Top 5: Things to do in Acadia National Park

Acadia National Park is the only United States national park in New England and a go-to destination for everyone from young thrill-seekers to families looking to go camping to older couples hoping to chow down on some lobster and enjoy the sights.  I have been leading adventure tours through this amazing park, located near Bar Harbor, ME, since 2008 and have been visiting Acadia since the early 90's with my family.  Although tiny in size when compared to the behemoth parks out west, this protected enclave on the Maine coast is one of the coolest places on the planet to explore.  Below are five of my picks for activities to enjoy on a trip to Acadia. Top 5:

1. The Beehive - Harrowing yet manageable cliffs, limitless views of the Atlantic coast, getting up close and personal with some native creatures, and juicy wild blueberries are some of the highlights of this classic New England hike.  The parking lot is overflowing by about 9AM in the peak season so I always get an early start and beat the midday crowds.  While not recommended for those of you who are afraid of heights, I have seen the Beehive (so named because the rocky peak resembles the cone shape of a beehive) convert even the staunchest city lover to a full blown granola eating tree-hugger.

   

2. Ocean Kayaking -No trip to Acadia would be complete without checking out the rocky coast and surrounding islands and by far the best way to do that is to strap on a skirt - kayak skirt, to keep the 39 degree water out of your lap - and hop in a kayak.  While you could rent a 'yak and bring out your inner Magellan, navigating the coast is best done by a local professional as they not only know the best spots to visit but know how to deal with inclement weather, distracted lobster boats, and vicious, killer seals.  I recommend a full-day excursion so that there is time to get out on an island for lunch and get to see some of the coast.

   

3. Thunder Hole and the Coastal Park Loop - A short walk from the base of the Beehive will get you to Thunder Hole, a naturally occurring phenomenon where waves crash into the cliffs and are directed up through a chimney in the rock to create a massive sound and huge spray.  Keep exploring the coastal road for tremendous views, little hiking paths, and other fun stuff, like the millions of snails crawling along the endless coast.  The best way to do this is on bike but if you are a bit tired from your other adventures a ride in a car with the windows rolled down is a close alternative.
4. Pop over to the Jordan Pond House for Pop-overs - This upscale restaurant, nestled between some mountains and the aptly named Jordan Pond, serves seriously gourmet meals while still allowing patrons who have not showered or changed their grimy camping clothes in days to sit inside or out in the amazing and scenic back lawn.  Every meal comes with a pop-over and fresh jam; there is really nothing better after days of campsite cooking.  Before or after your meal it is mandatory (not really, but really on my trips) to walk the two mile or so loop of the Jordan Pond.  It is relaxing, filled with wildlife, and a great way to burn off those pop-overs.

   

5. Take a dip at Echo Lake - It is mid July, 90 degrees in the sun, you are sweaty and disgusting from camping, hiking, biking, and not showering.  The ocean is too cold to jump in.  Echo Lake is calling.  While there are numerous bodies of fresh water that you could go to in Acadia, I have always been partial to the shores of Echo Lake.  The water is clean and refreshingly cool, there is a sandy beach as well as some grass, and friendly people from all walks of life come here to lazily unwind.

   

Those are my top five, which may not necessarily be yours so do some exploring, leave the beaten path, discover new things, and have some fun in the outdoors this summer!  Oh, and do not forget to enjoy a lobster or two, fresh from the Maine coast.

What is Billy up to?

Our head instructor, Billy Ackerman, does not lead a boring life.  In the ten months of the year that Water Monkey Camp is not going on he is down in Jacksonville Beach, Florida making the most of good weather, sandy beaches, and limitless watersports activities. Recently he has been hooked on kiteboarding.

Kiteboarding is a super versatile sport, mixing a bit of wakeboarding, some surfing, and some serious kite flying skills.

Kiting makes impossibly huge airs and tricks possible due to the power of the massive kite.  Most of learning how to kite is mastering the kite itself; the board skills will follow.

All of Billy's kiting adds to his ridiculous board skills so that he will continue to be a one of a kind instructor to our campers each summer.

We are lucky to have Billy at Water Monkey Camp and he says he is pumped to get back to NH in a few months.  Keep on shreddin' Bill.

An innovative new snow sport or the next "mini-ski"?

I found this new product online and thought it would be a great follow up to our last post about obscure water sports. http://vimeo.com/35672273

This product is essentially two miniature snowboards with normal bindings.  Personally, I think that the novelty would wear off in about two runs and I would be strapping back in to my full size board.  Anyone who hit the slopes in the late 90's/early 00's would remember the mini-ski fad where mostly kids and young teens traded in their skis for tiny planks the size of their boots with a leash and no poles.  This new product is the same theory, just for snowboards.  Just as mini-skis came and went quickly I just do not think that the dual board has a viable path forward.  Miniaturizing the snowboard means less edge (less control) and less surface area (not good in powder), while splitting the board in two means your front and back feet can move independently (less stability, especially at speed).  As their video shows, it may be fun in the park for a bit, that is until you spread-eagle a rail and remember why it was you switched from skis to a board in the first place.

