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)  

A Hiking and Biking Day in Acadia

Monday, September 21, 2015

Cool when we woke up this morning (48*) but clear and sunny!  The four of us left Edgewater around 9:30 and drove into Bar Harbor to walk over the sand bar to Bar Island.  In all the years we have been going to Bar Harbor, this is one of the places we have never visited.  The island can only be reached twice a day, one and a half hours either side of low tide and we never seemed to time it right.  

It's a very quick walk, taking about ten minutes to cross the sand bar and reach the island, then another 15-20 minutes to reach the summit.  We were rewarded with nice views of Bar Harbor and Cadillac Mountain from a different perspective. 

Photo bomb!

Bar Island summit...or not

After returning and looking again at the map, I think we may have missed the summit completely, stopping where everyone else stopped, assuming it was the summit.  Good grief...

We wandered along the water's edge on our way back.

Wendy checked out the water temperature, while Bill played lifeguard...

Brrr, looks warmer than it is

The water was crystal clear.

  

There are lots of rock cairns built along the shore.

Photo by Wendy

If you look closely near the left edge of the photo, you can see the cruise ship docked for the day.

There's lots of life in the tide pools and Dan found one of them.

We arrived back at the car around 11:30, the temp was up to 70*.  

From there, we drove to the North lot at Jordan Pond House and rode the Jordan Pond/Bubble Pond Loop.  This beautiful pair of horses passed us on the carriage road.

We left at 12:25 and arrived at Bubble Pond at 1:10 where we stopped for lunch. It was such a gorgeous day!

There's just a hint of what's to come up on the hill.

We were back at the car and ready for popovers by 2:40; Dan said it was 9.27 miles, uphill both ways!!!

We sat outside today and the popovers were much better than yesterday, thankfully.

We returned to the cottage and enjoyed the remaining sun.

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)

Biking Acadia...Around the Mountain II

This ride kicked my butt, therefore I nicknamed it The Ride From Hell!  Bill found it in the book, "Discover Acadia National Park".  It was described as 18.1 miles, without the difficult sections found in the Around the Mountain loop.  HA!  that is totally false.  I swear this ride was 18 miles uphill and .1 mile downhill.  The book indicated it would take 5 hours to complete this loop; however, it took us about 3 hours to do the entire loop although we stopped for lunch and to take pictures and catch our breath.  I started walking the uphill sections after the first couple of hours.  I just couldn't pedal uphill any more!  

For the most part, this ride takes you through the woods.  However, there are a couple of sections with nice, distant views and you pass over several wonderful bridges built in the 1930's.

The morning was very foggy at our cabin but was clearing by the time we got started.  We began our trip at the end of Eagle Lake and went counter clockwise around the loop.

Eagle Lake with fog on the distant mountains

We traveled along the length of Eagle Lake but it disappeared fairly quickly as we pedaled up a nice, long hill.  Before too long we came across Aunt Betty Pond.

We rested our bikes along Waterfall Bridge

Hadlock Brook

and took a short walk down to the brook, where we ate lunch.

The view at lunch

As we continued our ride, we crossed the Amphitheater Bridge which is the longest bridge in the park at 235 feet.  The construction is absolutely gorgeous.

 

 and the Cliffside Bridge, my favorite.  There were nice views along this section.

 

 

We rode and rode and rode and finally reached Bubble Pond, which Bill told me was Eagle Lake and we were nearly done.  WooHoo! 

Cadillac Mtn from the edge of Bubble Pond

The end of Bubble Pond.  No fog now ;o)

Unfortunately, we had another mile or so to pedal before we reached Eagle Lake and our car ;o(  The fog burned off completely and the day turned out to be a beautiful one with temps warming into the 70's.

If you enjoy riding the carriage roads and want to spend several hours doing so, you will probably enjoy this loop.   There are several other loops you can enjoy if you want something shorter.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Carriage Trails 9.12.12

Another beautiful day today, although the sky was a milkier blue than yesterday.  After all that hiking yesterday, we decided to ride our bikes today.  We started at the Jordan Pond House and rode UPHILL for what seemed like a long time but it gave us a great view of Jordan Pond that we couldn't get anywhere else.

Overlooking Jordan Pond from the carriage road

We took the loop around Jordan Pond and combined it with the loop around Eagle Lake and Bubble Pond.  I didn't take time to figure out how far it was but we rode off and on for about three hours.  The trails are seldom flat but the downhills make the uphills worth it; well, almost worth it.

We found ourselves a great spot in the sun and stopped along the edge of Eagle Lake for a snack and potty break.  We used the nearby restroom for the potty break ;o)

Pemetic Mtn. in the center, Sargent Mtn. on the right

After continuing around Eagle Lake we rode another half hour and stopped at Bubble Pond for lunch.

The perfect bench to soak up the sun and have some lunch

Another thirty-five minutes and we landed back at the J.P.H. for popovers and tea.  Unfortunately, we had the worst service we have ever experienced while there.  It was a good 15 minutes before our server even made contact with us.  However, we enjoyed our treat, the sun and scenery as much as we always do.

We returned to our cottage and sat outside in the sun until it went behind the trees, changed and headed into town to use our Groupon at The Fish House Grill.  We've had the Groupon for so long I can't remember how much we paid but we enjoyed a very good meal.

Lobster Bisque

Maine lobster and fresh green beans

I don't think I have ever ordered a lobster dinner so it was quite an experience but as I said, very good.  Bill had the same, as the Groupon was for lobster dinner for two, but he had red potatoes.  We each had a ginger ale and cranberry juice and received a bill for $5.75.  SWEET!  We did leave our waitress a generous tip.

We walked up the street to check out a restaurant Wendy & Dan are considering for their anniversary, LaBellaVita.  It seemed to have a nice atmosphere and included an outside patio which would be great on a warm night like tonight.  The dinner meals averaged $25/$30 and it appeared to be reasonably busy. 

We are very seldom in the town of Bar Harbor at night but it was kind of fun.

It was a very full day.

Looking back...2005

Day Mtn. summit

The only carriage road that goes to a summit is the Day Mtn. road.

I was thinner then...

Carriage road up Day Mtn.

Eagle Lake from the summit of Connor's Nubble, off the carriage road

Sunset reflected in Eagle Lake off the road up Cadillac Mtn.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)