Nathaniel, Hannah and I went camping in Acadia National Park following my thesis defense. I loved falling asleep with only a thin tent between me and the expanse of the universe.
It had always been my dream to camp in Maine, and I was not disappointed. The weather was gorgeous. Acadia is a stunning National Park, completely surrounded by ocean. Nathaniel took Hannah and me up the most daring trail on the whole of Mt. Desert Island, called Precipice. I am self-admittedly uncomfortable with heights, so how I managed to scale Champlain Mountain remains a mystery to me. I do remember that I decided that I would never look down. The trail is posted with numerous signs that warn daring adventurers that people have died climbing this trail. I know why.
Needless to say, none of us wanted to go down Precipice. Given that my entire body was shaking from fear by the time that I reached the top, it most definitely was necessary that we go down a different way. We easily hiked down Champlain on the Bear's Brook trail (why couldn't we have done that on the way up?) and quickly arrived at Sand Beach for a swim in the ice cold Atlantic. That was thermal shock.
My favorite trail was the Ocean Trail (simply named) that meanders around much of the south-eastern Acadia coastline. Thunder Hole was stunningly beautiful and Otter's Cove was picturesque as well.
Nathaniel, Hannah and I have a similar sense of humor and so we spent much of the five days laughing. Nathaniel thought it would be funny if there was a handicapped parking sign at the trailhead of Precipice.