I went on a Hawk Watch during my October hiking trip to Acadia National Park.  Call me a nerd, but I think hawks are interesting.

• Hawks see much farther than people do – and eight times more clearly.
• This keen eyesight plus their hooked beaks and taloned feet make them effective predators.  But they also pirate food.
• Female hawks are larger than males, sometimes twice so, and most pairs mate for life.
• The most common hawk in North America is the red-tail, but not all of its 14 subspecies have the distinctive coloration.
• Northern birds migrate south during the winter.

Which brings me back to the Hawk Watch.

Every year, from August to October, park rangers, volunteers, and visitors gather on the northern ridge of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park to count the migrating raptors.  The purpose of this data collection, to which Hawk Watches throughout the U.S. contribute, is to monitor the populations of hawks to ensure their preservation.

According to the National Park Service, there’s been a large increase in the numbers of bald eagles, peregrine falcons, and osprey compared to the 1970s. From the 1940s to 1970s, their populations were severely threatened by the pesticide DDT, which caused eggshells to thin and few young to survive. It was banned in 1972.

What do eagles and falcons have to do with hawks, you’re asking.  That’s another fact you should know:  “Hawk” is the general term for some 270 species of birds which are daytime predators.

Most of the migrating hawks we saw that day from Cadillac Mountain were sharp-shinned hawks.  “Sharpie west of Ironbound,” the Raptor Intern Delora would call out.  All binoculars would then search the sky for the speck.

Veteran volunteers were savvy about identifying birds and all of the islands in Frenchman Bay.  They had great equipment.  They were also warmly dressed and had snacks.

For the rest of us Raptor Ranger Lora had plenty of information and a tray of brownies. Visitors came and went; kids participating in the Junior Ranger program interviewed Ranger Lora.

You can learn more about what goes on at a Hawk Watch in Acadia National Park by reading the “Riding the Winds” journals, created each year by Acadia’s raptor interns.  This year Delora Hilleary, shown below with a raptor specimen, added stunning illustrations to her observations about the migrating raptors.

For more ideas on what to do when you visit Acadia National Park — including tips for the best lobster pounds and breakfast restaurants – visit OUR ACADIA.

Gauging the weather and what to pack is a key challenge for hiking in Acadia National Park in the fall, but the rest is bliss.

One reason is that during autumn the mountains on Mount Desert Island’s eastern side – in the areas of Bar Harbor, Ocean Drive, and Jordan Pond – are much less crowded.  We chose two of the most popular, Cadillac and Champlain, to hike this fall.

The West Face of Cadillac, according to Tom St. Germain, is the shortest, but most difficult, of the eight ways to hike to the top of Acadia’s tallest mountain.  During a mile of hiking, the elevation changes 1100 feet.  The granite face often seems to be at 45-degrees – not an angle of repose for a hiker.  We used crevices in the rock to be able to move across it. 

After rigorous stretches, we’d stop and look back over Bubble Pond. 

West Face Trail then intersects with South Ridge Trail to reach the top of Cadillac Mountain at 1532 feet.

For the descent we hiked down the South Ridge of Cadillac all the way to The Featherbed, a small glacial pond filled with rushes, the inspiration for its name. 

This 5.2-mile hike compensates you for all of its challenges by ending with a long stroll on a carriage road beside Bubble Pond.

For our hike to the top of Champlain Mountain, another popular peak, this year we chose an old trail that was new to us.  Beachcroft Path was built in 1915 as part of the Memorial Paths program created by George Dorr and was reinforced twenty years later by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Depression.  This history gave us a lot to think about as we climbed the stone stairs in switchbacks up the western face of Huguenot Head.

 Beachcroft Trail has great views of the Tarn, as well as Otter Creek and the Atlantic beyond. 

Huguenot Head then connects to Champlain Mountain, where you ascend first on more stairs, then across a sheer, steep west face marked by cairns.

The spectacular top of Champlain, overlooking Frenchman Bay at an elevation of 1058 feet, is the same reward hikers get when they climb the Precipice. 

With late afternoon sun spotlighting the Porcupines, we descended along the north ridge of Champlain on Bear Brook Trail. 

The walk back along the road past Beaver Dam Pond was a bonus.

