from the owner of Acadia SUP.  Chris was very helpful when it came to answering questions that I had about the fit of a board, what size board I would need, etc - and information on when they would begin lessons should I want to get out on the ocean early.  If you are a beginner, I highly recommend purchasing your board from someone that knows a lot about the sport - and purchasing it used.  The board I ended up buying was used for only one season on the ocean in Acadia, and it still cost me over $800 for both paddle and board.  So if you decide to invest in your own board/paddle - you want to make sure you talk to an expert.

I have no experience with Thorfinn Expeditions to speak of.  But I will say this - Chris had great things to say about Thorfinn Expeditions should you find yourself in the Lincolnville area rather than Bar Harbor.

While SUP is a great way to explore in Maine, it is also a great workout.  If your paddling technique is correct, you will be using mostly your core muscles.  This was also something that made SUP have a lot more appeal for me because really - does anyone actually like their ab workout?  I'd rather paddle around the lake than do crunches any day!  In looking at the photos on Acadia SUP's website, the yoga sessions look like a lot of fun, as well.  I would go into it expecting to end up in the water, though.  I'm not great at yoga on dry land, and I cannot imagine how poorly I'd perform with the board moving underneath me.

Hopefully this post has piqued your interest enough to make you consider SUP this summer should you find yourself on the coast of Maine.  Who knows - maybe Jack and I will run into you on the lake!