We were up at the campsite around 6am and headed along around the southern tip of the island. We found this General Store, where we stocked up on coffee, breakfast burritos and granola bars.
He headed down to the beach to eat and prepare for what was planned to be an 11 mile hike up and down 5 of the peaks on the island. Doesn’t that sound inviting?
We drove the car back north and parked in the lot for the Bubble Mountains, affectionately called the Bubbles, which seemed like the name of a spin-off on the confusingly popular show the Wiggles. Now these mountains were topping out around 500-100ft, so we are not talking about base camps and oxygen. We ascended Little Bubble first.
A nice view of the Atlantic and nearby Jordan Pond, but much of a challenge to help appreciate the summit. We quickly backtracked to the trail and continued west (all this can be seen on the PDF Map of the park attached below) down a boulder field toward Sargent Mountain.
We crossed along the North end of Jordan Pond, which prohibits swimming and such because it is actually used as a water supply for nearby Bar Harbor
On our way up sergeant I came across a snake. He is in the picture below if you can spot him
He turned out to be a common Gartersnake. Below is a picture of Bear Grylls taming the snake, or me, I can’t quite remember.
We continued on up the mountain as it became increasingly difficult
There were no iron rungs on this hike but plenty of scampering up and over boulders. By the time we all reached the summit it was time for a lunch break, even though it was only about 9am.
After discussing the option of going up and down three more summits we decided to shorten the trip and follow the Western portion of Jordan Pond, with only a summit of Penobscot mountain between us and the Jordan Pond House, representing the end of the hike. We never did make it to the top of Cadillac Mountain which at 1500ft is the highest peak along the east coast until you run into Rio Do Janeiro.
We crossed this pond, where the frogs were in full bloom
We ended up walking a couple miles back to the car at the Bubbles, where it was agreed that we needed to get into town and grab a brew. Bryan and Lisa were staying that night in a B and B while opted to head back to the campgrounds later for another night in the park. Here are some shots of their lodging near the water
There room was not quite ready so we had lunch at one of the outdoor cafes
After taking a shower, Bryan and I walked down to the water’s edge to see what the tourists were up to
This a shuttle boat for a cruise ship that was docked out in the bay
It is called Bar Harbor because there is a sand bar that extends fro m the main island to a small one and one can walk across it for about an hour or so at low tide. I am sure there are plenty of cases where people got stuck on the island and had to call for a ride back. We had not timed it right so now sand bar for us.
We ended up eating at a nice little off-the-main-drag restaurant. I spent too much as usual and can’t even remember what I had. After we hit a few bars. I was not going to make it back to the campsite that night since everyone had consumed too much to drive. I was fine sleeping in the car, but my brother was unwilling to provide the keys and left the car locked. After fuming for a bit I was able to have a cop call me a cab to get back to the campsite by 11pm. Unfortunately everything but my tent and the t-shirt on my back was in the car and the temperature was about 15 degrees cooler than the night before. Unable to get any sleep, I just laid in the tent until noon the following day, when my brother decided it was time to emerge from their palatial abode and find me for the return trip to Boston.
None too pleased, and exhausted I choose to stay and sleep in the car in Portland while they grabbed lunch
Once returning to Boston I opted for a flight back to Detroit that night rather then spend another night in the city with a 5am wake-up call.
Although the tail end of the trip left a sour taste in my mouth I was a huge fan of Acadia national Park and the state of Maine in general. I hope to return and frequent the small seaside towns along the coast.
It is time to hole up for a few months and earn some vacation and travel money.
Until Next Time
Darren
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