To help you plan your itinerary for Acadia National Park, including the best restaurants in Bar Harbor and other nearby villages, visit OUR ACADIA.

This was one of the first photography tips we got as eight of us clustered around Ranger Bob Thayer, who would lead the three-hour program “Focus on Acadia,” an offering of the National Park Service at Acadia National Park in Maine. 

From mid-May to mid-October visitors to Mount Desert Island join park rangers on walks, campfire programs, hikes, and boat cruises to learn more about Acadia and build knowledge as naturalists.  Ranger-led programs range from tidepool school to birding for beginners.

This rainy October morning was the last time this season Ranger Thayer would be teaching his photography workshop, but neither that fact nor the drizzle that would turn to steady rain before we left the Sieur de Monts Nature Center impaired his enthusiasm.

Our group included a retired couple with tripods in tow, a point-and-shoot mom accompanying her daughters who were definitely “off auto,” and another park ranger who admired Thayer’s skills.  Fred and I were the novices.

The photography lesson began.  Think about light and composition.  You must know your equipment.  Anticipating the format in which you will present your photographs is an important first step.

Starting our field work, the park ranger helped us think through our first shot, as he set up his own camera on a tripod.  We were on Jesup Trail where a “cathedral” of golden foliage covered a new boardwalk. 

Then we looked through his viewfinder and realized this wasn’t any ordinary park ranger walking us through some canned curriculum.  We were in the company of someone genuinely talented. 

Bob Thayer, it turns out, is a naturalist, photographer, and author of three books, including Acadia’s Carriage Roads, which I had bought years ago. And here we were, taking it all in, courtesy of our National Park Service.

The instruction continued.  Walking alongside the Wild Gardens of Acadia,  Bob Thayer pointed out potentially interesting shots and convinced us that, despite the many “must see” spots to photograph in Acadia National Park, some of the best are the simplest.

Then we jumped into our respective autos and the caravan moved to our next destination.  The rain thwarted the customary stop at Sand Beach, which was an acceptable trade-off because this bad weather was giving us terrific light that made the foliage pop.  Our next stop was Monument Cove, where Fred took these shots.

After another stop along the coastline, we concluded at Jordan Pond, where we learned a “painterly” technique created by moving the camera on a slow shutter speed. 

In three hours each of us had received individual instruction and encouragement.  The “lecture” was informative for participants at every level.  I had even discovered parts of the park I’d never seen, despite my explorations during the last eight years.  

We said our thanks and goodbyes.  As some headed to the Jordan Pond House for popovers, Fred and I walked back to the parking lot with Bob Thayer.  I told him about my Web site to help people plan trips to Acadia, a hobby; I do marketing for a living.

That reminded me that the most powerful word in the marketing dictionary also applied to this workshop, which had been substantive, customized, and inspiring.

It was also  free.

Now, as a New Yorker for more years than I’ll admit, I’ve discovered a cocktail that combines those two great crops and makes me as happy as when I’m listening to a chickadee.  It’s called Maine Lemonade.

Maine Lemonade is a summer concoction created by spiking a glass of lemonade with blueberry vodka.  Adding extra ice cubes and a sprig of mint puts it into cocktail category.

The trick, though, is to use Cold River Vodka.  Cold River Vodka is a 100 percent Maine potato vodka that is flavored with Wyman’s Wild Maine Blueberries.  The flavor of these smaller, more intensely flavored berries is sweetened only slightly, which makes Cold River Vodka the perfect foil for the tartness of lemonade. 

And Cold River Blueberry Vodka is a “true” vodka at 80 proof.  Remember that as you cope with the fact that summer is, really, almost over.

(But don’t lament for long.  Plan a trip to Maine to see the fall foliage.  Ideas here.)

I’ll never feel the same about Haagen-Daz again.

Apparently I’m not alone in my assessment of MDI Ice Cream.  This is what all of Mount Desert’s best restaurants – including Red Sky, Havana, Café This Way, and Fathom – choose to pair with their homemade puddings and blueberry pies. Red Sky, in fact, has built a banana split with bruleed banana, maple-candied almonds and sun-dried cherries around three flavors of MDI Ice Cream.  When Downeast Magazine published their itinerary of what to do in Bar Harbor, their late-night recommendation for the active traveler was a visit to MDI Ice Cream.  And this summer both Food and Wine Magazine and Mother Earth News have included them on their lists of best artisan ice creams nationwide. 

