Maine 2021

Mount Desert Island/Acadia National Park, Maine

Saturday, October 2 through Sunday, October 17, 2021

We flew from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Portland, Maine via O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois. We spent two nights in Rockport, Maine, and the rest of the time at Northeast Harbor, Maine. Most days were spent hiking, mostly in Acadia National Park. We returned to Oklahoma City via O’Hare International Airport (Chicago, Illinois).

I tracked the trip with a Bad Elf GPS Pro+ GPSr (GPS receiver), using my iPhone 12 (Gaia GPS app) as a backup (along with the FlightAware and FlightRadar24 websites).

NOTE: the downloadable GPX tracks are the full GPX files, while those shown on the provided "view map" links are simplified (with minimal effect on geographic accuracy) for much faster viewing.

Static topographic maps, based on the standard 1:24,000 USGS maps, are denoted by a "(Topo)" link. Bright pink/magenta lines represent manually-powered transportation (e.g., biking, hiking). North is up. To get a sense of scale, review the associated main map.

Original GPX tracks are unedited, except where necessary to fill in missing data. Edited tracks are noted in their descriptions.

Businesses are named below for reference only. No endorsement should be inferred. If you wish to see my opinion of the places mentioned, see TripAdvisor (for those few that I have actually rated).

Overview

Overview map—This is a composite map of all the GPS tracks on a blank US/Canada map. Just Maine, and just MDI.
All GPS tracks / view map—The whole trip, including walking, driving, etc.

Saturday, October 2

GPX / view map—Driving to the airport at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
GPX / view map—Riding the bus from the parking area to the terminal at the Oklahoma City airport
GPX / view map—(noisy) Walking at the terminal building at the Oklahoma City airport
GPX / view map—Flying from the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma airport to Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Illinois
GPX / view map—Walking from one gate to another at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Illinois
GPX / view map—Flying from Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Illinois to Portland International Jetport, Maine. GPS problems, because of sitting in a non-window seat, led to several problems getting valid tracks. This track includes the Bad Elf GPS Pro+ track to the runway at O’Hare (with some questionable deviation from the expected taxiways), shifting to the track retrieved from FlightRadar24’s website, then to the track from GaiaGPS (using Apple iPhone 12), which misses the actual landing and most of the taxiing at Portland International Jetport.
GPX / view map—Driving from Portland International Jetport to the inn in Rockport, Maine
GPX / view map—Driving to/from a nearby restaurant for dinner in Rockport, Maine

Sunday, October 3

GPX / view map—Driving a fairly circuitous route from the inn in Rockport to the Owl’s Head Lighthouse area
GPX / view map—Walking/hiking near the Owl’s Head Lighthouse
GPX / view map—riving to Ash Point (just northwest of the turn-around point, the arrival track is inaccurate, showing our location almost 100 m too far southwest, and curving the opposite direction of the road’s curve)
GPX / view map—Hiking in the Ash Point area
GPX / view map—Driving to downtown Rockland
GPX / view map—Walking in the area of Buoy Park in downtown Rockland, including the restaurant we went to for dinner
GPX / view map—Driving back to the inn in Rockport

Monday, October 4

GPX / view map—Driving to lunch at Bucksport, and on to look at a house that was for sale at Lamoine, and finally to our hotel for the remainder of the trip (in Northeast Harbor, Maine)

Tuesday, October 5

GPX / view map—Walking from the hotel to lunch in Northeast Harbor, and back
GPX / view map—Driving to the highway parking area for Parkman Mountain (forgot to turn on the Bad Elf GPS Pro+, so this track is from Gaia GPS/iPhone 12)
GPX / view map—Walking the carriage roads between Upper Hadlock Pond and Bald Peak/Cedar Swamp Mountain. The first few minutes of this track was recorded by GaiaGPS instead of the Bad Elf Pro+ (I forgot to start the BEP+ for a few minutes). (Topo)
GPX / view map—Driving to Seal Harbor to check on the availability of a restaurant there (closed), then to a restaurant that is usually closed when we arrive in October (Abel’s Lobster Pound), and on to our hotel

