Hill Slug Chronicles: Pilgrimage to Maine, Part Six: Solo Slug

Miss Piggy on the Quiet Side

28 May 2019

I am so behind in miles and training. I think I'm not ready to climb Cadillac Mountain. I've talked myself into exploring the western side of Mount Desert Island instead. It's a longer ride than the Park Loop Road route — 39 miles instead of 30 — but the elevation gain is the same: about 3000 feet. I'll stop for coffee somewhere in Southwest Harbor. The route is what passes for flat around here.

Locals call it the Quiet Side because it's far from the tourists and cruise ships of Bar Harbor. The island is shaped like a lobster-claw held upside-down. There aren't a lot of road choices to get from one side to the other. Route 3 starts at the top and does a good job of circumnavigating the eastern part of the island. The west is served by the Route 102 loop. They're both main roads and, as it turns out, paved about as well as a New Jersey road after a long winter.

Once I get out of town I have to climb a long, steep hill on Eagle Lake Road. It's the one main road out of Bar Harbor right now because Route 3 is one-way at the moment. As I grind my gears, heavy trucks grind theirs.

Near the bottom of the other side I see a beaver lodge. I'm not in the best place for a picture but I snap one anyway.

There's another climb after that. This is the highest point of the day, and I'll have to cross it again on my way home.

A little farther on I get a mountain view:

I turn south toward Somesville. There's a headwind now, not much, but enough.

When I stop for pictures of the bridge I notice the camera strapped to the tree. Hello, Bar Harbor Cam.

Pretty Marsh Road takes me east to west across the middle of the island. The road is as advertised. I pass ponds and marshes on both sides of the road. I don't stop for them all.

Somes Pond:

Long Pond, in the town of Mount Desert:

Round Pond:

Round Pond's roadside beaver lodge:

I turn south on Route 102. A few miles in I turn on Cape Road which, from a cursory satellite photo search, looked like a paved road.

Climbing a small hill, I pass Double Duck Lane.

And then the pavement stops. I'm looking at gravel over what might once have been blacktop. Being a Hill Slug, I don't turn back.

As luck would have it, I'm stuck with two short, steep climbs, the steepest of the day. Of course, the camera can't do it justice.

Then there's another long slog, and at the top I think I see a reward.

Seal Cove, which I could only have seen by taking Cape Road:

I pass through the village of Bass Harbor next. The tide is out.

As the road curves north I find myself in a short line of traffic. We're stopped for bridge construction. That's two of the three Hill Slug ride requirements fulfilled, sort of. It's not as if I'm lifting Miss Piggy over a barrier.

On the other side of the bridge, in Tremont, is a marsh.

It's across from Pork Chop Lane.

I have a tailwind as I pass into Southwest Harbor.

There's a Bar Harbor Cam at this marina.

During yesterday's tour of Acadia Coffee Company, Chris had mentioned in passing that a friend of his roasts beans on the Quiet Side. I didn't remember if his shop was in Northeast Harbor or Southwest Harbor, and I forgot the name too. I didn't look for it when I was going over the route. The Google map had an espresso bar listed on the north side of town. That's what I'm looking for now.

A sign by a driveway lists a handful of businesses, among them a nondescriptive "coffee shop." I turn in and follow the road behind a few buildings and onto a large, empty, freshly-paved parking lot. At the back end is a building about the size of a double-wide trailer.

Silent City! That's the name Chris gave me yesterday.

There aren't enough beans to sell. The owner will be roasting tomorrow, I'm told. I get a small cup of whatever is brewing and stand outside. The coffee is just okay, but it's not fair to compare drip to pourover or French press. Drip can never win that battle.

I'm halfway finished when the owner appears. We chat for a bit. He admits that the beans he has now aren't the best; he's expecting a higher-quality shipment soon. He complains about the location. "This is called Village Green. It's not green. It's a parking lot. Maybe I should get a few trees." He has grand plans to find a big building to open a space for coffee and square dancing somewhere in Bar Harbor, but far from Choco Latte so that he doesn't compete with his Acadia Coffee Company buddies.

Now that the clouds have come in, the temperature has dropped. I'm cold as I start off again. I have fifteen miles left, with that one big climb on Eagle Lake Road. I'm tired. I wait for the coffee to kick in.

Before that starts, though, I stop for yet another roadside beaver lodge.