Acadia has been on my to-do list for over a year now, and I am glad to say it is finally checked off. @ChrisRocco and I decided to leave on a Friday at 8pm, to arrive at Acadia Mountain at around 3am, so that we would have time to hike to the peak and catch sunrise.
As we were climbing the smells of the forest were unbelievable. It legitimately smelled like a candle or air freshener it was so strong. As we made our ascent it was pitch black, and we had little idea of what was in store. Once we reached where the map told us was the peak, we waited for the sun to reveal our landscape.
Throughout the car ride to Maine, we were under the impression that we were going to experience a good amount of rain throughout our trip, but we were pleasantly surprised with a beautiful spread of fog.
As the sunlight began to illuminate our surroundings mountains began to come into view, along with lakes that we had not acknowledged on our climb up. The fog made it a bit harder to capture the miles and miles of park, but it helped in adding depth to our skies and the landscapes.
We then checked into the Anchorage Motel, and got a little sleep.
Still delirious from sleep deprivation, we met up with @SomeGuy , who had been staying in the park for the past week. We drove around the park, and to the peak of Cadilac Mountain to capture some more images. The cloud cover and wind made it difficult to shoot, but the dramatic lighting made it more interesting.
That night we made our way out to a lighthouse, that was boasting a red light. From the rocks we could capture the extent of it's beam among the stars that were very visible. The tide began to come up, and we were tired, wet and cold. We decided to turn in for the night, so that we could catch sunrise the next morning.
Sunrise was decent, but it was colder the second day, and we were ill-prepared for this type of weather. I also realized that water had gotten inside of my camera screen and my 24mm when a large white dot was appearing on every picture. We decided to lighten our moods with some pancakes in Bar Harbor.
@SomeGuy left after that to return to DC, so @ChrisRocco and I drove around and shot for the rest of the day. The temperature restricted our hiking, but we got a few shots of the roads with the fall foliage, so I would still call it a successful day.
I would recommend this park to anyone looking to capture the fall foliage, but make sure to make it during peak foliage. During this trip we missed the foliage by about a week, and a lot had fallen off of the trees by the time we arrived. Still well worth it, and I will be returning next year.