Acadia '09 - Day Five

Finally - the Precipice. Doms, you might want a shot of vodka before reading this. Oh - right - you don't drink. OK, deep breaths. Ready? Go! Read Fast!!

In case you've never heard of it, the Precipice is a trail up Champlain Mountain and is the most challenging, best known trail in the park. For our last three trips, it's been closed. The first and third because we were there during nesting season for the Falcons, and they close it down for that. I have no idea why it was closed the second year. It just was. Overall, it's not as "woooo, scary" as people make it sound. There are a lot of places where you've got bushes between you and the plummet to your death. Plus, the view on the way up distracts you from scary thoughts.

Still, there are certainly a few spots where it's a bit nervey. Although you'd think the iron rungs would be such a place, for me - since we were going up, not down - it wasn't really that big a deal. After all, you've got four points of contact the whole way up when you're on the rungs. Much scarier is when the ledge you're on is barely wide enough for you to walk along and it slopes, ever so slighly downward - and there's gravel, and a little slickness from the recent rains. Those are the scary parts.

There are also a lot of just plain ole challenging parts - like bouldering up one long trail, and pulling yourself up over rock shelves and ledges. In all honesty, I think I was the most worried when about 2/3 up the trail, my arms were just worn out from all the pulling and I was wondering if I'd have the strength to pull myself up the iron rungs. But, once we got to the rungs, it seemed a lot easier to me from there. Probably because I knew we were almost to the top and I was going to make it.

One of the rewards of making this climb is having your picture taken here.For those of you who can't read it, the bottom line says "People have died on this trail!" That would be a good sign to have at the beginning of the trail....before you start - wouldn't you agree?

Once at the top, a lot of people sat and enjoyed picnics that they carried up with them. I would have enjoyed doing something like that as well - to sit and enjoy these views - but there ain't no way I was going to add even a few more ounces of weight to have to haul up that mountain other than my own body weight and the weight of my water bottle. So, no, in this case, I didn't take any knitting with me. I plan to be several pounds lighter the next time I climb it, so maybe I can spare some room for a sock or scarf in progress on that trip.

The walk down is really very easy. So, so, so much easier than going down the Beehive. Nice, long flat rocks, instead of bouldering down. On the way down, we saw the boat the two girls were taking out for their whale watch - it's that tiny little speck in the distance.

Also, you can see main stree in Bar Harbor from up there - we were staying in a little B&B off that street, so that was cool - kinda like spotting your house from the plane.Of course, after it was over, we stopped at the Thirsty Whale, for a drink in our favorite beer garden, served by our favorite bar tender, who just so happens to also be a knitter. The poor SigO - he thinks we're taking over the world. His words to God's ears!

I can't wait to do this again next year!!