Chewy Hikes Acadia

We took Chewy on a number of hikes in Acadia National Park. The first was around Lower Hadlock Pond, a 1.6 mile easy/moderate loop. The ground was soft and cushy, covered in layers and layers of fallen pine needles. 

Lower Hadlock Pond

Packed and ready to go! (Chewy's hiking essentials: water + treats)

Lower Hadlock Pond, like many ponds in the park, is used as a water supply, so no swimming is allowed. Chewy was not too pleased about this, and tried really hard to get into the water.

Come on, let's go swimming!

Eventually, he settled for the mud puddles that were along the trail.

There were lots of things to admire on the hike:

Chewy-sized pine trees!

Fat, stout mushroom

Part-frog tadpoles look weird.

Chewy loved walking across the planks and bridges...

Any fishies for dinner?

...but wasn't always so graceful.

Whoops!

There were some fallen trees on the path, but Chewy had no trouble jumping over them, thanks to our practice back home.

The Lower Hadlock Pond was a nice, relaxed trail, easy on both dog and human joints.

Next, we hiked the Cadillac Mountain South Ridge Trail up to the summit of Cadillac Mountain. It was about 4 miles to the top, and Chewy did very well, only needing a boost at the end where there is an iron rung for people feet.

Rock cairn trail markers

We chose a windy and relatively cool day for this hike, but Chewy still needed breaks to cool off every now and then.

Ahhh...shade.

As we climbed higher in elevation, the wind felt stronger, and Chewy loved feeling the breeze in his fur.

Come on, keep up!

There were spots where he needed some time to figure out the best path up the rocks, but we would point out some suggestions and he'd eventually climb up.

At the summit, we took an Italian ice and bathroom break for the humans at the concession booth, and Chewy got some time to rest and enjoy the breeze. He tried to find our car in the parking lot, but it was all the way at the bottom of the trail. I had planned a different way down along the A. Murray Young and Canon Brook Trails, but that was a BIG mistake. There were many stretches of giant rocks to climb up and down, and Chewy had to be carried for some parts because the height difference was too big for him to want to jump. Even though these were not on the list of trails "not recommended for dogs" by the park, I would definitely not recommend them unless your dog is super duper agile and confident. Eventually, we followed a trail out to the road and sent someone to fetch the car. Going down the original trail would have been much better, but oh well! At least it prepared Chewy for bedtime.

Sound asleep while we were still eating dinner

Next, we hiked the South Bubble Trail, a 2 mile loop passing through the top of one of the two "bubbles."

South Bubble is the mountainous bump in the middle right

One of the highlights of the trail is Bubble Rock, a giant rock that appears balanced on the edge of a cliff. I thought I might attempt for an awesome picture of Chewy pushing the rock, but when Chewy saw it, all he thought was, "Shade!"

Hello, giant rock!

Can you spot the Chewy?

The last trail we took Chewy on was the Gorham Mountain Trail. It was hotter that day, so Chewy took to the shade any chance he got. He especially liked spots with cool rocks to chill his belly on. 

My tree!

My rock!

The view of the ocean

Chewy at the summit

Hiking with Chewy meant lots of water breaks, snack breaks, potty breaks, poopie breaks, belly-cooling breaks, and "Can I pet your dog?" breaks, but overall, we all had a blast! Chewy probably never exercised so much in his life, but he was always ready for a new adventure after a good night's sleep.

Stay tuned for Chewy paradise!