Cadillac; South Ridge Trail

Hiking buddy: Alex

Weather: high 60s, slightly cloudy

Mountain: Cadillac (Acadia National Park)
Elevation: 1,530ft
Ascent: South Ridge Trail
Descent: South Ridge Trail and Eagle's Crag
Miles of trail: 7.1

Total miles this year: 78

It was the perfect day for a nice, long hike in the park! What better trail to do than the longest mountain trail in Acadia? The trail also happens to be on the tallest mountain on the island, the tallest on the eastern seaboard, to be exact. 

I love Cadillac Mountain. 

Honestly, the best way to hike Cadillac is to start out in the wee hours of the morning and catch the sunrise from the summit before heading back down. Blueberry Pancakes at Jordan's in downtown Bar Harbor is a must to replenish your energy after the hike. 

However, we did not hike for the sunrise today. We started after church when the sun finally decided to peek its way through the clouds and warm up the air. There was a lot of foot traffic out there!

The South Ridge Trail of Cadillac is probably the easiest trail to the summit. It has a nice gradual incline over the course of about 3.5 miles. The journey starts as the trail winds through the coniferous forest, with planks (planks!), dirt paths, stone steps, and a lot of muck! After about a mile and a half, the trail breaks out of the trees and onto the open granite shoulder of the mountain.

The view of just how much farther you have to hike can be a little intimidating...

I often get completely distracted by the view opening up behind me, enough so that I tend to trip over things and run into branches and such as I turn my head to peek a glance.

Eventually, the trail will drop down to what is known as "The Featherbed". Did some googling, and the technical term for it is a glacial cirque, a small mountain pond left by a glacier. It's a nice little spot to take a breather, with a cute little bench to rest on.

Just beyond The Featherbed, is a steep, uphill scramble back out of the trees. It's a large chunk of elevation gain in a very short distance. 

Looking back down at "The Featherbed"

From this point, there is just over a mile left of trail until the summit. Be sure to pay attention to the cairns, don't lose the trail! 

If you're looking for a summit sign, don't spend too much time looking. My friends and I spent a whole hiking season trying to find one. The true summit is just after crossing an old fire road, before reaching the concessions store and parking lot. Just off to the left after the trail opens up to the gravel road leading to the store will be a large boulder with a circular copper survey benchmark inlaid in the granite. I believe the official highest elevation for the peak at that point is 1,532ft. 

We stole a quick glance around at the summit before making our trek down, Alex couldn't be late for work!

On our way down the mountain, we decided to take the Eagle's Crag trail, which only added about 0.1 miles to the total distance. The trail offers a nice view of Frenchman's Bay, Champlain, Beehive, Otter Creek/Point and The Cranberry Isles. But, its view is just a teaser compared to the sites to be seen from farther up the trail.

We made it back with not another minute to spare. Also, I only wore one pair of socks today, do you know what that means? This girl has blisters on her heels. Ouch! 

It was a beautiful day to be in the woods!