Eagle Lake, Connor's Nubble and Bubble Pond

Got up around 8:00 to a clear and sunny morning!  WooHoo!!! It's about time.  Sat on the deck and enjoyed my coffee, watching a big fog bank along the opposite shore.  

Left the cottage around 10:30, 63* and sunny ;o)  Parked on the road near Eagle Lake and headed out for a nice, easy bike ride.  Well...easy except for the long, uphill ride along the edge of the lake.  But!  My notes indicate that the last time we rode this hill, I had to stop and walk up because I could not pedal uphill any more and this time...I rode the entire length of the hill.  I guess those hours at the Brickhouse are paying off. 

We rode to the trailhead of Connor's Nubble, locked our bikes and hiked to the summit, all of 588'.

Look at that blue sky!

We stayed up there for 25 minutes soaking up the sun.  It's such an easy climb with such great views.  However...Do Not climb wearing bifocal sunglasses and carrying a water bottle. There are a couple of places where both hands come in handy.

Eagle Lake from Connor's Nubble

Looking across Eagle Lake to Cadillac Mtn from Connor's Nubble

Mount Katahdin in the distance?

Looking the other direction

Going down was a lot easier!  We hopped back on our bikes and rode to Bubble Pond for lunch.  We had the only picnic table to ourselves, along with the view.

The wind was blowing 16 mph right off the water but it was still warm.  It was windy enough to create white caps.

The parking lot at Bubble Pond is no longer available to use so if you don't walk around the corner, you would never see this awesome bridge.

We rode back along the other side of Eagle Pond to our car, arriving at 1:56.

From there we drove maybe 10 minutes to the Asticou Inn for our fix of popovers and tea.  It was amazing how foggy it was there and we watched the fog roll in and out while having our treat.

We drove home through Bar Harbor and Bill waited in the car while I bought an "I (heart) BHM" car magnet.  Profits from the sale benefit a local non profit.

Got back to the cottage around 4:00 and sat down by the shore reading till 5:00.  

Bill grilled burgers which we ate with some green beans that Dave gave us and some broccoli.

Packed most of my stuff and the groceries, except for the food in the fridge.  We both agreed it was a good week although it went by too fast.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)  

It's All About Plan B

Got up early in order to get a parking space so we could hike the Cadillac North Ridge Trail.  Apparently, you need to get up at the crack of dawn in order to park in the park!  I liked the "good ole days" better when Acadia wasn't so darn crowded.  

We left the cottage before 9:00, which is unheard of for us!  It was 68*, mostly cloudy and breezy.  Got to the parking area, all eleven spaces, by 9:06 and didn't someone pull into the only available space two seconds before us. ;o(  Pulled over a little beyond where we wanted to park and didn't that same damn car go past us.  Apparently, they pulled in to see the view, of which there isn't one, and pulled right back out again.  GRRRRRR  

We drove out of the park and back around, hoping to catch an open spot, only to have the same damn thing happen again.  One space open and a car pulls into it Right.In.Front.Of.US!!!  Apparently we were not meant to hike that trail today.

Sooooo, we drove to the parking area at Sand Beach and decided to hike The Beehive.  Not my favorite hike, makes me very anxious.

We hit the trailhead at 9:50

It seemed there were a number of new iron rungs and handholds but I was still super anxious.

There are a number of great views of Sand Beach but the light wasn't the best for taking pictures ;o(  and I'm too technologically challenged to figure out how to adjust it on my phone, which just totally makes me mad.

We reached the summit in about 50 minutes, not too far off our previous times of around 45 minutes.  

Took our summit photo, which for some reason, was not easy and it didn't come out very well. (sigh) 

(I'll insert the photo here when I ever figure out how to get it out of my Airdrop!)

There are some nice views of the Porcupine Islands from the summit.

There's a little color.

From the summit, we headed down the other side and toward The Bowl, a pond among the mountains.

I found this rock in the path.

We have had lunch at The Bowl several times and were surprised to see "our" rock was free from other hikers, so we sat and ate our lunch.  It was still cloudy and breezy, but fairly warm, around 68*.  Not bad but I prefer a sunny day.

Did I say "breezy"?  Well, "someone" didn't stow their plastic lids appropriately and one of them blew into the water.  Thankfully, the wind was blowing toward us.  

That does not belong in there.

Since I thought the "someone" involved was me, I took off my boots and socks and went in after it.

The water was cool but not freezing, quite nice actually.

Only after I climbed back out, did I learn that the "someone" was NOT me, but was, however, Bill.

(more photos to insert...)

We headed back to the car around 11:53 and got to the car about 12:30.  We used the restroom and walked to Thunder Hole, stopping at the gift shop for a cold beverage.  Bill spotted this cool mushroom.  I had to take two pictures because the first one had my finger in it.  Good grief!

Not much happening at Thunder Hole but we sat on the rocks for awhile and enjoyed the view.  The ocean was pretty calm today.

Back to the car and off to The Asticou Inn for popovers and tea.

