The Precipice Trail - Acadia NP - 8/25/09

We had another fantastic week in Acadia last week. Cut a little short by the passing hurricanes on each end, but still awesome. We've been going to Acadia for nearly 15 years now and had never done this hike before. Most of the time it hasn't been an option since the trail is closed most of the summer for the nesting Peregrine Falcons. With my acrophobia this hike has always been a scary proposition for me anyway so the trail being closed was always a blessing in disguise. Last year the trail opened early and we talked about the possibility but I still managed to avoid the issue - with several other fantastic hikes. This year we had spent the first two days avoiding the rain from the passing hurricane (that never materialized during the day but kept us mopping up the tent at night). On Tuesday morning the weather was perfect. Natalie (my wife) has always wanted to do the hike and Jamie (our 14 year old daughter) had been feeling like she didn't want to be wasting the last week of her summer vacation with Mom and Dad and was in a generally foul mood - which I figured might be improved by a good scramble up a sheer cliff (which she has alway loved). So, let's try to put the acrophobia aside for today and get on with it...

For those that aren't familiar with The Precipice it is basically a vertical route up the cliffs on the East face of Champlain Mountain. I knew that there were iron rungs and rails on many of the tough stretches but wasn't sure how much exposure there really was (with nothing to hang on to). For some reason I'm fine with the heights as long as I've got a grip on something - but walking a narrow ledge with a sheer drop isn't so good (as I found out on the much easier Beehive a few years ago).

The lower section of the trail is a quick hike in basically to the base of the cliff. You very quickly come to the first obstacle which is a small ledge with a single rung to get up and a rail to grab over the top. It's quite a stretch and a good test for what's to come. There were actually several people who were ahead of us on the trail that took one look at this and turned around. We pulled ourselves up quite easily - although the ledge was wet and quite slippery on top which was a cause for concern for me. But on and up we go.

There isn't much to say about the rest of the trail. It is basically all straight up across a series of switchbacks up the cliff punctuated by about 100 rungs, railings, ladders, etc that go up the cliff face. The views over Frenchman's Bay start almost immediately and are absolutely spectacular. I had no problem all the way up with the exception of two open ledge traverses that had no handholds. These are like the sections on the Beehive that are a ledge a couple of feet wide with a vertical wall on the left and a sheer drop on the right <gulp>. Better yet, the first one was bisected by a crack the whole length of the ledge and the left of the crack was wet and "greasy" leaving only a small (seemed like inches) dry area to traverse directly above the edge. No problem though - sit down and drag across on my butt. I have no pride...

In short order we were over the cliff and stopped for lunch before we got to the summit with its crowds from the other easier trails. We had the mountain all to ourselves and it was spectacular! Heading for the summit there was one last set of rungs and then we were on top. After a short time soaking in the views we headed down the Bear Brook and East Face trails back to the road. We've done this descent (Bear Brook anyway) the last two years when we've gone up Champlain from the other side and it is one of the nicest mountain descents anywhere. Continuous vistas over Frenchman's Bay as you wind down the open ridge. Fantastic!

I can't say how glad I am that after all these years I finally convinced myself to do this hike. Perhaps it is one more step to curing the acrophobia. All I know is that I can't wait to get back and do it again! Oh, and the best part - about 1/2 way up Jamie said "man, this is so much fun". Nothing better than that!!!

A few photos below. Complete album here: http://picasaweb.google.com/mtruman42/Acadia09HikingThePrecipice#slideshow/5375815596755531266

Jamie stradling the trail (down into that crack)


Rungs and railings


Quite the twisted section


One of the scary stretches with no handholds - but what a view!


Nat and I just hanging out


The road down

Wow! That looks like my kind of trail!
Going up next weekend for the first time
looks spectacular !

Fantastic photos. Thanks for sharing.

That is one trail I need to do someday! Looks beautiful, thanks for sharing the experience. I am also somewhat weary of heights, esp ones along a cliff like that. But your pics kind of eased my worries because it didn't look as bad as I originally thought.

I loved the Precipice Trail, and I'm afraid of heights, too. I'm glad you enjoyed it and had such a beautiful day, too!

Outstanding report and pics! Can't wait to get back to Acadia again...but this pretty much seals the deal, I ain't doin' the Precipice trail.

Precipice Trail is such fun! My son begged me for years to go on it and I wouldn't do it. Finally I gave in. The first time I said what crazy person would put a trail up here?! The second time I couldn't understand what I was worried about the first time. The third time and fourth times I had a healthy respect for a few places but was fine.....which is still where I'm at.

Kind of the same thing with biking down from Cadillac Mountain. I wouldn't let him do it for years until he was old enough that I thought he undestood the very real danger of colliding with a 2 ton piece of metal. Finally gave in. He biked down. I biked down. Then it was how do we both get to bike down together!

We've been talking about a trip to Acadia for years and your trip report up the Precipice Trail had me shorting out the keyboard.
Thanks for sharing this.

Alan

Thanks for this report. We are heading up to Arcadia in early October and I've been planning to hike the Precipice, weather depending. Thanks for whetting the appetite!

