Magoo and I plotted out a little challenge for ourselves. We found it to be an enjoyable challenge, and a challenging challenge, so we thought we would share it here for others who like that sort of thing. We are calling the challenge, Cadillac: All the Trails! (CATT). The name serves loosely as the directions and the rules, but here are some additional details.
The Trails — there’s a picture for you TL;DR folks
Click Image for Full-sized Map
- South Ridge Trail from rt 3 to the summit. Must include the part of the trail that bypasses Eagle Crag.
- Eagle Crag Loop from where the trail departs the South Ridge Trail to where it rejoins it.
- Bubble and Jordan Ponds Trail from the junction at Featherbed Pond to the carriage road at the base of the west side of Mount Cadillac.
- West Face Trail from the Bubble Pond parking lot to the junction with the South Ridge Trail.
- Summit Loop the entire sidewalk loop around the summit.
- Cannon Brook Trail from the junction with the A. Murray Young Path to the the junction at Featherbed Pond.
- North Ridge Trail from the junction with the Kebo Brook Trail to the summit.
- Kebo Brook Trail from the junction with the North Ridge Trail to the junction with the Gorge Path.
- Gorge Path from the junction with the Kebo Brook Trail to the summit.
- A. Murray Young Path from the junction with the Cannon Brook Trail to the the junction of the Gorge Path.
The Rules — so many rules
- All of the trails must be completed in a single day, a calendar day, not just a 24 hour period.
- You must start and end at the same trailhead.
- You must remain on foot for the duration of the challenge. No rides, bikes, shuttles, or spotted vehicles during the challenge.
- You can hike the trails in any order or direction. I would recommend planning a route where you hike up the West Face Trail, not down.
- You may hike along the carriage roads, but not the park loop road.
- You can double over trails, in fact as far as I can figure, this will be necessary.
- There is no FKT (fastest known time) aspect of the challenge. The West Face Trail requires scrambling and is slick when wet. I would not encourage anyone to rush on this section. If you do not know what you are getting into with the West Face Trail, do your research first.
Upon Completion — yippie!
Upon completion, send us the date you completed your CATT. While not required, we’d love to hear your route, see any pictures, and read any posts you made about your CATT. Here’s the blog post for our CATT (coming soon, we promise).
And what do get for your accomplishment? Well… a feeling of accomplishment.
Plotting an efficient route is a challenge; we plotted a poor route on a failed attempt. There is a fair amount of challenging terrain; wet conditions would be treacherous in places. And it’s going to be a lot of miles; our successful route was 17.3. If that isn’t going to give you a sense of accomplishment, then this challenge may not be for you. Head down to The Whites and do a Single Year Grid or stay in Maine and be the first to complete a Pinnacle Pursuit Winter Ultra.
Will you get a patch? No. A sticker: no, there’s no room left on your water bottle anyway. A certificate: not unless you make your own. A feeling of accomplishment: sure. A cool post to your favorite hiking group: quite possibly. Some type 2 fun memories: very likely. If you let us know, we’ll add your name to the list on this page.
This is not an official challenge in any sense. Just a fun idea for those of you who wonder, “Could I do that?” Acadia National Park has nothing to do with this challenge. I would guess they probably frown on such things. Oh well, I’ve been frowned at before.
The Official Cadillac: All the Trails Finishers List — it’s wicked official
- 06/19/19 Diane Pottle
- 06/19/19 Robert Pottle
