Acadia Advice

My girlfriend and I are travelling to Acadia next week (6/12-6/19) to climb. We are looking to get some insight on a few things before we go.

Route Suggestions:

We are both relatively new to trad climbing (<3 years) and we climb 5.9 and 5.7 conservatively. Any suggestions on some good classics to get on?

A few on our tick list so far:

Boys from Bangor 5.7
Gunklandia 5.7
Story of O 5.6
Standard Route 5.6
Bartleby 5.8
Crack of Serenity 5.7
Wafer Step 5.5
Madame Lebois 5.6
Full Sail 5.6
Old Town 5.7
Morning Glory 5.8
Gargoyle 5.8
Whaleback Crack 5.7

Also, I'd like to get on some more difficult sport routes but it's difficult to differentiate sport routes in the guide book. So far all I have is House of Detention 11d. Any suggestions on good sport routes?

Grade difficulty:

In the guide book we have (Rock Climbs of Acadia by Grant Simmons) it mentions that a previous guidebook had rated all climbs one full number grade lower for the purpose of messing with travelling climbers.

We are accustomed to climbing at the Red and New River Gorges, where the grading is pretty cohesive between the two. Does anybody have any experience with the relative grades between the New/Red and Acadia?

I would like to get on a few climbs that would be pushing myself (Chitlins Corner, Head Arete), but I wonder how sand bagged they are.

Camping/Eating/Tides:

We have a couch surfer host set up but plan on camping a few night also. Blackwoods looks like the most central location to the climbing, any insight on this?

Any suggestions on good restaurants in Bar Harbor?

Tides. I am tide noob. How much of a concern are the tides when climbing at Otter Cliffs/Great Head. Will the base of the routes be underwater at times? Are they unclimbable at times?

Thanks in advance for information! Anything advice at all would be much appreciated!

I'll comment on the routes I know about- Head Arete is a brilliant climb,,I would not really consider it a true sport route since there are some gear placements. It is intimidating for sure and if surfs up, you'll get wet at the start.

Chitlin' is another great climb, well protected with some work and sustained.

maybe some peregrine issues at Acadia..check with NPS

Peregrines are not impacting most of the areas that are in the guidebook (Pleasure Dome over by Jordon Pond is the only one I think).

For the most part the grades aren't really sandbagged but they are stiff (not going to be fluffy like Muir Valley :-) ).

Your list is pretty good. Chitlins is NOT a sport climb. You might try Rusticators a bit left - crux is well bolted and the trad part is ~5.8. Another fully bolted pitch is Fingers on a Seascape directly above Old Town. Short but nice (if you like crimpy face). A great link up is Old Town -> Fingers -> Return to Forever (RtF is a sustained 9 with a committing start which can be bypassed). Morning Glory at Great Head is a great adventure - not hard but committing.

Except during extreme high tide/high seas Otter is usually ok. Great Head - especially the rap in sections (Head Arete is not) - is more serious.

Blackwoods is ok - good location. No hot water or showers. The private CG just north of Bar Harbor (~3 miles) has hot water and showers and just about always has space (Blackwoods can get full).

Many resturants all over the spectrum. Need more parameters - $$ range - type of food, etc. before making recommendations.

Story of O, Bartleby, Old Town, and Boys from Bangor are all great.

When you top out Old Town take a look at "Fingers in a Seascape". It's a shorty 5.10 bolted face on the left side of the ledge. When you top out on that take a look at the 5.9 corner above, Return to Forever. It's got an unprotected 5.7 move off the ledge to start, but if you can make it through that the corner above is fantastic.

I'd helmet up for Boys from Bangor as there is some major loose rock above the line. All the rock that you climb is solid though. The first pitch of Boys from Bangor is also the only time I felt a bit sandbagged. It felt hard for 5.7. If you like slab climbing then the second pitch is rad.

I'd also recommend checking out Recollections of Pacifica while you're on the right side. It's a pretty climb and not hard for 5.9.

Balance Queen 5.8 on the lower wall was nice.

You should at least climb the first pitch of Chitlin's at 5.7, it is excellent. From there you can scope out the short 5.10 above. It's not sandbagged but getting out from under the roof may be harder for shorter folks.

I have not climbed at the Red but I did not feel the grades were sandbagged compared to the New.

Story of O was my first multi-pitch trad lead and it is awesome! Definitely get on that. Also, Recollections of Pacifica (5.9) is an awesome lead (probably my top 5 single pitch trad) and feels much easier than 5.9 (more 5.7ish). Bartleby is also great, but can be sort of awkward as it involves sort of humping your way up an arete, at least the way I did it, definitely worth it though. Two of my favorite routes in Acadia are 5.10s right next to each other (TR, can be lead) at Otter Cliffs, called "A Dare by the Sea" and "Peak Performance".
McKay's Public House is an awesome restaurant that's pretty affordable (get the pretzels and beer cheese!) As for tides, Otter is usually not of huge concern unless at peak tides, but the bottoms of climbs can be wet depending on how rough the waves are in my experience.

advice:
Double check or YERRR GONNA DIE!!!!!

Grades are stiff. Watch out on rusticator. If you fall at the second bolt you will land on a pointy rock. I would suggest green mt breakdown before the 2nd p of chitlins. and tides are very important at greathead. Posted in local paper or available on line. Have fun

I would say grades are comparable to The New and The Red especially if you have climbed at The Fortress at The Red. Granite climbing is always a little different from sandstone (more on your feet) but you will adapt quickly.

