maine | sunset at pretty marsh

After a full day of sailing, climbing on rocks, checking out lighthouses, lunching with a view, and not swimming in an icy lake, we decided to end the day by watching the sun set at Pretty Marsh. I'm so glad we got to check this place out. Pretty Marsh is on the west coast of Mt. Desert Island in a part of Acadia National Park that either no one seems to know about, or no one bothers to visit. It's away from the main part of the park and it was deserted when we were there. I think we must have read about it in a guide book, because otherwise we probably would've skipped stopping at a marsh.

I'm not even sure why this place is called a marsh. From the parking lot, we walked through a magical forest of pine trees and arrived at a set of wooden stairs that took us down to a rocky beach. It reminded me of the Pacific Northwest and the beaches in Olympic National Park. I can think of few things I like more than beaches with pine trees. It's the best of everything.




We brought blankets and pillows to sit on and cheese and crackers to munch on, and set ourselves up on a rock to watch the sun set over the water. Unfortunately, a thick blanket of fog rolled in over the water, obscuring the horizon. It was neat to watch the sailboats in the distance disappear, but we also missed the sun disappearing. Visibility of the sunset was zero and there were no pretty colors - just a white and gray sky.







But it was still nice having a quiet picnic on a beautiful secluded beach. I'll take it.