Obscure watersports activities

Companies have promoted some pretty outrageous boating sports over the years.  I have to admit that I am a sucker for cool/new/interesting activities and I will try just about anything given the opportunity.  Whether I would introduce them to my campers, though, is another story. I was inspired to write this entry after seeing the below promotional video online.  The product was so preposterous that I decided to dig into my memory banks for a few others from over the years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-VgA32p_6fE

I'll get to the subwing in a couple of paragraphs.

First on my list of disastrous boating activities would have to be the flying tube from around 2006.  On paper it looked awesome; who doesn't like getting launched into the air while tubing?  Achieving sustained flight behind the boat seemed like a no-brainer and countless families, organizations, and boating enthusiasts cleared store shelves of the new item.  About a month into that boating season it was clear that the flying tubes were actually unstable death traps.  The tubes would take flight, as advertised, but once airborne could not be controlled and unpredictably plummeted, inverted, and crashed at high speeds into the water.  After two reported deaths, broken bones, collapsed lungs, and countless face and body lacerations, the manufacturer issued a voluntary recall of the fledgling product.  Various new models have been released since then with added safety features but the stigma has remained and the flying tube has not been able to gain widespread popularity.

The next boat sport that came to mind was one from the early 90's called disk boarding.  I honestly cannot find a picture or any evidence that it ever existed on the web but I distinctly remember it from my early days of learning how to waterski at camp.  It was just a slightly concave disk like you would use to go sledding but it had a plastic hitch to lock the rope handle into for when you were sick of holding on.  Basically all you could do when moving was spin in circles and attempt to go to the left or right over the wake which was made difficult to nearly impossible due to the lack of fins.  Disc boarding was not dangerous but just a massive dud of a sport.  I'm sure someone else has heard of this, anyone?

Not all dumb watersports ideas need be motor-boat reliant to make this list.  I am including the floating iceberg climbing tower/slide because like the flying tube it just was not properly thought out by its designers.  I was at a camp fair in 2009 when I saw a picture of one at another camp's booth.  The director told me that he loved the iceberg at his camp - he chose to purchase a 25 foot high variant - save two major issues.  The first was that he needed about fifty of his staff members to carry it out of storage each season because of its cumbersome size and weight.  The second, more important, issue was that the number of broken arms and ankles at his camp skyrocketed in the first summer that he had the floating iceberg.  Apparently the climbing rungs were designed in such a way that if a climber lost his/her grip and fell it was easy to get caught on the way down and break whatever appendage got hung up.  The manufacturer has since corrected this design flaw and under careful supervision the floating iceberg is a great toy for camp groups.

OK, on to the subwing.  Honestly my first reaction was "that thing looks awesome, I can't wait to try it, where can I buy it?"  Then I thought a bit more.  Here are my three big concerns:

1. At any kind of speed, even under 10 mph behind the boat, you would need some impeccably clear water in order to see approaching obstacles.  I foresee large numbers of tangled lines, smashed faces, and, probably, some drowning/crash related fatalities.
2. Up in New Hampshire our lakes make it up to about 80 degrees by the middle of the summer - on the surface.  Anyone who has dived down five or ten feet knows that the temperature plummets quickly.  Once you are in water that is steadily in the low 60's or 50's you lose body heat at a rapid pace.  I do not see subwing participants spending an extended amount of time at great depths before there are chattering teeth and blue lips.
3. The subwing effectively makes the boat spotter irrelevant.  Spotters make sure that skiers or wakeboarders have not fallen or let go or gotten hurt.  With the subwing the spotter may not see a rider let go (or smash into an underwater rock) and by the time he/she is noticed the boat may be quite a distance away.

Almost certain death is enough reason to lead me not to offer the subwing to my campers but if I can get my hands on one this summer I will certainly give it a go (and get some video).  The subwing could be the future of boating fun; I guess if no one ever tossed their surf board behind a boat and rode the wake two feet from the prop we would never have had wake surfing, right?

Extreme Crutching

After breaking my leg two weeks ago I was told I could not walk on it for at least eight weeks.  That is an eternity for an adventure-seeker such as myself, especially when the weather is as unseasonably warm as it has been this spring.  I am mostly couch-bound while my friends are out biking, kite surfing, rock climbing, and enjoying the outdoors and just generally rubbing it in my face. Well I may not be able to walk but I certainly cannot let everyone else have all the fun.

Extreme crutching - noun - the adventure activity defined by making simple movement on crutches exponentially more difficult by adding spins, maneuvers, and obstacles whenever possible.

Extreme crutching is not for everyone.  In fact, it really should not be for anyone, but that has not deterred me thus far.  My major obstacle is my 13 year old yellow lab who manages to get in my way whenever I try to move around the house.  His erratic and senile movements make my extreme crutching that much more exciting as I never know how or if he will move as I hobble towards him (most of the time he continues in his normal state of sleeping and snoring).  Stairs and inclines are also fun, as is hopping in and out of the shower without pulling down towel racks or slipping and breaking other bones.

So maybe it is not as adrenaline pumping an activity as many others but sometimes you've just got to improvise!