The Rock Slide Descent of Doom

On our last full day in Maine we decided to go for a strenuous hike along the Giant Slide Trail. As the glaciers receded they left a ravine filled with a stream cutting through a series of large boulders. The Giant Slide trail ran through the woods, up the ravine, and then to the top of the second highest peak in Acadia.

The first thirty minutes of the trail were through the woods and then over a stretch of rocks covered by lichen. We'd never seen lichen before, but had learned a lot about how it "just wants to be" in Bill Bryson's amazing "A Short History of Nearly Everything". The lichen was surprisingly cool, and we continued on to the ravine.

The ravine was as advertized -- a giant rock slide. We quickly scurried up the ravine, moving from side to side across the stream as we followed the blue blazes laying out the path. Grumpus set a slow pace since he was nervous about losing his footing and plunging into the river. Although slightly agitated, Mumpus followed behind him. The best part was when we had to crawl through a small opening between two boulders. Grumpus couldn't fit with his backpack on the hole was so small!

We made it up the rock slide, crossed an access road and started our push for the top when things got really dark -- and interesting. The temperature dropped from 80 to 70 and all of the light left the forest. Mumpus thought that a storm was coming, but I was hellbent on making it to the top and urged us onwards. When we came to a clearing near the top of the mountain, we could see the rain and lightning coming our way. We pushed on, but then the rain came and we decided to turn back.

The pace down was slow as I decided to take very small, careful steps down the slick rocks. After twenty minutes of increasingly heavy rain, we reached the access road. We had a decision to make: we could either take the long and winding access road, which I estimated to be 8 miles, back to the main road and then hitch; or we could go down the giant slide in the rain. We didn't bring our phones with us, and we were nervous about what would happen if we fell, so we opted for the access road.

After walking around several bends and up a hill in the cold and pelting rain, Mumpus began to realize that we would be walking on that road for several hours in the rain before getting home. That wasn't appealing, so we backtracked and decided to be true toughs and descend the rock slide of doom in the rain.

Our progress was slow, but steady, and after some time we came upon a huge boulder leaning against the side of the ravine. The only way forward was through the tunnel between the rocks, but the path was dark, and Grumpus was scared. I said, "I bet that there is going to be something scary in the cave," as I took my first step. Almost immediately we heard, "just wait until you get to the other side." The voice of this caveman sounded just like Bryan, one of the owners of our B&B, and we thought that he had come to rescue us. As we approached the caveman, we realized that it was not Bryan -- and that he was dry. It was raining hard, and the caveman had been hiding and waiting for the the rain to stop before he headed to the top. After a short conversation and our decision to not take his picture even though we wanted to show it to all of you, we continued on our way, and he stayed in the cave.

Mumpus was cold, so I took off my smartwool sweater and gave it to her like a true gentleman. Near the bottom of the ravine, Mumpus took the lead and, in her haste, she slipped and her foot went into the stream. She reared her head back and made a terrible groan that sounded like a dying narwhal, but then she continued down the ravine.

We eventually made it to the car, drove back to the B&B and had a much needed shower. It was a true adventure!