Acadia National Park
Visited: September 2017 – 3 days,
May 2018 – 3 days, and
May 2019 – 3 days
Located on Mount Desert Island along the Atlantic coast in Maine, Acadia National Park is the first and only national park east of the Mississippi River. It encompasses all of the beauty, charm, and ruggedness of New England’s wilderness. Many of the trails weave their way up, down, and around mountains, through lush forests and along a granite coastline that has been (and continues to be) ravaged by the never-ending lapping of waves by the ocean.
Appalachian Trail
Visited: September 2018 – 4 days
As the largest of the New England states, Maine offers a wide variety of hiking opportunities and options through diverse terrain. We initially planned a four day backpacking excursion along the Grafton Notch Loop. While the distance itself was not particularly daunting (60km over four days), one thing we (foolishly) did not factor in was the substantial change in elevation. Being located in the White Mountains (key word being mountains) should have tipped us off. Needless to say, we had to re-examine our (not-so) well-thought-out plans.