Definitely do Old Town then Return to Forever. Great granite corners.

Wafer Step and Recollections of Pacifica are also good one pitch routes, up and right. Recollections needs a small nut (I used a small brass nut at the crux way back when) but it is well protected with it and maybe 9-.

Everything at Otter Cliffs is good. You can lead but since you are starting at the top, why bother...

Sanllan wrote:advice: Double check or YERRR GONNA DIE!!!!!

Dude, you've posted this now in several threads with no content relevant to the thread. It's old and worn out. Please consider giving it a rest.

Climbing is awesome! Your gonna have a great time.

Quietside Campground is where I stayed two years ago and it was AWESOME! really close to Canada Cliffs. Not close to other climbing areas (20 min). But the campground was AWESOME!!!

Have a great time. My wife and I'll still talk about climbing there all the time. Save up money and eat at Paddys after a day of climbing Otter Cliffs. Best in memory!

Enjoy!

i stayed at blackwoods campground last week. $30, nothing special but nice and what you would expect for a family/national park type campground.

It is close to otter cliffs, which is crowded but seriously awesome (for views/position, actual climbing is good but nothing special) and worth the trip alone.

One thing that is kind of lame is the one-way park loop road, its kind of a long way back around to get to some of the other places.

I just did some top rope solo laps at otter for a couple hours, but it was worth the drive for sure.

the tide at its highest is at the bottom foot or two of the climbs there, so you'll want to go when the tide is out.

i've been running into Grant at cathedral a few times this spring, good guy.

christoph benells wrote:One thing that is kind of lame is the one-way park loop road, its kind of a long way back around to get to some of the other places.

To the OP: study the maps carefully. There are ways to eliminate going around the entire loop for some (but not all) areas.

Marc801 wrote: To the OP: study the maps carefully. There are ways to eliminate going around the entire loop for some (but not all) areas.

I second this. Otter Cliffs has a short-cut in and out from Rt 3 and you you can use the same exit to avoid driving the entire loop after climbing at the South Wall.

Have a blast, your tick list looks like a good one!

ClimbLikeAGirl wrote: I second this. Otter Cliffs has a short-cut in and out from Rt 3 and you you can use the same exit to avoid driving the entire loop after climbing at the South Wall. Have a blast, your tick list looks like a good one!

Not quite the same exit. For Otter you want to use the Otter Cliffs Road off of 3. At the picnic area (after you cross into the park) go left then right on the 1 way loop road. Park at the overlook for Otter. Afterwards continue for ~1/2 mile on the loop road and go right (opposite the Fabri Memorial) back to the picnic area.

For the Precipice (South Wall) get on the 1 way loop road at Sieur des Monts and go south (~1.5 miles) to park. After climbing continue ~1/2 a mile to just before the entrance booths. Go left and after 100 yards you come to a cross roads. Go left again (Schooner Head Road) and you are back on Rt 3 after ~2.5 miles. Straight ahead at the cross roads you can park at an overlook and scramble down to Anemone Cave (a hidden gem that the park has tried to hide) or you can go right at the cross roads and park for free access to Sand Beach and/or Great Head.

There is only ~1.5 miles of the Loop road that you can't access for free. That gives you easy access to the main parking lot at Sand Beach and Thunder Hole (also some great undocumented climbing - "Appealing Ceiling etc" and bouldering) but any of that is available with a <30 minute walk without going through the toll booth.

Opening moves of Old Town are not to be taken lightly. Heads up but fun moves! Not to be missed if there isnt a line :-)

My wife and I were only able to climb at the Precipice when we went there, but it was wonderful climbing and I'm sure you'll have a blast.

Old Town and Return to Forever has some great climbing at pretty consistent grade and we thought it was the best moderate climbing at the cliff. Chitlin corner is great as well and probably reasonable for you based on your post.

I feel like it's hard to compare grades between Acadia and the Red with different rock types, but I don't recall any routes feeling sandbagged. Also, not many of the moderate routes have wide sections which usually add to the sandbag factor for a lot of climbers.

We had planned on getting on Story of O early on in the day, but it continually had a huge line of large beginner groups so we just got on all the other classics that were empty. Finally ran up it as the sun was setting and weren't that impressed. I recall it being very short steps of worthwhile climbing in between large sections of low angle and very easy terrain and felt like the popularity is because it's a 3 pitch at only 5.6, not the quality of climbing. If it's open hop on it, but I didn't feel that it was worth waiting in line for.

Awesome, thanks for the replies guys! So much good information! We've added Recollections and the Old Town -> Fingers -> RtF linkup to our list!

I found this website for tidal information: me.usharbors.com/monthly-ti…

Does anyone know at what height (ft) the base of the climbing will be hazardous to access?

At high tide the base of the climbs at otter are wet.

Adam Lee Mills wrote:Awesome, thanks for the replies guys! So much good information! We've added Recollections and the Old Town -> Fingers -> RtF linkup to our list! I found this website for tidal information: me.usharbors.com/monthly-ti… Does anyone know at what height (ft) the base of the climbing will be hazardous to access?

At a full moon, the high tides are highest. Check out the lunar cycle for when you plan on going!

The tops of some routes at Otter have a steel(?) staple for an anchor. These were new to me on my first visit. Be prepared by learning how.