Acadia National Forest, Bar Harbor Maine, an EQ Tale of Trial by Fire

Bar Harbor Maine
Acadia National Forest - an EQ Tale of Trial by Fire


"Rustification" it was called, when the very wealthy came to Bar Harbor Maine and Maine's Mount Desert Island, a little under 200 air miles Boston, to spend their summers. One of these was the philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who contributed along with many other people (including the tens of thousands of volunteers who care for it today), to developing and preserving Acadia National Park.


At 47,000 acres, Acadia National Park it's one of our smallest, yet one of the most visited. From these photos, you will see why.

MAP OF ACADIA NATIONAL FOREST
From our cruise to Bar Harbor (and beyond)

Map of Acadia, Map created by en:User:Aude


At first, the forest looked like this (evergreens), though it included the granite ledges of the Schoodic Peninsula across Frenchman Bay, and a number of smaller offshore islands, notably Isle au Haut in the Gulf of Maine. But Mount Desert is where most of it is. It contained more than 20 lakes and ponds, and an extensive network of gravel carriage trails, 17 granite bridges, and two gate lodges, thanks to the Rockefellers, most of which is there today.

Here is what it looked like back then:



Or perhaps even a tree of color here and there, like this:

THE GREAT MAINE FIRE OF 1947

Then, on October 17, 1847 a fire broke out, during a dry year, that destroyed much of Maine's forests, including 10,000 acres of Acadia National Park. Now here's the miracle. As is nature's way, the regrowth, allowed to occur naturally, included a host of maples and other colored trees, changing the appearance entirely, and for the better, most of us would say.

If you have gone through a "trial by fire" and find yourself to be, shall we say, more colorful, more enriched, more beautiful, you can relate to this, for this is what we see today, "after the great fire."





Our trip to Bar Harbor included a tour of the Acadia National Forest, ending in a lobster bake at Bar Harbor Inn.

Having grown up in the Mid West, the sights and scents and sounds of fall are manna to my soul.

All hail the Maine Lobster!

Our New England/Canada Fall Foliage Cruise on NCL's the Norwegian Majesty was a spetacular success. Next time we visit Saint John, Bay of Fundy. Stay tuned.