Visiting Acadia National Park in 2022 (Page 4): Unfortunately high Covid transmission levels in the Northeast have led to the re-imposition of the indoor mask mandate in Acadia...

MDI Mainer

Unfortunately high Covid transmission levels in the Northeast have led to the re-imposition of the indoor mask mandate in Acadia National Park buildings and enclosed public transportation, regardless of vaccination status.

MDI Mainer

Check out this link for a comprehensive listing of parks and similar resources in Maine, but note that the list does not include the recently established Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument.

https://stateparks.com/me.html

MDI Mainer

Acadia National Park to install EV charging stations in some campgrounds. The park already provides charging stations at the park headquarters and on Schoodic Peninsula. The park plans to install charging stations in Blackwoods Campground this year and probably in Seawall Campground next year. "These would be an amenity that would be provided to campers . . . . [s]o, the fee that we already charge for camping would cover the electrical cost for the charging station” a park spokesman said.

David in Dallas Loc: Dallas, Texas, USA

Re: free charging stations in Acadia National Park. Unless they also install gas pumps to offer free gasoline, this act is against public policy. I have no problem with the authorities installing charging stations, but there should be a separate fee for using them, and it should cover the cost of the electricity dispensed.

MDI Mainer

David in Dallas wrote:

Re: free charging stations in Acadia National Park. Unless they also install gas pumps to offer free gasoline, this act is against public policy. I have no problem with the authorities installing charging stations, but there should be a separate fee for using them, and it should cover the cost of the electricity dispensed.

I disagree. Operating an electric vehicle confers a valuable public benefit (health and economic) by reducing emissions. The external costs of burning fossil fuels have been avoided by the fossil fuel industry since the dawn of the industrial revolution. What we need is a carbon tax to recover the fossil fuel burning related costs to society.

I will concede that electric vehicles can be problematic in the Maine winter. Without additional heat-pump technology, the cold has the same effect on an electric vehicle battery as it does on a camera battery and, unlike loosing a few shots, getting stranded in your car can actually be life-threatening!

David in Dallas Loc: Dallas, Texas, USA

Sorry. Your theory about the great damage of burning fossilk fuels has not been proven. CO2 is NOT a pollutant--it is the food of green plants, which we continually need more and more of (as food, not as a progenitor of alcohol). If your theory is correct and the World stopped burning fossil fuels, probably half the World would die of starvation.

MDI Mainer

David in Dallas wrote:

Sorry. Your theory about the great damage of burning fossilk fuels has not been proven. CO2 is NOT a pollutant--it is the food of green plants, which we continually need more and more of (as food, not as a progenitor of alcohol). If your theory is correct and the World stopped burning fossil fuels, probably half the World would die of starvation.

I'm not going to use this forum to debate with a climate denier. But for the fact that I started this thread I would have simply ignored your comment, which was entirely gratuitous and off topic.

David in Dallas Loc: Dallas, Texas, USA

I'm sorry you felt that way. I apologize for redirecting the topic.

MDI Mainer

David in Dallas wrote:

I'm sorry you felt that way. I apologize for redirecting the topic.

OK, no real harm done. Since Acadia is the sixth most visited park in the NPS system and a great destination for photographers (and I'm fortunate enough to live on one of the lakes in the park), I started a thread this year and last with the purpose of providing useful information for UHH members who might visit.

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

Electric cars relocate pollution from one site to another, in general fuel is being used to generate the electric, non combustion forms of generation also have problems

MDI Mainer

bobmcculloch wrote:

Electric cars relocate pollution from one site to another, in general fuel is being used to generate the electric, non combustion forms of generation also have problems

The point of this post was that if you are camping in the park and you have an electric car, you will now have a better option for charging it.

MDI Mainer

For all the popover and strawberry jam aficionados (myself included) the Jordan Pond House restaurant will open for the season on Wednesday, May 25th. And you can eat outside on the lawn overlooking the pond and Bubble Mountains.

Reservations (highly recommended) can be made here:

https://www.buzztable.com/widget/jordan-pond-house-restaurant?type=reservations

and peruse the menu here:

https://jordanpondhouse.com/menu/

More info:

https://www.acadianationalpark.com/park_highlights/jordan_pond_house.php#content

Photo courtesy of AllTrips Acadia National Park

MDI Mainer

Looking far ahead to the coming winter, it's likely that the Sand Beach entrance station will again stay open all year to collect entrance fees.

This from the Mount Desert Islander:

The Sand Beach entrance station was open this past winter for the first time ever, and the park collected $692,271 in entrance fees from Nov. 1 through March 31.

The cost of keeping the entrance station open for those five months was about $140,000, so the net revenue was roughly $552,000.

“Previously, the cost of collecting fees and enforcing the entrance pass requirement [in the winter] exceeded the cost of collection,” said Katie Liming, Acadia’s interim public affairs specialist. “As off-season visitation has increased over the years, it’s become cost-effective to collect winter fees.”

Most of the fees support operations at Acadia, but 20% support NPS operations elsewhere.

zarathu Loc: Bar Harbor, MDI, Maine

The best guide book for photographing the park is written by my friend Colleen Miniuk: https://www.amazon.com/Photographing-Acadia-National-Park-Essential/dp/0998785717/ref=sr_1_1?crid=24KCFSERKML3J&keywords=colleen+miniuk&qid=1653055759&sprefix=coleen+mini%2Caps%2C215&sr=8-1

She will tell you where to go, and when to go, and what time to go. Colleen was artist in residence two years and still comes back every October for a conference. She usually speaks at the MDI Photo Club when she is here.

Of course, she doesn’t tell you places where only locals can go, but that is as it should be.

MDI Mainer

zarathu wrote:

The best guide book for photographing the park is ... (show quote)

Agree 100%. I've been recommending her book to visitors on UHH for several years.

If you go to her website you can also get a digital edition.

https://www.photographingacadia.com/

Her workshops in ANP are usually in October but they sell out far in advance.