Backpacking and Solitude in Acadia National Park?
30th October 2018
An Island of My Own: Isle Au Haut May 2018
Backpacking and Solitude in Acadia National Park?
Acadia National Park is beautiful and has so much to offer. But there are two things it generally doesn’t provide; solitude and backpacking. Is it possible to ever find those things at Acadia? Yes, if you visit “the other Acadia” on the island of Isle Au Haut. The island is only accessible by boat and is located 7 miles off of the coast of the mainland near Stonington, Maine. It is a full 2-hour drive from Bar Harbor to Stonington. In May 2018, I took a backpacking trip to Isle Au Haut during the opening week of the camping season. The trip provided me the rarest of things on the East Coast of the United States: a coastal wilderness adventure.
Logistical information about getting to and around Isle Au Haut:
Map of Isle Au Haut with trails and docks (creative commons from NPS):
This limited access provides relative solitude on most of the island. Unlike the rest of Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island and Schoodic Peninsula, you can actually go backpacking at the Duck Harbor campground. There are only 5 campsites located on the southern end of the park that must be reserved in advance online through the NPS website. During the summer full service season the main ferry, the Isle Au Haut Mail Boat, will drop you off right at the campground dock (Duck Harbor). However, if you really want solitude visit before the full service season (the last few weeks of May and first week of June and the last week of camping in October) and get dropped off at the Town Dock on the north end of the island, where most of the 40 permanent residents call home. From there hike 4 miles along the Duck Harbor Trail (or 5 miles on the mostly too rough for even 4x4 trucks dirt road) to get to Duck Harbor Campground. This keeps the day hikers away from the south end of the island where the best cliff top trails are located.
My May 2018 trip DAY 1:
I somehow found my way to the island even though I accidentally made my camping reservations for Sunday, a day which “The Mail Boat” doesn’t run at all. The upside was that even the lobster boats don't go out on Sunday and thus there was no boat traffic that day to mar the feeling of wildness! I saw no one on any of the trails both days I was there and only had two other parties at the campground.
My forecast was for rain the first day, but clearing the rest of my trip. The forecast for day one was accurate and I had a foggy, rainy boat ride out.
This is not the boat I rode, just one that was docked at the harbor at Isle Au Haut
The weather obscured the many granite islands we navigated around, but added a mysterious feel to the adventure. You never knew what piece of land would become visible through the fog.
Photo Tip #1: If you have rainy or cloudy weather, don't feel all is lost. In fact for non sunset or sunrise times of day, I prefer cloudy to sunny weather for daytime photography. These are actually the best time to shoot forest shots because of the even light. Using a tripod will help you to keep a lower ISO and thus less noise while still shooting at small enough apertures (bigger f stop numbers) to have enough depth of field. I was shooting these mostly at f 11 and estimating the appropriate hyper-focal distance to focus on to keep as much in focus.
The mossy coastal spruce forest looked great in the misty weather on my roughly 5 mile route to camp, combining the Duck Harbor Trail, Eben Head Trail, and service road:
Signs of spring were finally evident even though it was already Mid May.
Though the cloudy weather made for perfect conditions for shooting forest shots, I was really hoping it would break for sunset. When I took the .3 mile spur trail to Deep Cove, I saw some hope in the form of a patch of blue sky poking above the coastal fog.
Shark Cove
I also took a .7 mile detour on the gorgeous cliffy Eben Head trail, my target area for a potential sunset shot. The fog was still hanging tough as a I explored it.
Photo Tip #2: Its always a good idea to personally scout the area you wish to shoot at sunrise by arriving well before the good light starts. In this case, I intentionally did not look online at photos from this area. I really wanted to create something original and wanted to find a composition through my own scouting. In this case I had about .7 miles of West facing (on the Atlantic Ocean!) open cliff to choose from.
With just an hour left until sunset, the fog was still remained in place. I cooked dinner and hoped my patience and persistence would pay off.
When there was only fifteen minutes until sunset, nothing had changed. Still I stayed. Even if sunset was a bust, I realized how special it was to have this whole place to myself. It felt like a true coastal wilderness experience. I would never have expected that in New England.
Suddenly, the fog started to break and I could finally see the 150 foot cliffs of Eben Head across the water for the first time. Then this magical scene unfolded:
What a gift to witness this! I was the only one who would ever see this moment in time. I felt small and special at the same time. I love this about being in the wilderness.
Photo Tip #3: Stay at your location for a while after sunset, often the most intense light happens in the 20 or so minutes after the sun is below the horizon by lighting up the clouds from below. This was the case that night and was when I got the best color.
Of course means staying past sunset means that you need to bring a headlamp (preferably two as backup) and spare batteries. I hiked the last mile to camp in the dark. Just before arriving at camp I saw two sets of eyes in the woods reflecting the light of my headlamp as they started back at me. The ranger I had checked in with earlier in the day had told me there were deer and coyote on the island, even though its seven miles off the mainland. He said they swam here. Wow! Turned out to be two tiny deer- not the coyotes. Phew! I settled into camp for the night listening to the waves and the gentle clanging of a buoy somewhere in nearby ocean. The ranger doubts there are bears here currently.