Nice view of Northeast Harbor and the gardens at the Inn.

The sun actually came out for a short time.  WooHoo!!!

We arrived back at the cottage about 3:30 and had plenty of time to sit in the adirondack chairs and read.  The sun stayed in Northeast Harbor. We stayed outside till about 5:00.  

I came in and took a shower.  Bill grilled steak tips for dinner.  We watched a segment of the History of Country Music on Maine Public TV.  

A pretty decent day for a Plan B.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Ocean Path and Witch Hole Pond

Wednesday, September 20

Wendy and Dan treated us to breakfast this morning, crepes!  They provided crepes, strawberries, whipped cream, bacon and coffee for me, Bill made his tea in our cottage, we provided...nothing ;o(  I think I was supposed to bring pears, but I didn't...duh  

After breakfast, we headed our separate ways looking for good surf, thanks to Hurricane Jose.  They ended up at Thunder Hole but it was super busy and they were disappointed in the surf. The signs were good tho.

photo by Wendy

As for us, we parked at Sand Beach and walked along the Ocean Path, toward Thunder Hole.  We stopped a couple of times along the rocks, looking for the perfect spot.  The view was pretty spectacular.

Looking toward Otter Cliffs

Looking toward Sand Beach

Happy little ferns tucked in the rocks.

We stayed for 15-20 minutes watching the waves.  Thunder Hole was a lot further than I thought and it was already 1:00, so we turned around and headed back to the car.  We drove to the Fabri picnic area and ate our lunch at one of the picnic tables...much better than sitting in the car like yesterday.  

Wendy and Dan hiked Gorham Mtn, then set up their hammocks at Otter Point.

photo by Wendy

We drove to the Visitor's Center, used the bathroom and bought a Christmas gift.  Parked there and took a bike ride around Witch Hole Pond loop.  Thankfully, the sky cleared a little and the sun started peaking through the clouds.  

Witch Hole Pond

I love this pond, it reminds us of sunken ship's masts.

The Rangers said the beavers had built a huge dam at one end of this pond and apparently the trees had drowned.

Reflections

We came across the Duck Brook Bridge, stopping long enough to take some photos.

overlooking Duck Brook

Frenchman Bay in the background

Looking toward Frenchman Bay and Bar Harbor

These pictures are proof that the weather was clearing.  WooHoo!!!

Instead of taking a left, Bill took a right and we went up and over Paradise Hill.  UGH  He says he had no idea he went the wrong direction...I believe he knew exactly what he was doing.  His nickname while teaching spinning classes was "Hill Bill".  

We are addicted to the popovers at the Asticou Inn so we headed back there for our daily fix.  It was a lovely afternoon!

Northeast Harbor

We returned to the cottage and sat on the deck to read.  Bill grilled hamburgers on a grill borrowed from Dan.  We enjoyed a lovely sunset.

Sunset from Edgewater No. 6

Panorama sunset

I really wish we lived where we could watch the sunset every night.

Wendy and Dan stopped over for a quick visit when they returned from town.

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)

Penobscot Mtn., Sargent Mtn. Pond and Fog...Lots of Fog

Up at 8:00 and ready to go by 10:00, actually we were in the car with Wendy and Dan and leaving three minutes early!  We decided to hike Penobscot Mountain, then to Sargent Mountain Pond and Sargent Mountain.

We left from the tail marker at 10:47.

There was a lot of fog, restricting the awesome views described in the guidebook but these berries provided some color.

We reached the Penobscot Mtn. summit at 12:00, took pictures and ate lunch.

It appears that at some point, some scumbag stole part of the summit marker. Grrr!

Nothing to see here...

To be honest, I was pretty creeped out by the fog and was anxious that it would get thicker until we couldn't see the cairns and we would get lost.  However, I was the only one concerned.  

Onward toward Sargent Mtn. pond...

From here we planned to climb to the summit of Sargent Mtn. but we missed the trail and ended up at Deer Brook Trail, which was the way we planned to head down.  Rather than turn back, we headed back to the car.

When we came to the carriage road, Dan took the road toward the Jordan Pond House and the three of us continued down to Jordan Pond, where we walked along the pond and met up with Dan where the trail meets the road.

Looking toward the Bubbles

Still pretty foggy...

Back at the car, it felt so good to take off our hiking boots!  We drove to the Asticou Inn for more popovers.  It was chilly on the deck but our awesome waiter, Wes, brought everyone a blanket, a nice warm Land's End blanket.  We were his only table and he was super attentive and personable.  We each ordered coffee, along with a cup of artichoke soup because it came with 2 popovers and was only an additional $2!  We all thought it was a pretty sweet deal.  The soup was very hot and very good, as were the popovers.  Wes was rewarded with a generous tip.

We came back to our cottages, Wendy & Dan headed next door to take a nap, then go into town.  I made notes in my guidebooks about our hike, Bill did some reading.  The "kids" stopped in to say good night when they got home.  

Not a very good weather day, which always puts me in a bad mood, but overall not a bad day. 

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)