The downside to seeing the sunrise on a mountain top is driving there when the night is the darkest. It is worth the drive.
Once we got to the top of the mountain, we found a place to sit while the sun came up. We watched as the sky slowly changed colors and became brighter.
Finally, the sun peeked up on the edge of the horizon. Then it slowly climbed up until it was fully visible.
Once the sun was up, it got brighter. Then we could see all the people who were with us that morning to enjoy the sunrise.
On our drive to the Beehive, we got to see yet a different color from the sun as it rose. We were driving today because the buses do not start early enough to see the sunrise.
There are two paths to the top of the Beehive. The shorter trail goes straight up the face of the Beehive. It is a shorter distance, but a much more strenuous climb. We opted for the longer route. It was quite rocky. It also included many places where we had shorter vertical climbs.
We did make it to the top. The view was amazing.
Here is the 360 degree view from the top of Bee Hive.
Our next destination on the trail was a lake called The Bowl. The challenge was climbing back down the rocky path and those frequent steep drops.
Once you get to the bowl, you can see how it got its name. It is nearly round, and appears to be surrounded by small hills.
We saw some interesting plants on the trail. We enjoyed going down more than going up, but the rocky terrain certainly complicated our downhill trek.
After we finished the Beehive hike, we walked to our car to take a break. Then we continued our hike by walking to Sand Beach.
Sand Beach is a unique part of Acadia National Park. All of the other coast line of Acadia National Park is rocks, boulders, and cliffs. This is the only place with sand.
We enjoyed the beach for a while. Then we hiked across the beach to the Great Head Trail. This hike helped us to appreciate the comparatively flat hike on the long route to the top of the Beehive. Great Head is not nearly as tall as the Beehive, but you do a steep climb, then a long flat hike, followed by another steep climb. Sometimes the hike to the top goes down hill, so the total climb is more than the elevation of Great Head. This continues until you reach the top.
You get a marvelous view from the top. It was interesting to see a place where there appears to be a hole in the ocean because of the rocky shoreline.
As we began our return hike around the rest of Great Head, we found a shortcut across the middle of the peninsula. If we had known how steep the hike on the shortcut was we might have taken the longer route. This is a picture of part of the downhill climb on the shortcut.
We completed our hike of the Great Head Trail. Then we walked back across Sand Beach and back to the car.
After our hikes, we drove to the Hulls Cove Visitor Center. It was yet another climb. The sign in the parking lot warned that there were 150 stairsteps to climb.
We had an early 3 AM start to our day, so we had an early end of the day after the Hulls Cove Visitor Center. It ended up being a long day, but we were done before 1 PM.
We had lunch at the Travelin’ Lobster. It is a drive in type restaurant that has a reputation for long waits. We timed it just right. We were able to walk up to a short line and order in under ten minutes, rather than the 30 to 60 minute wait we had read about. Yes, we had lobster. It was a good, but not a cheap lunch. Between a long day and a big lunch, we were ready to rest when we got back to the motel.