Jesup trail - Acadia

Reviewers of the Jesup trail were dismissive, saying the trail was "meh" and worthy of 2 stars. i just wanted a lazy level hike that didn't entail elevation changes. for us it was beyond five stars. a raised walkway over a boggy birchwood forest changed the typical nature experience profoundly. much like utzon thought of the "floor in a traditional Japanese house as a delicate bridge-like platform". the linear boardwalk raised 18" off the boggy ground provided such a different experience of an acadian forest. 

first, without worries of tripping or stumbling on rocks, the walkway let one relax their view of the ground, and allowed them to look up at the tree canopy and focus on the sounds of winds and bird calls. the sound of walking across a wood platform is quite different from walking along the forest floor. by hearing the resonant steps along the bridge, one is aware that they are floating above the ground... that man is hovering lightly above the earth. contrasting the natural forms and vegetation to the linear modular path created a threshold between the man-made and natural that further differentiated the two. the scale of the pathway was narrow enough in scale to make the hiker feel as if they were alone, walking on the edge, perfect for contemplating their experience in the forest.