don-lenahan Archives - Acadia National Park on My Mind

Another in a series of historic trail highlights leading up to the Acadia Centennial

If not for the building of Kurt Diederich’s Climb 100 years ago, there may not have been an Acadia Centennial to celebrate in 2016.

Climb these stone steps to begin Kurt Diederich’s Climb, built 100 years ago in memory of a young man who loved these mountains of Mount Desert Island.

In the spring of 1914, George B. Dorr, the “father of Acadia,” failed in his initial attempt to get President Woodrow Wilson to create a national monument, to protect the mountains of Mount Desert Island that he and so many others loved.

The reason: Too many disconnected parcels of land, according to “Pathmakers: Cultural Landscape Report for the Historic Hiking Trail System of Mount Desert Island,” by the National Park Service’s Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, and Acadia National Park.

That spurred a campaign by Dorr and others to connect the land, by securing donation of more acreage to fill in the gaps, and building a network of trails like Kurt Diederich’s Climb, Kane Path, Precipice Trail, Beachcroft Path and Homans Path, according to “Pathmakers.” That finally created a cohesive whole worthy of federal protection. Acadia’s beginning was secured on July 8, 1916, with President Wilson’s designation of Sieur de Monts National Monument.

Kurt Diederich’s daughter Elsa, who was about 6 when her father died, is seen here along some of the many steps on Kurt Diederich’s Climb, in a photo taken circa 1920. (NPS Archives)

As Acadia’s Centennial approaches, here’s an appreciation of Kurt Diederich’s Climb, and of the driving forces that helped build and maintain it. Like with so much of Acadia’s history, the story behind Kurt Diederich’s Climb highlights the love so many people have had for Mount Desert Island over the years, and the ongoing struggle to protect the landscape.

The elaborate stone-stepped trail begins at the outlet of the Tarn, and climbs swiftly up the east face of Dorr Mountain, along hundreds of stone steps. The words “Kurt Diederich’s Climb” are carved into one of the steps at the start. A plaque with the phrase “In memory of Kurt Diederich who loved these mountains” once graced the trail, and is now held at park headquarters, according to “The Memorials of Acadia National Park,” by Donald P. Lenahan, who also writes a blog of the same name. Continue reading →

Whether it’s moose or beaver in Acadia National Park, rare and unusual wildlife sightings can sometimes become the talk of the town, the chatter on Facebook, and the lore of the islands.

Take the cases of beaver on Isle au Haut, or the young bull moose that once wandered all over that remote island outpost of Acadia, and then the moose that followed hikers in the woods of Mount Desert Island.

Are there beaver on Isle au Haut? A management plan by the National Park Service says that beaver are absent from the Maine island, but a newly-released photo and recent sightings suggest otherwise.

One island resident says he has long seen beaver activity on the island, half of which is included in Acadia National Park.

beaver on isle au haut in acadia national park

A lone beaver, thought to be absent according to Acadia National Park’s recent management plan for Isle au Haut, was caught on camera in July 2014, apparently wary of Eli’s Creek, swollen by rains that month. (NPS photo taken by Ana Casillas and provided by Ranger Alison Richardson)

Other compelling evidence includes a recent photo of a beaver on the banks of Eli’s Creek on the southwest side of Isle au Haut.

The photo of the beaver was taken during a rain storm in July 2014 near a work cabin for Acadia rangers, said Acadia National Park Ranger Alison Richardson, who provided a copy of the photo.

Isle au Haut is in Penobscot Bay in the Gulf of Maine, about 7 miles south of Stonington. Richardson said she did not know how the lone beaver made it to the island.

“I don’t know if I would say beaver live on Isle au Haut,” but the single beaver was on the island somehow, she said. Fellow Ranger Nick Freedman said he thought it might be a transient.
Continue reading →