Still, MDI Ice Cream is a low-key place that avoids sensationalism.  No lobster ice cream here.  Linda Parker founded it in 2005 in Bar Harbor, where there are now two retail shops, one on Main Street across from Havana and the other on Firefly Lane just off Main Street and across from the Village Green. After six years in Bar Harbor, she has also opened on Exchange Street in Portland.

Taking a look at their flavors, you have no trouble buying into her motto: Fearless Flavor.   Chili chocolate, blackstrap banana, candy shoppe, nectarine prosecco, nutella, mango jicama habanero, lemon basil, and cookies.  But, believe me.  They’re not weird.  They’re delicious.

Ice cream and summer vacation go together.  And, let’s face it.  You can’t take it with you.  Like the breeze on Sargent Mountain or the sound of the gulls over Bass Harbor, we’ll enjoy it while we’re here.  So, for now, move over Haagen-Daz.

Plan your trip to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.

We got lost.

Even at the risk of a wrong turn, the Claremont Hotel is a destination worth finding because, among the many excellent restaurants on Mount Desert Island, its restaurant is one of the rare finds that inspires diners equally with its cuisine and setting.

The Claremont Hotel is at the end of Clark Point Road in Southwest Harbor, then you must take a left onto Claremont Road across from the harbor.  There stands the grand summer resort hotel from 1883, known for its outdoor activities and spirited competition on the croquet court.  In fact, it offered such a sublime Maine coast summer experience that, in 1885, well-known landscape artist Xanthus Smith painted it in exchange for an extension of his stay there.  The restaurant is named after him, and today that painting hangs in the dining room overlooking the same view it depicts.

Even though we were seated at a table for two to enjoy both Somes Sound and Acadia’s mountains, as I began to consider my dinner options, I couldn’t help but notice the activity through a side window.  It was a good sign.  A woman from the kitchen was picking fresh herbs in the garden.

My selection of an appetizer, a goat cheese tartlet with roasted beets, featured a nasturium from that garden.  My partner chose a panzanella salad with mozzarella, olives, red onions, and red and yellow tomatoes.  Our candlelit dinner continued with grilled swordfish and pan-seared duck breast.  The fish was so fresh and the charcoal essence of the grilling so compelling that the mango/avocado salsa was only an enhancement, not the focal point of flavor it often is.  I received only one offer of a taste of the duck from my partner who usually volunteers to swap entrees. 

Chef Daniel Sweimler, who had stints as executive chef at two NYC restaurants, is well known today as one of Maine’s top chefs who feature local and organic in their foods.  Among his sources for produce for Xanthus is 14 Angels Farm in Cherryfield, owned by his mother.  Sweimler, who seems as popular with his staff as diners, changes the menu at Xanthus daily.

If you are visiting Acadia National Park for an anniversary or other milestone, consider dining at Xanthus.  Unlike most other restaurants on Mount Desert Island (even the best ones), you won’t see people there in their hiking boots.  In fact, you’re sure to see more than a few blue blazers.  Xanthus is the perfect place for dinner to mark a special occasion or to end a vacation in Acadia National Park.

To plot a day like the one I’ve described here, visit OUR ACADIA.  It offers itineraries, recommendations for guides and outfitters, and extensive reviews of restaurants throughout Mount Desert Island, including Bar Harbor.

As we were driving from Somesville to Bar Harbor on Norway Drive, we passed the famous Stone Barn on Crooked Road.  A red mini-van was pulled up front, and its owners, like increasingly bold pigeons in a park, got closer and closer to the barn as they snapped away until they were right outside the barn door.

