From the summit we had a great view of the town of Bar Harbor and the islands. Its elevation is only 1530', but it is the highest point along the North Atlantic seaboard. It is also the first place to view sunrise in the United States from October 7 through March 6 and is one of over 20 mountains on Mount Desert Island, Maine that were pushed up by earth's tectonic and volcanic eruptions. Glaciers sheared off their tops or they would be even higher today.
We could see the scratches in the huge granite stones that were caused by the glaciers as we walked around the top.
Again we were starting to see more changing colors on the trees.
Down from the summit trail, we stopped to get one more shot of the trees - and you can see our little rental car. 
From there we drove to the "left lung" of Acadia. The volunteer at the Visitor Center gave us some tips on places to stop and our first was to get a quick shot of Eagle Pond, then a shot of the beautiful trees near Somesville.
Next we were on to Echo Lake Beach. It was pretty, but no hiking trail. The water was pretty cold, but there was one woman out in the swim area! No thank you!!!
Continuing down the road, we were told to stop at the Carroll Homestead Intrepretive Trail. Well, there is a homestead, but nothing interpretive there! The house is apprently only open certain days and today wasn't one of them. We walked around it and maybe spent about 20 minutes trying to find the trail!
Next stop was at Seawall. Powerful ocean storms have created a massive natural seawall. As the waves break, they carry rocks from the base of the beach and move them up to the shore. As the tides come in and out, the heavier stones get piled at the top and the smaller, lighter stones remain down the slope.
At Ship Harbor we took the trail halfway out and back. We were mostly in the forest section and had some views of Ship Harbor through the trees.
We spotted some interesting fungus growing on the trees and cute little mushrooms on the ground.
We FINALLY saw some of the wildlife! This tiny red squirrel jumped off a branch near the path.
We almost stepped on this HUGE snake! HAHAHA!! It was about 3 inches long.
Leaving the Ship Harbor Trail we were headed to the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse and spotted three white tailed deer in the trees. We stopped to see them, but the shadows made it impossible to get a good picture of them so you just have to take our word for it!
We had no idea that it would take 20 minutes to get into the parking lot at the lighthouse but we waited, along with several cars in front of us for a car to leave, then one could go in. It was worth it.
The light station here was established in 1858. The land cost was only $80! They used a hand bell for signals starting in 1876, converted to a steam operated bell in 1898, and finally an electric operated bell in 1949. The bell buoy wasn't put in until 1974.
Our last stop in the park was at Pretty Marsh. The volunteer at the visitors center said this was her second favorite spot in the entire park so we figured it was going to be amazing. Not so much. We followed the fire road down to the gazebo which sort of overlooks Pretty Marsh Harbor. There was a huge stairway down to the water, but then no platform - just water at the bottom of the stops. It was too steep to carry a kayak down, so we took a look and walked back up!
We wandered on a trail that had picnic tables overlooking the water, but neither of us was overly impressed. There were no signs, so we finally turned around and went back to the parking the way we came.
That completed our loop of the left lung of Acadia so we headed into the town of Bar Harbor and did a little shopping. Because it is near the end of the tourist season, several of the shops had everything on sale. One of the tourist t-shirt shops had shirts with pictures of giraffes or tigers and Bar Harbor, Maine printed on them. The funniest, though, was one that had a picture of Sedona, Arizona and it said "Sedona, Arizona" then "Bar Harbor, Maine". Do you think it was a supply chain issue??
Shopped out, we headed off to have dinner and picked the Chart Room. OH MY GOSH - it was amazing!! I had a stuffed baked haddock with a creamy lobster/sherry sauce on it and Wendy had the Cioppino which had mussels, shrimp, and scallops in a red sauce. Both were so good.
We had to stop for the beautiful sunset on our way back to our lodging.
It was pretty much a perfect finish to a great day!
We had no idea that it would take 20 minutes to get into the parking lot at the lighthouse but we waited, along with several cars in front of us for a car to leave, then one could go in. It was worth it.
The light station here was established in 1858. The land cost was only $80! They used a hand bell for signals starting in 1876, converted to a steam operated bell in 1898, and finally an electric operated bell in 1949. The bell buoy wasn't put in until 1974.
Our last stop in the park was at Pretty Marsh. The volunteer at the visitors center said this was her second favorite spot in the entire park so we figured it was going to be amazing. Not so much. We followed the fire road down to the gazebo which sort of overlooks Pretty Marsh Harbor. There was a huge stairway down to the water, but then no platform - just water at the bottom of the stops. It was too steep to carry a kayak down, so we took a look and walked back up!
We wandered on a trail that had picnic tables overlooking the water, but neither of us was overly impressed. There were no signs, so we finally turned around and went back to the parking the way we came.
That completed our loop of the left lung of Acadia so we headed into the town of Bar Harbor and did a little shopping. Because it is near the end of the tourist season, several of the shops had everything on sale. One of the tourist t-shirt shops had shirts with pictures of giraffes or tigers and Bar Harbor, Maine printed on them. The funniest, though, was one that had a picture of Sedona, Arizona and it said "Sedona, Arizona" then "Bar Harbor, Maine". Do you think it was a supply chain issue??
Shopped out, we headed off to have dinner and picked the Chart Room. OH MY GOSH - it was amazing!! I had a stuffed baked haddock with a creamy lobster/sherry sauce on it and Wendy had the Cioppino which had mussels, shrimp, and scallops in a red sauce. Both were so good.
We had to stop for the beautiful sunset on our way back to our lodging.
It was pretty much a perfect finish to a great day!
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