hiking | Books and my backpack

On our first nice day in Maine’s Acadia National Park, Sue and I laced up our trail runners and headed up the South Ridge Trail to the top of Cadillac Mountain, the highest point on the north Atlantic coast.

All Trails rates the climb to 1,527 feet ”hard,” but it was a moderate uphill except for a few challenging rock scrambles. The trail burst out of the forest several times, mostly during the final mile of the way up. The path was root-bound in the forest and included flat-topped logs, sections of mud and puddles from recent rain.

At the top, the view entertained us and hundreds of other visitors during lunchtime. (Most had driven up using the park’s reservation system.) We also opted for a ice creams from the gift shop at the summit. There were even restrooms.

Acadia offers more challenging treks, including a Precipice Loop with ladders and narrow ledges that has been called ”technical.” There is also an alternate Cadillac Mountain trail that travels up a gorge and another that approaches from the north. If one mountain isn’t enough for you, Acadia offers more summit treks. Finally, if you don’t mind crowds, there is a gorgeous coastal walk that you can catch from the Park Loop Road.

New Hampshire’s White Mountains draw complaints from many Appalachian Trail thru-hikers, but attract legions of walkers seeking to enjoy the sights and challenges of day hikes. Known for its rugged, steep terrain, the area has been our home for six days as we climbed and descended five trails, leaving many more for next time.

The highest peak in the Northeast, Mount Washington offers more than 4,500 feet of ascent from its base and three ways to get to its 6,288-foot peak: on foot, on the cog railway, and by car. The climb was intimidating and the price tag of the train was too high, so Sue and I opted to drive our truck for $53—a fourth the cost of the train. It was a perfect day for 100-mile views after we squeezed by descending vehicles on the harrowingly narrow, cliffside road.

Later, at Mount Washington’s eastern foot, we popped into the Pinkham Notch Visitor’s Center, the starting point for the Tuckerman Ravine trail to the top of Mount Washington. From a network of paths, we took the Liebskind’s Loop, which overlaps part of the Appalachian Trail and lifted us high enough for a spectacular view from Brad’s Bluff, still well below Mount Washington’s peak. Mount Washington also holds the record for the highest wind speed ever recorded: 231 miles per hour, in 1934.

Northern New Hampshire and the Whites offer a host of trails, including paths to many of the peaks in the area. The difficult terrain kept us from trying the longer and more challenging routes. We chatted with an AT thru hiker who had diverted from the AT to the Mount Washington peak.

“How are the Whites treating you?” I asked him.

He rolled his eyes. ”When I look behind me, I can’t believe what I climbed. This (Mount Washington) was actually easier than most of the others.”