Hike and bike at Acadia

We had been wanting to try out our new hiking boots so on Sunday, we decided to drive back into the park for a hike.  We went to the Visitor Center first to get some recommendations for a hike that would be enjoyable but not too long and not too difficult since this was the first time we had gone hiking in a long time and to break in our new boots.

The visitor center was located so far away from the parking lot that we were beginning to think all hikes started at the parking lot.  :) 

After speaking with a very nice ranger, we decided to hike the 3.3 mile trail around Jordan Pond.  We started at the same place as where we had stopped and looked at Jordan Pond on Friday

and walked counter-clockwise around the pond.  The wind was much stronger today.  The pond was white-capping (which was surprising since it is practically surrounded by mountains).

The hiking trail was shaded most of the way.

We saw this duck sitting on a rock around the pond.

Another view of the Bubbles.

We crossed a small rock dam...

with a marsh and cove to the right of it.

The water was coming over the small dam in places.

We saw several evidences of beavers along the way.

Those beavers must have some very sharp teeth.

From the north side of the trail, we could see the rock ledges with water coming down them from recent rains on the other side of the pond.

Frequently, along the trail you would cross the “mini- rock canals” constructed along the path to let brooks and streams flow down to the pond without eroding the trail.

There were some huge boulders along the trail.

There was a loon that followed us for several hundred yard but every time I would stop to take his picture, he would swim under water.

Finally, I caught him.

We arrived at the west edge of the pond.  This is the view looking back toward the east edge.

We crossed a couple of wooden bridges at the west end of the pond.

We walked on a little further until we found just the right spot for a picnic.

This part of the trail was very rocky and you had to be careful where you walked.

We continued walking around the south side of the trail.

The last half mile of the hike was a series of elevated wooding logs that had been cut in half and laid flat. 

It was kind of fun to walk on but you had to be careful because some of the logs were a little slick.

It started sprinkling rain towards the end of the hike for about 10 minutes.  The different types of terrain we had to walk across plus the beautiful views of Jordan Lake made a great “first” hike in our new boots.

On Thursday, our last day at Bar Harbor, we decided to bike the carriage trail around Eagle Lake.  Eagle Lake is located on the west side of the Bubbles.

Eagle Lake was beautiful too.

The carriage trails are very well compacted and great for bike riding… 

…and they run throughout the park.

What was different about this bike trail was it had several gradual inclines you had to pump and pump and pump up

and declines you rode down so quickly you were sure you had to be pumping up a lot more than gliding down.

Like our hike on Sunday, our bike ride ended with it starting to sprinkle; but the rain felt good and cooled us off from our bike ride.

Ba-Ha-ba

After leaving Saltwater Farms, we drove to Bar Harbor, Maine, where Acadia National Park is located.  We continued up Highway 1 and crossed the Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory.

The bridge opened December 30, 2006, and is 2,120 feet long and 447 feet high.

Per Wikipedia, the bridge was an emergency replacement for the previous bridge and took only 42 months to complete:  from conception to completion.  From the bridge, you could see the Penobscot River below.

The bridge also houses the Penobscot Narrows Observatory which is the first bridge observation tower in the US and is the tallest public bridge observatory in the world (also from Wikipedia).

What we thought was interesting was that the suspension was in the middle of the bridge with the lanes of traffic placed on both sides of the single suspension.

In addition, the bridge supports a 33,000 pound motorhome towing a 3,500 pound car and does not charge a toll to cross. 

At the recommendation of another camper at Moody Beach, we stayed at Timberland RV Park, which is about 15 miles away from the Acadia.  We were given Site #233.

On Friday, we drove to Acadia National Park.

From the road into the park, you could see down into Bar Harbor below…

…and some of the islands surrounding Bar Harbor.

The tide was out and we could see the walkway out to Bar Island (to the far left of the picture).  When the tide is up, the walkway is submerged.  In other words, if you are out on Bar Island when the tide comes up, you are stuck there for about 12 hours or so until the tide goes back out.

We could also see a lighthouse way off in the distance.

The views going up to Cadillac Mountain, the tallest peak on the Atlantic coast, were awesome.

The picture below is Eagle Lake (which we biked around later in the week).

You could see some mountains to the west way off in the distance.

Further up the road, you could see Jordan Pond, (which we hiked around on Sunday).

Before reaching the summit, we pulled into a couple of lookouts with beautiful views:

The summit of Cadillac Mountain is almost solid granite. 

You could see out for miles and miles. 

We think Chuck was at the tallest point here:

After driving down Cadillac Mountain, we took the one-way loop around the island.  We pulled off at Sand Beach.  This is the only sand beach in the park.

The waters were a freezing 50 degrees; but people were still getting in to at least get their feet wet.

On the way up from the beach, we saw this little squirrel.  (The squirrels are much smaller here than in Tennessee.)

The coastline was beautiful along the loop.

This is Long Pond which is an inlet…

…where the tide was flowing in while we were there.

We even saw a couple of white-tail deer on our drive:

When we finished our loop tour at Jordan Pond.  Those two bumps in the horizon are the “Bubbles.”

The water was crystal clear.

We also walked across one of the many carriage road bridges that were constructed by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. throughout the park.

We finished up our tour by driving through Bar Harbor.  We had lunch at Stewman’s, a dockside restaurant.

In case you were wondering, that’s a lobster I was sticking my face through.  He was supposed to get the entire lobster in the picture but just got my face instead.  Another one of Chuck's good pictures!  :) 

The skies had cleared up and we could see this lovely sailboat in the distance…

…this schooner...

…and this ????  Not sure what this was, but it looks like they have their bathroom facilities taken care of.

Acadia National Park is a beautiful park.  I can understand why Rockefeller went to such lengths to design the carriage trails and bridges throughout the park to enable people to not only enjoy but preserve the beauty of the park.  The pictures just do not capture the beauty like being there does.