Acadia NP, Dorr Mtn. & Cadillac Mtn.

To kick off my hiking in Maine after returning from my cross country road trip, I met up with Gugen who was staying on MDI for a week for a nice day hike up Dorr Mountain and continued on to Cadillac Mountain.

We began the day looking for a free parking spot, which I admit was a challenge in a National Park.  We had parked at Sieur de Monts, more or less, and began hiking up the Kurt Diederich's Climb up to the Schiff Path.

It was a beautiful day with dappled sunlight coming through the trees, but not burning me to a crisp.  These are my favorite conditions.

Photo cred: Ben Moon-Black

Kurt Diederich's Climb was not kidding about climbing.  It rises very quickly, and gives elevation views of Mt. Champlain across the valley to the east.

Mt. Champlain and The Tarn

After a relatively quick 1.5 miles, we had reached the summit of Dorr Mountain, at 1270' above sea level.

Continuing west along the Gorge Path, we headed to Cadillac Mountain. The rocks around here are very pretty, and I found myself comparing them to everything out west I had seen on my road trip.  I think I still like these rocks plenty.

The gorge between Dorr and Cadillac

As with any mountain with a road to the top, it was a bit strange summiting Cadillac.  I can see why they decided to put a road here, because the views of the ocean from here are quite special if you can ignore the crowds that pummel the place day in and day out.

A beautiful blue sky and ocean from Cadillac Mtn.

To mix things up on the way back, we decided to hike along the gorge between the two peaks on the A. Murray Young Path, which descends along a brook, then continues along the Kane Path to encircle Dorr Mountain to the south.  This added mileage, but it was mostly forested, and flat for the last few miles, so nothing more than a pleasant walk toward the end.

It is tricky to determine from my map, but I think the mileage was near 5.8 or so.  Elapsed time was 3.3 hours including all luxurious breaks at summits for sandwich and cracker eating.  (As you can see, we were not breaking any time records, but who wants to when you are hiking with a Gugen made from 101% imported leather?)

Google Earth track and elevation profile