Maine 2024 (October)
Ellsworth, Acadia National Park, and vicinity
Tuesday, October 8 through Thursday, October 17, 2024
We flew from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Bangor, Maine via Houston (Intercontinental Airport), Texas and Newark (Liberty International) Airport, New Jersey. We stayed in the Ellsworth area, including various hikes at Acadia National Park (ANP). We returned to Oklahoma City via Newark (Liberty), New Jersey and Chicago (O'Hare International Airport), Illinois.
I tracked the trip with a Garmin eTrex SE GPS receiver (GPSr), using my iPhone 12 (Gaia GPS app) as a backup (and the FlightRadar24 website). Most local-area trips were not recorded (since in-town trips are regularly ignored where we live).
NOTE: the downloadable GPX tracks are full-resolution files while those shown on the provided "view map" links are simplified (with minimal effect on geographic accuracy) for much faster viewing.
Original GPX tracks are unedited, except to break up separate events, and where necessary to fill in missing data. Altered tracks (other than cropped) 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 Downeast Maine.
- All GPS tracks / view map—The whole trip, including walking, driving, etc.
Tuesday, October 8
- GPX / view map—the drive to the airport in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- GPX / view map—walking from parking lot to aircraft at OKC Will Rogers International Airport, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- GPX / view map—flying from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas
- GPX / view map—walking/taking available transit within the Houston, Texas airport
- GPX / view map—flying from Houston, Texas to Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey (There are missing points near Newark. See next entry for better flight path.)
- GPX / view map—FlightRadar24's version of the flight from Houston to Newark
- GPX / view map—walking and taking the bus at the Newark, New Jersey airport
- GPX / view map—flying from Newark, New Jersey to the international airport at Bangor, Maine
- GPX / view map—walking from the aircraft to the rental car at Bangor, Maine airport
- GPX / view map—driving from Bangor, Maine to Ellsworth, Maine
Wednesday, October 9
Thursday, October 10
- GPX / view map—driving to the Compass Harbor Trail near Bar Harbor, Maine (we initially tried to go to the Jordan Pond area, but could see full parking lots from the road)
- GPX / view map—hiking the Compass Harbor Trail (ANP), plus part of the Schooner Head Path and other local roads (Topo)
- GPX / view map—driving to Sieur de Monts at ANP by an unintentionally circuitous route
- GPX / view map—hiking in the area around Sieur de Monts, including part of Jesup Path, Homans Path, and part of Emery Path (Topo)
- GPX / view map—driving to Northeast Harbor for dinner, then to Jordan Pond to see the spectacular aurora borealis display from there, then back to Ellsworth
Friday, October 11
- GPX / view map—driving to the trailhead for the Canon Brook Trail
- GPX / view map—hiking the Canon Brook Trail and the Cadillac South Ridge Trail (ANP) to the Blackwoods Campground (to await the Island Explorer bus) (Topo)
- GPX / view map—bus ride from Blackwoods Campground to our parked car
- GPX / view map—driving back to Ellsworth, with a brief stop at Sieur de Monts to walk through the Wild Gardens of Acadia
Sunday, October 13
- GPX / view map—driving to the Beech Mountain area (we found the Beech Mountain parking lot full, so went to Echo Lake instead)
- GPX / view map—hiking at Beech Mountain (ANP): Canada Cliffs Trail (starting near south shore of Echo Lake) to the Valley Trail to its overlook of the south end of Long Pond, back to the Beech South Ridge Trail to the summit, then down along the west side of the Beech Mountain Loop Trail, and back via Valley & Canada Cliffs trails (Topo)
- GPX / view map—driving to Southwest Harbor for dinner, then back to Ellsworth
Tuesday, October 15
- GPX / view map—driving to the area near the Parkman Mountain parking lot (we tried again to find parking near Jordan Pond, and failed again)
- GPX / view map—hiking on carriage roads to Waterfall Bridge, then back to the newly-refurbished (after being destroyed by a summer storm several years prior) Maple Spring Trail to the Sargent Mountain South Ridge Trail to the Hadlock Brook Trail back down to the Waterfall Bridge and back to the car via carriage roads. Probably because of the only-recent reopening of the Maple Spring Trail, we saw no one else from the intersection of Maple Spring & Grandgent trails until we reached the Waterfall Bridge again! (Topo)
- GPX / view map—driving to Northeast Harbor for dinner, then back to Ellsworth
Wednesday, October 16
Thursday, October 17
- GPX / view map—driving to Bangor International Airport in Bangor, Maine
- GPX / view map—walking from the rental car return to the aircraft at Bangor International Airport
- GPX / view map—flying from Bangor, Maine to Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey
- GPX / view map—walking & taking the bus at the airport in Newark, New Jersey
- GPX / view map—flying from Newark, New Jersey to O'Hare International Airport near Chicago, Illinois (FlightRadar24 track, because, for some reason, my GPSr failed to work on the aircraft, or on the ground at O'Hare)
- GPX / view map—flying from Chicago, Illinois to OKC Will Rogers International Airport in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (see also next track)
- GPX / view map—(FlightRadar24) (same as previous, but slightly more accurate path, except takeoff at O'Hare International Airport)
- GPX / view map—walking from the aircraft to the car at the Oklahoma City airport
- GPX / view map—driving back to the house in Oklahoma City