DAY 2
Of course it not always rainbows and sunshine backpacking. Sometimes things don't go as planned. That was the case for day 2.
The day started out beautifully. It was clear and I watched the glow of dawn from the Harbor. I had a leisurely breakfast of oatmeal and Starbucks Via coffee (TIP #4 real coffee in the wild!) back at camp, my usual backpacking ritual. I felt such a sense of peace and love for my life and even myself. I've made a lot of decisions in my life that don't make a lot of sense to many people in the pursuit of faith, family, and adventure. But in that moment they all made sense to me, and I was grateful for the person I have become.
With this incredible positive energy, I set off on an intended 13 mile loop of the trails on the southern half of the island, including visiting an island accessible only at low tide and finding a secret trail. I would scout locations for sunrise on day 3 of the trip.
I started on the Western Head trail, which weaved along cliffs, and startled a bald eagle off of the rocks. I marveled at how the storm surges from last winter's string of Nor'easters left debris fields sometimes 50 feet above sea level.
And then I got poked in the eye by a spruce branch.
It was sudden and unexpected. I had the same thing happen to me before while hiking, and I knew I had scratched my cornea. It's an incredibly painful injury that makes it hurt to close your eyes or keep them open or blink. You typically can't sleep the first night because of that. The good news is that it heals fast on its own, requiring only some lubricant and perhaps antibiotic drops as a precaution.
I realized immediately was that my trip was over. Just like that. It was a complete 180 from the excitement and sense of peace I started the day with. But I was not angry. I accepted it. I tried to enjoy the two more coastal miles I had to get back to camp despite the pain and mildly blurred vision to get my stuff before face another 5 more miles of hiking back to the dock. I had wisely brought a small container of eye lubricant in my pack just in case of such an event. It helped. I also had written down the ferry times and knew I could make the last boat off the island that day if I hiked out right then. No cell service out here!
I still got to see (kind of) some great scenery!
The boat adds a sense of scale for the cliffs:
It was disappointing to have to miss out on most of my trip, but that is the nature of adventure and life, you can't control everything. It was a good decision to leave early. Once back to the mainland I crashed at a hotel and spent a painful night with my eyes and nose watering while hearing the NBA playoffs on the TV. Mercifully I actually did fall asleep around 2 am. Surprisingly the next day it didn't even hurt so I made it back home to my ophthalmologist. Upon looking at my eye under the microscope he said "Wow, you got yourself good."
Yes, I got myself good. But in life too.
Backpacking and Solitude in Acadia National Park?
Acadia National Park is beautiful and has so much to offer. But there are two things it generally doesn’t provide; solitude and backpacking. Is it possible to ever find those things at Acadia? Yes, if you visit “the other Acadia” on the island of Isle Au Haut. The island is only accessible by boat and is located 7 miles off of the coast of the mainland near Stonington, Maine. It is a full 2-hour drive from Bar Harbor to Stonington. In May 2018, I took a backpacking trip to Isle Au Haut during the opening week of the camping season. The trip provided me the rarest of things on the East Coast of the United States: a coastal wilderness adventure.
Logistical information about getting to and around Isle Au Haut:
Map of Isle Au Haut with trails and docks (creative commons from NPS):
This limited access provides relative solitude on most of the island. Unlike the rest of Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island and Schoodic Peninsula, you can actually go backpacking at the Duck Harbor campground. There are only 5 campsites located on the southern end of the park that must be reserved in advance online through the NPS website. During the summer full service season the main ferry, the Isle Au Haut Mail Boat, will drop you off right at the campground dock (Duck Harbor). However, if you really want solitude visit before the full service season (the last few weeks of May and first week of June and the last week of camping in October) and get dropped off at the Town Dock on the north end of the island, where most of the 40 permanent residents call home. From there hike 4 miles along the Duck Harbor Trail (or 5 miles on the mostly too rough for even 4x4 trucks dirt road) to get to Duck Harbor Campground. This keeps the day hikers away from the south end of the island where the best cliff top trails are located.
My May 2018 trip DAY 1:
I somehow found my way to the island even though I accidentally made my camping reservations for Sunday, a day which “The Mail Boat” doesn’t run at all. The upside was that even the lobster boats don't go out on Sunday and thus there was no boat traffic that day to mar the feeling of wildness! I saw no one on any of the trails both days I was there and only had two other parties at the campground.
My forecast was for rain the first day, but clearing the rest of my trip. The forecast for day one was accurate and I had a foggy, rainy boat ride out.
This is not the boat I rode, just one that was docked at the harbor at Isle Au Haut
The weather obscured the many granite islands we navigated around, but added a mysterious feel to the adventure. You never knew what piece of land would become visible through the fog.
