I
had bought the Car Trip Audio CD at the Acadia Visitor Center, popped
in the truck and started doing the Park Loop Road. I was really glad
I had bought it, at least in the beginning before I got bored with
it. The CD would have you stopping at every pull out and scenic
view. It explained what you were seeing and then you would move on
to the next scenic view. One of the scenic views had us stopping at
a place where there was a series of switch backs down to the rocks
where we could watch the waves. As this was my first ocean encounter
as the tide was coming in, I found it rather exciting. I must admit
though, stopping at every single pull out got a little bit old and
while the narrator was full of interesting facts, sometimes he did go
on a bit long. Side note: I only followed the CD for about half of
the Park Loop Road and ended up giving the CD to some fellow campers
who had just rolled into town.
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| Secret shoreline courtesy of the Audio CD |
One
of the trails I wanted to hike was called Ocean Path which ran
between the Ocean and the Park Loop Road. Quite the inventive name,
isn't it? It starts at Sand Beach and runs a 1 ½ miles down to
Otter Point. Most of Acadia's shoreline is granite. Sand Beach is
rather unique in that amid all of this granite, this beach is
comprised of sand made from shell fragments that were created by
thousands of years of pounding surf.
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| Sand Beach |
About
a mile down the path is Thunder Hole. Thunder Hole got it's name
because of the loud sound that the waves sometimes make when the
waves are coming in as high tide starts rising. The sound is quite
deep and sounds like far off thunder. It is made as the waves rush
in and create pressure so that the air that is trapped sort of booms.
Conditions have to be right for you to hear the sound. I heard many
stories of people who tried several times to get there and hear the
sound and failed in their quest. The ranger told me that I had the
best chance to hear this sound about an hour and a half before high
tide. I checked the weather and there were high surf warnings. I
figured that if I timed it right, the high surf would help and
chances would be good. Chances were not only good, but perfect.
Before I even got to Thunder Hole I could hear it booming. I lead a charmed life.
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| This is where the sound originates. Notice the walkway. For some reason they had it closed off |
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| And Boom!!! Glad I'm not on the walkway now |
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