I love the varied comments on this! The Precipice is either one of those things that you love or hate (or are terrified of). I guess in my case it was a bit of both. Anything that I can do to get over my acrophobia is good though because I *love* being in those kind of places. I had a friend that read this TR yesterday that said his daughter had gotten over hers by hiking in Zion (including Angel's Landing). I think I still have some time to work up to that. For those that haven't tried the trails in Acadia before and want a taste of the Precipice that's a little less extreme you can do the Beehive first. It's much smaller but has a very similar feel.

Hiking The Precipice Trail

Mark,
Way to go on conquering the Precipice Trail! There are a lot of fans out there of this trail. And I would say it is the most challenging in Acadia. Great pictures giving us the feel of the trail. Terrific closeup shot of the dragonfly too. I for one do not have any objections to a little "butt sliding" on certain trails.

Donna

Nice photos and report. Maybe the next trip should be to the knife edge in Baxter?

Donna - no wonder that there are so many fans of this trail. Only wish we'd done it sooner.

King Tut - my wife has her choice of venue for the 50th birthday next fall and I've already been informed that the knife edge is likely in my future <gulp>

Great Stuff, Mark!

Love Acadia, haven't been on this particular hike. Emma would be OK, not sure about Judy. We haven't been in a few years, definitely need to get back. Great pics!

KDT

Thanks Mark. I remember it well. I couldn't do it now ( physically with some lumbar disc issues) , but I made a lot of trips up that trail in an earlier part of my life, and I have a whole shoebox full of pics that look just like yours~ fun times~!

Precipice Trail has a reputation and an "aura" for a good reason. It is a hike, and it is a climb, and it is challenging, for sure. But it is such a sure-fire -in-your-face-challenge that once you get yourself up the scree slope/ boulder field and manage that first " iron step", you are so hooked that you really just keep getting PULLED UP with each new challenge, and can't imagine going back down. At least, I never could.... and the views?????????????? O>M>G>. Nuff Said.

For a full day of fun, I can so recommend going up Precipice TR to the summit of Champlain, continue S over the ridge trail line and descend to the Tarne, which is a glorious spring fed glacial pond with smooth granite sunning spots. ( wonderful lunch, snack, or swim stop). Continue on from the Tarne up and over Beehive and back to Ocean Drive, and then do the trudge of a mile or so back to your car at the Precipice TH.

IME, the real challenge of Precipice Trail hits at that first iron rung, its a long leg stretch if you are less than 5 feet tall. ( kids will need a boost here for sure) Get past that choke hold and the rest just builds you up for what's to come.

The trail design is masterful. You are forced into a certain physical and mental focus , but the reward is very sweet.

Sue in Maine

Kevin -I have this image in my mind now of Emma climbing up the ladders. I have no doubt that she would!

Sue - you definitely put the feeling into words. It really is like being dragged up by some invisible force. What a great feeling. We've done Champlain from the other side a couple of times and have done the south ridge down almost to the Beehive and you're right - it is spectacular (as is the Beehive and Bowl by themselves). I need to stop talking about this now or I'm going to have to drive back to Acadia and do all those hikes we missed last week

Precipice Trail

I did it last week and after my report, two friends, one which was under five feet tall, did it and enjoyed it as much as I had. I hopscotched up with a couple and was talking with them on the top when I noticed that they didn't seem to have any water ( she was looking at me in a strange manner) I had some extra which they were grateful for and suggested they go down the north ridge and flag down the bus to get back to their car instead of going back down over the ladders. I headed south towards The Bowl, not a public water supply so a great place to swim.
One question, who put all that iron in place? Acadia Park, the Rockefellers, one tough trail crew? I never got to the visitor center and didn't see any rangers or other park people to ask.

Ledgehiker said:

One question, who put all that iron in place? Acadia Park, the Rockefellers, one tough trail crew? I never got to the visitor center and didn't see any rangers or other park people to ask.

Click to expand...

I'd like to know that myself. I've got a couple of books that cover quite a bit of Acadia history including the trail building but they tend to focus on the many trails with stone steps, etc and not on the iron. Going to have to do some more research...

Acadia is another classic place for finding unprepared hikers. Come to the park for a vacation. It's just like an amusement park, right? They take care of you on all the "rides". Nice of you to help out the folks without water and point them in the right direction. The fortunate thing for most of the unprepared hikers is that there are so many on the trail who will help them out if it's needed. One of the reasons that I like doing this (and being with this group of people) so much!

Nice Pictures

Those are great pictures. You guys had nice views on this hike. When I did it in 2004 there was a lot of fog that broke into a more humid day. Those pictures into the bay are superb.

OK, did a bit more research on the installation of the iron rungs, railings and ladders. It sounds like most of them were done on the trails constructed around 1900 by Waldron Bates (who also was responsible for the construction of many of the trails with stone steps and pathways). There's more info info here: http://www.us-parks.com/acadia-national-park/trails.html

There is a plaque commemorating Bates on the Gorham mountain trail:


Bates is also the originator of the unique cairns seen all over Acadia.


In 2003 the NPS started a program to restore the Bates cairns to many of the Acadia trails. They are one of my favorite sights when hiking the beautiful open ridges in Acadia.


I also found a previous VFTT thread that describes the method of installing the iron rungs: http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=24884