Acadia National Park - Part I

AhD and I had a FANTABULOUS time camping out in Acadia National Park this year. For Denise's challenge I have been writing an article for The Horses Maine, so I am quite "written out" right now, but I did want to tantalize my RAC friends with a smattering of pictures from my trip. Above we are gazing out over the landscape on the Around Mountain trail.Here we are, standing in front of the barns where AhD was stabled, just before heading out the very first evening. You can see some of the horse trailers behind me, but many of the trailers with living quarters are over in the camping section. I used the back seat of my truck as my "living quarters." :)
I just love this picture because it brings back the feelings of awe that I felt each time I was out on the carriage roads of this park. We squeezed in this ride just after a tremendous thunderstorm, when everything was still misty and dewy. It was pitch black by the time we arrived back at the stables. I wouldn't have been caught dead out on those trails without my guide Ulla, who has been going to Acadia for twenty years.
Here's my handsome guy standing on one of the MANY stone bridges we crossed.
Most of these bridges fall off very steeply on the downhill side, and many of them have beautiful waterfalls on the uphill side.Can you see the waterfall behind us?

We stopped for a snack on the Around Mountain trail. I removed AhD's bridle so he could freely enjoy some of the sweet fern that was growing beside the trail. Once he saw that I was having an apple, he was done with the sweet fern. I never worried that he would leave me on the trail; he was a gem the entire time. You can see I rode western on this trip. Harold should be pleased. I had planned on riding English most of the time, but left that saddle behind by mistake when we changed over my horse trailer for Ulla's. Actually, I only packed this "junky old" saddle so I could take a picture for Harold! Figured I'd be sore, since I have literally ridden in this particular saddle a handful of times in the past ten years, but it was not a problem, even though the ride this day alone was over five hours.

The views from the mountain peaks were awe-inspiring, to say the least. Note the coping stones here that line almost every carriage road. Sometimes the drop offs were so steep that I could not go anywhere near the edge without feeling a bit queasy.
I will leave you with one of the views near the tippy top of one of the two peaks we traversed on the Around Mountain trail. Enjoy!