My friend and climbing partner Deb decided last minute that she wanted to do a climb trip for Memorial Weekend and asked me if I was interested. Sure! We decided on Acadia. Acadia was my very first climb trip two years ago. I had gone with a couple of close friends and did a 3-day intense rock climbing course. It was an awesome trip, but I didn't get to see a lot of the park besides the two major climbing areas (Precipice & Otter Cliffs). This time around, the plan was to spend one day each at Precipice & Otter Cliffs and then two days of exploring and hiking in the park. I was actually more excited about the hiking than the climbing!
Day One had a significant chance of showers in the afternoon, so we decided to do some hiking inland. We fueled up first with a nice breakfast of blueberry pancakes. The trails were mostly wooded and led us to rocky summits with 360 views of the park. We summited Mount Sargent and Mount Penobscot. I didn't think I had a second summit in me, but Deb is a great motivator.
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| Summit of Mount Penobscott |
Day Two was mostly sunny and we decided to climb a 5.6 multi-pitch trad route in the Precipice called Story of O. Deb had led this route before and remembered each pitch having a heady crux, but she felt up to the challenge & I was happy to follow. This was hands down the hardest 5.6 I've ever climbed. Super fun, but I'm glad I didn't try to lead any of the 3 pitches. My calf muscles were also pretty stiff from all of the hiking that we did the day before.
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| Story of O (5.6) |
Day Three was cold and mostly cloudy, but no rain in the forecast. It was 40 degrees when we woke up, but we decided to layer up and brave Otter Cliffs for the day. We made it to the cliffs around 9am and anchored 3 ropes. One of them was our escape route on an easy 5.7 called The Flake and the other two were hard 5.10's: Peak Performance (5.10) and A Dare by the Sea (5.10d). The last time I was at Otter Cliffs, we were belaying from the top of the cliff, but I liked this set-up better. We rapped down to the base of the cliff and belayed from there. I got the two 5.10's mixed up and started on the 5.10d first. It was super pumpy and technical, especially when you got to the 10' long finger crack section. I worked that section for awhile, but couldn't get through it and lowered down. I was a little discouraged, but determined to try it again. I worked the other 5.10 first, which had an awkward crux, but the rest of the climb was fun. Feeling a little more accomplished, I tried the 5.10d again and managed to pull through the finger crack section. It wasn't pretty, but I finished it and it felt great! I'd love to rework that route again someday with tape on my fingers.
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| 3 Ropes set-up on Otter Cliff |
Day Four was a little rainy in the morning, but it was supposed to clear up by afternoon. It was our last day in Acadia and we decided to head down to the most southern point of the island to check out the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse and do some exploring around that area. We did a couple of small trails near the lighthouse that lead to the ocean and by then the sun was out. Deb really wanted me to climb the Beehive on this trip & we managed to squeeze that it in right at the very end. With the sun out, the rock and iron rails were dry & we summited just before dinner time. For someone used to climbing with a rope, it actually felt pretty sketchy. One slip or stumble, and you could fall 500 feet to your death. After scrambling down the back trail, we grabbed one final meal before the long drive back to Boston. It was an action packed, exhausting, but fun 4-day adventure.
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| Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse |
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| Climbing the Beehive |