Wednesday, October 6

GPX / view map—Driving from the hotel to the Beech Mountain area
GPX / view map—Hiking the Valley Trail near Beech Mountain (Topo)
GPX / view map—Driving to dinner in southwest Harbor
GPX / view map—Driving back to the hotel

Thursday, October 7

GPX / view map—Driving from the hotel to our lunch spot, then to the parking lot for Parkman Mountain
GPX / view map—Hiking up to Parkman Mountain’s summit, then down the steep Grandgent Trail, then north on the (rather difficult) Giant Slide Trail (the difficult section is between the carriage roads), then back to the car on a carriage road. Both the displayed (Bad Elf GPS Pro+) track and the one recorded by Gaia GPS (not included here) show a false spur from the Giant Slide Trail (to near latitude/longitude 44.34389, -68.28583) that didn’t actually happen. (Topo)
GPX / view map—Driving to dinner and the hotel

Friday, October 8

GPX / view map—Driving from the hotel to lunch, then to the north side of Eagle Lake (parked along the road)
GPX / view map—Walking on carriage roads to Aunt Betty Pond, then to Chasm Brook Bridge, and back to the car. The GPS receiver “locked up” as we approached Eagle Lake, leaving a gap of about 4½ minutes, but no significant distance. This track is the combination of both of the original tracks. (Topo)
GPX / view map—Driving toward Bar Harbor (accidentally), then back to the correct route to Northeast Harbor for dinner and the hotel

Saturday, October 9

GPX / view map—Driving from the hotel to a market in Northeast Harbor to get food for lunch, then to the coastal area near Seawall Campground (southeast of Tremont)
GPX / view map—Hiking the Hio Road Trail (Topo)
GPX / view map—Driving into Southwest Harbor for dinner
GPX / view map—(VERY NOISY) Parking spot to restaurant and back in Southwest Harbor
GPX / view map—Driving back to the hotel

Sunday, October 10

GPX / view map—Driving from the hotel to a market in Northeast Harbor to get food for lunch, then to the canoe rental company at the north end of Long Pond
GPX / view map—Walking at the canoe rental company, then hauling the canoe to the dock at Long Pond
GPX / view map—Canoeing the entire length of Long Pond (and back). This was the first time we went the entire length of the pond (it took about five hours for the round trip). We followed the east shore for a short time southbound, then switched to the west shore. On the way back, we followed the east shore along Beech Mountain, then stayed mainly near the middle of the pond. (Topo)
GPX / view map—Returning (walking) to the canoe rental company and our car
GPX / view map—Driving to dinner in Southwest Harbor
GPX / view map—Driving back to the hotel

Monday, October 11

GPX / view map—Driving from the hotel to a market in Northeast Harbor to get food for lunch, then to the Jordan Pond area. Since traffic there was prohibitive, we then elected to go to trails near The Tarn.
GPX / view map—Hiking from south of The Tarn north to the Jesup Path and Hemlock Path areas. (We did the eastern part of the hike at the north end first, then the west half). (Topo)
GPX / view map—Driving to dinner in Bar Harbor
GPX / view map—Walking from our parking spot toward the restaurant, then back to the car (dropped a mask [required during much of COVID-19 pandemic], and had to return to the car to retrieve it), then to the restaurant, and back to the car
GPX / view map—Driving back to the hotel

Tuesday, October 12

GPX / view map—Driving from the hotel to our lunch stop, then to the Jordan Pond area (full again), then to the Beech Mountain north end parking lot
GPX / view map—Hiking the Valley Trail (south) to the Canada Cliffs Trail (east, then north) to the Beech Cliff Loop Trail (the open part) in a clockwise, then west/southwest direction back to the parking lot (Topo)
GPX / view map—Driving to dinner (Abel’s Lobster Pound) and the hotel