Stone Barn’s 85-year-old owner Harry Owen doesn’t seem to mind, however.  He’s proud of the 128-acre farm on Mount Desert Island that is now permanently protected against development.  “I’ve always felt I was put on earth to protect this land,” Mr. Owen told Maine Coast Heritage Trust back in 2001 when the farm became protected by a conservation easement.  The cobblestone barn, which was built in 1820, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“To honor their historical importance and raise interest in preserving these impressive structures,” the Mount Desert Island Historical Society periodically offers guided tours of historic barns in Somesville and Bar Harbor.  Stone Barn, of course, is on the tour.  Nearby is the Peterson Barn on Norway Drive, which has also been featured.

Here is a view of the Parker Farm just outside of Somesville village from Somes Harbor.

Create your own tour to see the barns of Mount Desert Island.  Their appeal certainly extends beyond the historic.  Their simple forms attract painters and photographers, who count them among the special sights to see on Mount Desert Island.  For all of us, they link us to the land and remind us of values deep in our culture.

So, include Stone Barn on places to see when you visit Acadia National Park.  You can find more things to do by visiting OUR ACADIA.

And don’t be surprised if Harry Owen looks up from his mowing to give you a wave.

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Cool As A Moose^®

118 Main Street, Bar Harbor
288-3904

The iconic vacation souvenir is a T-shirt, and there are lots to choose from here.  Cool As A Moose even has its own line, reprieving a psychedelic design.  My favorites are downstairs in the Life is Good collection.  But why not branch out to, say, their Gluteus Maximoose boxers?

 Fiore

8 Rodick Place, Bar Harbor

801-2580

A relative newcomer to Bar Harbor , Fiore doesn’t have a shop; it’s a tasting room lined with mini stainless steel canisters of extra virgin olive oil and aged balsamic vinegars from which you sample blends and infusions of different flavors.  Then then pour and bottle it for you.  Although the traditional 18-year balsamic vinegar is most popular, I couldn’t pass up a fig-flavored balsamic.   

 Spruce & Gussy

12 Mount Desert Street, Bar Harbor

669-5309

If your tastes run more toward the contemporary, you’ll want to check out this new shop run by two local women.  They’ve brought together the work of artisans from throughout the U.S. and Mexico that convey color, craftsmanship, and whimsy.  From leather-bound journals to bibs to hand towels, something will catch your eye as an “adornment for self or space.”

 Kimball Shop & Boutique

135 Main Street, Northeast Harbor
276-3043

I can never get enough of ferns and scallop shells, so the barware, table linens, and serving pieces at the Kimball Shop hold endless appeal for me.  Furnishings range from elegant tableware to rugs and floor cloths that epitomize traditional summer style.  Their tent sale in the fall allows me to afford some of it!

 Hatched on MDI

360 Main Street, Southwest Harbor

244-9800

A native of Mount Desert Island, Heather Brown has a flourishing shop, with expanded quarters, that is as much a community center for year-round parents as it is the perfect spot to find a baby gift.  From “super cute” bathing suits to toys and books to the best Anti Bug Balm Stick by Badger, you won’t be disappointed, especially if you then pop in next door at the Quiet Side Café for a piece of blueberry pie.

Judy Taylor Studio & Gallery

1517 Tremont Road, Seal Cove.
244 5545

The western side of Mount Desert Island is blissfully undeveloped, with beautiful ponds, rolling meadows, and deep coniferous forests.  Here you can visit the studio of Maine artist Judy Taylor – by chance or appointment.  She works in oils, gouache, watercolor, and oils.  Although some formats are smaller (24 x 18”), there’s always an iconic strength in her work that makes her appealing Maine landscapes remarkably distinctive.

What else do you need to plan the perfect Maine vacation?  Whether you want tips on the best lobster pounds or kid-friendly restaurants…guides for kayaking or family rock climbing…or things to do on a rainy day, your best source is OUR ACADIA.

Last year we attended a fine illustrated talk by the Maine State Historian.  Among this year’s lecturers are prominent scientists, writers, and academics.  Similarly, concerts range from classical to blue grass. 

Thanks for The Claremont Hotel for this valuable contribution to the rich and varied experience of a Mount Desert Island vacation.  For more information, you can call the hotel at 207-244-5036 or visit www.theclaremonthotel.com. 

