Day 40: October 13, 2026: Old Friends and New Adventures

Our day started with the routines and anticipation. Our friend from Oregon, Angela Jensen, was coming the 2 hours from her current place of residence, just north of Augusta, to meet us at our campground in Bar Harbor to spend the day with us.

Angela and Kasey were in an online Vermont Law School Master of Environmental Law and Policy Program in 2014-16. Afterwards, Angela and her husband Peter travelled to Royalton Vermont where she spent 3 years getting her law degree. After graduating she clerked in Sitka Alaska and then moved to Maine to start her law practice. While she was on the east coast, she worked part time as Umpqua Watersheds legal advisor and Conservation Chair. This was all remote work since it was during covid. We are so proud of her and her accomplishments. She has been working in criminal justice law for nearly 5 years and finds it rewarding. We have not seen her in person since 2015 when she went to Law School. Her husband, Peter, passed away just over 2 years ago. Our trip brought us close enough to find a way to meet up and Bar Harbor seemed to be the perfect place.

Mount Desert Island is the largest island of Maine, the sixth-largest island in the contiguous United States, and the second-largest island on the Eastern Seaboard, behind Long Island and ahead of Martha's Vineyard. The island is home to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.There is something truly magical about Mount Desert Island. Between the crashing Atlantic surf, dense pine canopy, and granite peaks, Acadia National Park has a way of stealing your heart within minutes. 

Cadillac Mountain is the park's highest peak and is the highest peak on the eastern seaboard at 1530 feet. It is where you can experience sunrise 

We planned to spend the day exploring the park by land and sea with our friend Angela, and our four-legged adventurer, Tad!

We kicked off our day by hopping on the Island Explorer toward the park visitor center bus, leaving Angela's vehicle at our campsite. 

At the visitor center, we caught the Loop Road route out near the east coast of the island. Acadia is wildly dog-friendly! Tad was welcomed right aboard the bus alongside us, taking in the sites through the head height windows in the bus as we wound through the park. Bus riders were overwhelmingly welcoming to the the 4 footed passenger by our side bringing smiles and engaging conversation. I think we should get business cards for him: "Hi, I'm Tad. I am an Irish Setter and I was born in 2020. I normally live in Oregon. I am travelling around the country with my parents."

We hopped off near the coastal cliffs to stretch our legs at a scenic stop around Thunder Hole. Walking along the granite ledges with the sound of incoming ocean swell booming against the rocks was breathtaking.

Angela shared a fun fact: If you draw a straight line from top to bottom, Maine's general coastline measures just 228 miles long, yet if you trace all of its jagged granite inlets, bays, coves, tidal rivers, and over 3,100 offshore islands, Maine’s total tidal shoreline stretches for an incredible 3,478 miles!

That means Maine has more tidal coastline than California (3,427 miles), despite California being nearly five times larger in land area.

The trip in the bus went through hardwood forests in various stages of leaf drop while transitioning the landscape from summer to winter.

Exploring Acadia brings out some genuinely fascinating history and trivia: Established as Sieur de Monts National Monument in 1916, it became Lafayette National Park in 1919 before being renamed Acadia National Park in 1929.

Unlike vast Western parks carved out of federal territories, Acadia was assembled almost entirely through land donations from private citizens led by George B. Dorr and John D. Rockefeller Jr. Rockefeller didn't just donate land; he funded and designed 45 miles of rustic Carriage Roads, complete with 16 hand-crafted stone bridges, ensuring people could enjoy the interior park without automobiles.

After taking in the salt spray, we caught the Sand Beach route back into Bar Harbor’s Village Green to catch the bus to our afternoon water voyage.

 Tad seemed to tire of standing and sacked out on the floor for a few minutes. Not wanting to miss a thing, he was back at the window in no time.

From Village Green, we took the short Eden Street shuttle down to the docks to board the Eden Star for a two-hour eco-cruising tour. Once again, Tad proved to be the ultimate sea dog, happily fixated on the sites as we glided across the open water.

Our boat trip was packed with incredible sights and stories:

We spotted bald eagles soaring over the shoreline tree canopy, common loons, and flocks of surf scoters bobbing on the waves. The highlight for all of us (especially Angela!) was catching sight of three distinct species of seals basking on the exposed rocks and playing in the coastal currents.

The guide talked about the old growth white spruce on the islands. Maybe has very little olg growth forest except for on some of these inaccessible islands. Forces of nature can't be stopped and this island will be 2 sometime in the next few thousand years as a split is forming in the rocks.

Our guide shared fascinating tales of Mount Desert Island’s past, from its original Indigenous Wabanaki roots to European contact, the Gilded Age wealthy "cottagers," and the early maritime history of the local lighthouses keeping vessels safe off the rocky Maine coast.

The sunset became obscured by the incoming stoem.and we ended our voyage just before dark. 

Being close to the shoreline, we made sure to touch the Atlantic.

We had to navigate several different bus routes to make our journey end where we started. We weren't always efficient at our choices and spent quite a bit of time waiting for buses after finding that we had just missed our connecting bus. Riding the free Island Explorer bus wasn't just convenient, it gave us a front-row seat to the delicate balancing act that park managers face today.

Acadia is one of the smallest national parks in total acreage, yet it frequently ranks among the top 10 most visited in the United States, welcoming over 4 million visitors annually. Managing that huge influx creates complex challenges:

Narrow coastal roads can quickly become gridlocked during peak months. Heavy foot traffic risks eroding alpine vegetation on Cadillac Mountain and delicate coastal soils along popular trails.The zero-emission/propane Island Explorer shuttle system, heavily funded by generous grants from L.L. Bean, was designed specifically to take thousands of cars off the roads each day, reducing emissions and preserving the quiet charm of the island.

This was the last day for the season that the buses would be running and some of the drivers exhibited their jubulence of the prospect of extended time off.

Sharing coastal views with Angela, watching marine life from the deck of the Eden Star, and having Tad right by our side for the whole adventure made it a trip we’ll be talking about for a long time!

After arriving late to our campsite, we hopped into her truck and managed to find a restaurant open late enough for us to grab a bite to eat and a pint.

After a quick meal, she brought us back to our campsite. We said our goodbyes to her with the knowledge that it is truly not the last time and so "We will see you again, friend." We are dog tired.

A note: one of the biggest challenges was selecting from the hundreds of pictures that both Kasey and I took during the day. Telling the story with pictures is essential. I must admit, that cute picture of the seal is not one we took, but it is important for the story.