Wednesday, October 13

GPX / view map—Driving from the hotel to lunch in Northeast Harbor, then to the parking lot just north of The Tarn
GPX / view map—Hiking (clockwise) around Dorr Mountain from just north of The Tarn (Topo)
GPX / view map—Driving to Bar Harbor for dinner
GPX / view map—Walking to dinner, along with a couple of other sites in Bar Harbor, then back to the car
GPX / view map—Driving back to the hotel

Thursday, October 14

GPX / view map—Driving from the hotel to a market in Northeast Harbor (to get lunch food), then to the Jordan Pond area
GPX / view map—Hiking from the parking area near the Jordan Pond House, along the east side of Jordan Pond to the Jordan Pond Carry to Bubbles Divide, then to the top of North Bubble, then north (down) the Bubbles Trail (where we saw no one else!) to carriage roads west, then back south, to Deer Brook Trail, then along the west side of Jordan Pond (Jordan Pond Path) to the Jordan Pond House, and to the parking lot (Topo)
GPX / view map—Driving from the Jordan Pond area to Southwest Harbor for dinner, then back to the hotel in Northeast Harbor

Friday, October 15

GPX / view map—Driving from the hotel to the lunch spot, then to a parking lot at the northeast edge of Northeast Harbor
GPX / view map—Hiking on various trails in the Northeast Harbor area: west, then north to Lower Hadlock Pond, then north along the pond’s west shore, then back south, then west to the golf course area, and east/southeast back to the car (Topo)
GPX / view map—Driving back into Northeast Harbor, then around the sound to Tremont, and to the trailhead for the Wonderland Trail
GPX / view map—Hiking the Wonderland Trail, taking the end loop counter-clockwise (Topo)
GPX / view map—Driving into Southwest Harbor for dinner
GPX / view map—(NOISY) Walking from the parking spot to the restaurant and back (Southwest Harbor)
GPX / view map—Driving from Southwest Harbor back to the hotel

Saturday, October 16

GPX / view map—Driving from the hotel to the Brown Mountain parking lot
GPX / view map—Walking the carriage roads to the Amphitheater Bridge, then (clockwise) around the Amphitheater, including a trail cutoff via the Penobscot Mountain Trail, and back to the parking lot (Topo)
GPX / view map—Driving north from the Brown Mountain parking area to Somesville, then around the far west part of the island to a side road west of Tremont (to get a look at another house that was for sale), then through Tremont to Southwest Harbor for dinner, and then on to the hotel in Northeast Harbor

Sunday, October 17

GPX / view map—Driving from the hotel to the mainland, then east/northeast to Sullivan (to view another house), then back to Ellsworth, past another house that was for sale, then back to the main road into Brewer, where we had lunch/dinner
GPX / view map—Driving from Brewer to Augusta (where we took a complicated series of roads to avoid the toll road) to Portland International Jetport. (Bad Elf GPS+ didn’t start recording for a few minutes at the beginning of this track, so this track includes track data from GaiaGPS/iPhone 12 to fill in the missing points.)
GPX / view map—[NOISY] Walking within the terminal area of Portland International Jetport (the spike to the northeast is not real)
GPX / view map—Flying from Portland International Jetport, Maine to Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Illinois. Once again I forgot to turn on the Bad Elf GPS Pro+ receiver until about 20 minutes into this leg of the trip. The missing time period was replaced here with GaiaGPS/iPhone 12 data points.
GPX / view map—Walking from one gate (the one to the west) to our connection’s gate (the one to the east)
GPX / view map—Flying from Chicago, Illinois to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (the GPS quit logging shortly after takeoff, and was intermittent for the rest of the flight. The track presented here is the Bad Elf GPS Pro+ track to about 15 km southwest of the center of O’Hare International Airport, then the FlightRadar24 data until just north of the Oklahoma City airport, and Bad Elf GPS Pro+ data from there to the end.)
GPX / view map—Walking within the terminal area of the Oklahoma City airport (the spike to the north is not real)
GPX / view map—Riding the bus from the terminal to the parking lot where my car was parked
GPX / view map—Driving from the airport