LECTURES

7-21 John Marin & Maine Modernism

Thomas Denenberg – Deputy Director & Chief Curator, Portland Museum of Art

7-28 The Rise and Fall of the Euro: Aspects of an Unavoidable Crisis of the European Union 

Michael Naumann – Editor & Publisher Cicero Magazine, Berlin

8-4 Understanding Climate Change and the Climate Change Debate

Andrew J. Pershing, Ph.D. – Research Scientist, Gulf of Maine Research Institute & Assoc. Professor, Univ. of Maine School of Marine Sciences

8-11 Voyages of Discovery: Polar Phytoplankton, Climate Change and the “Global Squeeze Play”

Dr. William Balch – Senior Research Scientist, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences

8-18 Writing for a Living and Other Mistakes I Have Made

Alex Beam – Boston Globe Columnist and Author

8-25 Miners and Sappers: Rethinking Lincoln’s Political Strategy Before the Presidency

Jamie McKown, PhD – Wiggins Chair of Government & Polity, College of the Atlantic

9-1 Poetry: A Dialogue between our Private and Public Selves

Betsy Sholl – Poet Laureate of Maine (2006-2011), Assistant Professor, Univ. of Southern Maine, Poetry Faculty, Vermont College of Fine Arts

CONCERTS

7-9 The Capital Duo – “From My Homeland.” – Music of Beethoven, Smetana, and Schubert

Duncan Cumming -piano, Hilary Cumming – violin

7-23 Frank Glazer – Distinguished Classical Pianist Artist in Residence, Bates College

7-30 Jerks of Grass – Blue Grass

Jason Phelps – Guitar, Mandolin, Vocals; Carter Logan – Banjo, Dobro, Guitar, Vocals; Melissa Bragdon – Fiddle, Vocals; Kris Day – Upright & Electric Bass, Vocals

8-13 The Sheepscot Jazz & Swing Company – Traditional and Dixieland Jazz

Dr. Barney Balch – tenor,alto & soprano trombones, Richard “Lefty” McAuslin – tenor & alto saxophones, Herb Maine – bass, Kenny Gaspar – piano, Billy Friederich – drums

8-20 Tom Snow Trio – Traditional and Contemporary Jazz

Tom Snow – piano, Ralph Norris – saxophone, Marshall Wood – bass

8-27 Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Hancock County – Music of Gilbert & Sullivan operettas

For more ideas for your Maine vacation, visit OUR ACADIA.  You’ll find reviews of Bar Harbor’s best restaurants, ideas for hiking and biking trails, and recommendations for boat cruises and kayaking guides.  There’s even a seven-day itinerary to help you plan your visit to Acadia National Park.

“A lobster is a lobster is a lobster.” 

“It takes someone with a rare talent to screw up a boiled or steamed lobster.” 

Whether or not that’s true about boiled lobster (overcooking does cause toughness), it’s certainly not the case with lobster rolls.  Granted, in Maine they all usually taste great.  However, in side-by-side comparisons, some lobster rolls do taste better than others.  Preparation of the lobster salad varies.  Freshness varies.  And some purveyors, most notably the Lobster Claw in Bar Harbor, will make you a lobster roll that features fresh, unadulterated lobster meat.  Naked, as they say.

Among the lobster pounds near Acadia National Park perhaps the biggest difference in any lobster roll is the very lack of the roll itself at Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound.  At this esteemed establishment, which has had four generations of family members working there, lobster salad is served on a dense white bread that tastes like what my mother used to bake at home.  Says Josette Pettegrow, whose parents started the business in 1956, “It’s the old-fashioned way.  It’s how my mother served lobster salad, and my grandmother before.” 

That’s the way Nancy Jenkins sees it.  Writing in the New York Times, she noted, “The lobster roll is a tradition, though not a very old one. My 75-year-old father, who has lived all his life in Maine, says he doesn’t remember eating a lobster roll until sometime after World War II.” 

So, when you visit Acadia National Park, consider trying a lobster salad sandwich at Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound.  It’s located on Route 3 just as you approach the bridge to cross over to Mount Desert Island.  You’ll see the sign and smell the smoke of the wood-fired cookers boiling the lobsters. 

For more dining options during your trip to Acadia National Park, check out the restaurant reviews at OUR ACADIA.  You’ll get tips on where to find the best crab bisque, great choices for a special evening out, and places to eat with kids.