Photo Tip #1: If you have rainy or cloudy weather, don't feel all is lost. In fact for non sunset or sunrise times of day, I prefer cloudy to sunny weather for daytime photography. These are actually the best time to shoot forest shots because of the even light. Using a tripod will help you to keep a lower ISO and thus less noise while still shooting at small enough apertures (bigger f stop numbers) to have enough depth of field. I was shooting these mostly at f 11 and estimating the appropriate hyper-focal distance to focus on to keep as much in focus.
The mossy coastal spruce forest looked great in the misty weather on my roughly 5 mile route to camp, combining the Duck Harbor Trail, Eben Head Trail, and service road:
Signs of spring were finally evident even though it was already Mid May.
Though the cloudy weather made for perfect conditions for shooting forest shots, I was really hoping it would break for sunset. When I took the .3 mile spur trail to Deep Cove, I saw some hope in the form of a patch of blue sky poking above the coastal fog.
Shark Cove
I also took a .7 mile detour on the gorgeous cliffy Eben Head trail, my target area for a potential sunset shot. The fog was still hanging tough as a I explored it.
Photo Tip #2: Its always a good idea to personally scout the area you wish to shoot at sunrise by arriving well before the good light starts. In this case, I intentionally did not look online at photos from this area. I really wanted to create something original and wanted to find a composition through my own scouting. In this case I had about .7 miles of West facing (on the Atlantic Ocean!) open cliff to choose from.
With just an hour left until sunset, the fog was still remained in place. I cooked dinner and hoped my patience and persistence would pay off.
When there was only fifteen minutes until sunset, nothing had changed. Still I stayed. Even if sunset was a bust, I realized how special it was to have this whole place to myself. It felt like a true coastal wilderness experience. I would never have expected that in New England.
Suddenly, the fog started to break and I could finally see the 150 foot cliffs of Eben Head across the water for the first time. Then this magical scene unfolded:
What a gift to witness this! I was the only one who would ever see this moment in time. I felt small and special at the same time. I love this about being in the wilderness.
Photo Tip #3: Stay at your location for a while after sunset, often the most intense light happens in the 20 or so minutes after the sun is below the horizon by lighting up the clouds from below. This was the case that night and was when I got the best color.
Of course means staying past sunset means that you need to bring a headlamp (preferably two as backup) and spare batteries. I hiked the last mile to camp in the dark. Just before arriving at camp I saw two sets of eyes in the woods reflecting the light of my headlamp as they started back at me. The ranger I had checked in with earlier in the day had told me there were deer and coyote on the island, even though its seven miles off the mainland. He said they swam here. Wow! Turned out to be two tiny deer- not the coyotes. Phew! I settled into camp for the night listening to the waves and the gentle clanging of a buoy somewhere in nearby ocean. The ranger doubts there are bears here currently.
DAY 2
Of course it not always rainbows and sunshine backpacking. Sometimes things don't go as planned. That was the case for day 2.
The day started out beautifully. It was clear and I watched the glow of dawn from the Harbor. I had a leisurely breakfast of oatmeal and Starbucks Via coffee (TIP #4 real coffee in the wild!) back at camp, my usual backpacking ritual. I felt such a sense of peace and love for my life and even myself. I've made a lot of decisions in my life that don't make a lot of sense to many people in the pursuit of faith, family, and adventure. But in that moment they all made sense to me, and I was grateful for the person I have become.
With this incredible positive energy, I set off on an intended 13 mile loop of the trails on the southern half of the island, including visiting an island accessible only at low tide and finding a secret trail. I would scout locations for sunrise on day 3 of the trip.
I started on the Western Head trail, which weaved along cliffs, and startled a bald eagle off of the rocks. I marveled at how the storm surges from last winter's string of Nor'easters left debris fields sometimes 50 feet above sea level.
And then I got poked in the eye by a spruce branch.
It was sudden and unexpected. I had the same thing happen to me before while hiking, and I knew I had scratched my cornea. It's an incredibly painful injury that makes it hurt to close your eyes or keep them open or blink. You typically can't sleep the first night because of that. The good news is that it heals fast on its own, requiring only some lubricant and perhaps antibiotic drops as a precaution.
I realized immediately was that my trip was over. Just like that. It was a complete 180 from the excitement and sense of peace I started the day with. But I was not angry. I accepted it. I tried to enjoy the two more coastal miles I had to get back to camp despite the pain and mildly blurred vision to get my stuff before face another 5 more miles of hiking back to the dock. I had wisely brought a small container of eye lubricant in my pack just in case of such an event. It helped. I also had written down the ferry times and knew I could make the last boat off the island that day if I hiked out right then. No cell service out here!
I still got to see (kind of) some great scenery!
The boat adds a sense of scale for the cliffs:
It was disappointing to have to miss out on most of my trip, but that is the nature of adventure and life, you can't control everything. It was a good decision to leave early. Once back to the mainland I crashed at a hotel and spent a painful night with my eyes and nose watering while hearing the NBA playoffs on the TV. Mercifully I actually did fall asleep around 2 am. Surprisingly the next day it didn't even hurt so I made it back home to my ophthalmologist. Upon looking at my eye under the microscope he said "Wow, you got yourself good."
Yes, I got myself good. But in life too.