A Winter drive from Boston, Massachussets, to go hiking on Mount Desert Island – Home of Acadia National Park, the First Eastern National Park, inaugurated in 1916 . A “desert island” with peaks of snow and ice, after an ice-storm hit the North-East of the United States. I’d never been there, but a cold Winter day is as good as any to check out a National Park. Not?

This visit made me wonder “Why is no one else out here when I’m up here?” or “Am I the only stubborn fool in this world that likes mad hikes in freezing conditions?”. It’s a stunning place in the snow, but it takes some good boots (and stable-ices or crampons!) and warm clothes to make your way onto the Winter trails, laid out by the National Parks Service and envisioned by the great Frederick Law Olmsted – father of American Landscape Architecture.

For the full article with more photographs and trail maps, check out this link.

Text and Photographs by Jan Haenraets

Jan Haenraets is a Director of Atelier Anonymous Landscapes Inc., Vancouver, BC, Canada