2014-08-10 cool little "Spring Trail" up Penobscot, Acadia's 5th highest peak

Start time for work was 4pm, so I headed out on the shuttle for a hike. The trail starts at Jordan Pond then quickly climbs up the southeast face of Penobscot. People with a fear of heights or bad knees should probably take an alternate route, but I really enjoyed Spring Trail, a short but fun climb. It connects with the south ridge of Penobscot with fantastic 360 degree views. The hike was about 3 miles round trip with views and breeze all the way. Very rewarding!





Use caution, avoid when wet

very cool rock ledges



good handrail



This part might be tough on the knees



Then there's steps

and more steps

Right away, rewarding views of Jordan Pond and south coast



The South Ridge Trail of Penobscot is a whole lot of UP



Summit of Penobscot, with all around views of lakes, coast, islands

Looking southeast at the Jordan Pond House below

Heading back down the south ridge trail



and back down Spring Trail to Jordan Pond

2014-08-05 Hiking Pemetic Mountain with Gary

Poor Gary had been working 6 days a week too often, and now when he finally agreed to go hiking with me, I chose a trail I had not yet done. Pemetic is the 4th tallest peak in Acadia. The northwest trail turned out to be a very steep climb with really bad footing...he was not a happy camper on the way up. But he picked his first wild blueberries, we made it to the top, and had a good time. The breeze and view at the top were, of course, spectacular!

Unfortunately, somewhere on the top of the mountain, Gary lost his national park volunteer shirt and we had to buy a new lousy-quality shirt at the Jordan Pond gift shop so that we could ride the shuttle home! So this hike cost us $13.

Later we celebrated with a shared appetizer and a beer at Jack Russell's brewery in Bar Harbor. The owner wrote my hiking bible for Acadia, "A Walk in the Park". He also loves Jack Russell dogs, hence the name of the brewery and all the pictures in the restaurant. This was our one and only time there, since it was very expensive.

Starting at Bubble Pond

Right away the trail is steep with difficult footing

Gary's first wild blueberries

A few little rock scrambles along the way

Views across Eagle Lake towards home

walking the ridge



Celebrating the summit

The last we saw of Gary's shirt near the summit

Some blueberries for the road

views towards the Cranberry Islands

Heading down towards Jordan Pond

Gary in his new shirt, at Jack Russell's

The owner loves his Jack Russells

2014-07-30 Episode 3 - Jordan Pond and South Bubble - finally a hike for my day off

After my "failed" hike at Beech Cliffs and a visit to the oceanarium, I still wanted to get a good hike in on our day off. The swelling on my shin was gone with only a colorful blue-purple blemish remaining (lovely), so I decided to go for a short hike. Caught the shuttle once again and hiked around Jordan Pond and over South Bubble. The hike around Jordan Pond is easy and beautiful, followed by a short workout up the face of south bubble. Short and sweet, and oh so scenic.

Ran into one young couple trying to go DOWN the face of south bubble with their dog! A bit scary but okay for people, but not fair to a dog. I appreciate that this is one of the few national parks allowing dogs on the trails, but they are not allowed on ladder trails, and shouldn't be allowed on any trail with rungs. Going down steep rock scrambles is especially not fair to a dog - he can't grab the rungs! Poor pup had all brakes on...he clearly knew this wasn't a good idea...come on folks, go around the back way where the walking is easy and there are no rungs.

About a mile of cedar planks up the west side of Jordan Pond

A half mile of rock pathway

Around the north end, trail changes to packed gravel



Beautiful big red blooms

Looking south towards Jordan Pond House

Now for a little scrambling up South Bubble



It's a very fast half mile

A couple of scrambles and one iron rung



Looking to the west, you can see the carriage road, on the side of Penobscot



Fantastic views looking south over Jordan Pond

Just a little more up

Bubble Rock "hanging" over a steep drop-off

The little summit of South Bubble

2014-07-30 Episode 2 - Oceanarium

Still trying to make the most of our day off, and since the swelling on my shin was down (after a good icing), we went to Mt Desert Oceanarium, just around the corner from home.

Really enjoyed this place, fascinating - and the only lobster hatchery in the U.S. They have tanks displaying Maine lobster, spiny lobster (the little guys from the keys) and a fabulous blue lobster. The highlight for me was the hatchery...a big mama with eggs, little tubes with individual tiny babies, and huge tubes loaded with the bigger babies which are then released on the ocean floor. In Maine, lobstering regulations mean that lobstermen have to release a lot of the lobster caught in their traps - too big, too little, or females with eggs have to be released. (In many other areas such as down in Massachussetts, they can keep the big ones but in Maine, any lobster not within the 3.5 minumum to 5 inch maximum carapice has to be released.)

At the hatchery for a short presentation

The little tiny babes (can you see them?) separated in little tubes

Mama lobster with her eggs

As the babes grow, released into these big tubes

Lots of little guys ready to be released

2014-07-30 Long Pond, Echo Lake and Beech Cliff ladder trail

We started out early with a drive down the 102 to the little lakes on the west side of the island; first to Long Pond which is sheltered between Mansell and Beech Mountains in a beautiful, quiet setting; the national park rents canoes to enjoy this protected and serene lake, Someday I hope to hike the Perpendicular Trail up Mansell, but today the plan was to hike the Beech Cliff ladders.  So after a brief stop at Long Pond, we went to enjoy the warm waters of Echo Lake. This is a popular lake for swimming; you can also snorkel to see a sheer drop off into a deep abyss. After relaxing for a while, Gary drove home while I headed up the Beech Cliffs ladder trail.

Unfortunately, the trail was a little wet, and after climbing up all the steps and enjoying the views, just before the first ladder, I slipped and banged my shin. I stood at the bottom of that first ladder and debated whether I should continue. My shin just below the knee swelled up with a bump the size of a tennis ball, and since we don't have $15,000 sitting around to pay for a helicopter rescue...I opted to head back down. Called Gary and told him to come back towards the lake, bring an ice pack....guess you could say that mountain kicked my a$$ and sent me crying home waahhh.

Later in the season, we did hike this trail and it turns out, I was a very short distance from the top - just a short stroll and two more ladders! Had I known, I may have continued. But this day, the mountain (or little hill, as the case may be) won.

At the south end of Long Pond

The beach and swimming area at Echo Lake

Beech Cliffs where the short but sweet ladder trail makes its way up

And up it goes

Quickly reaching a ledge with a view over Echo Lake

Granite steps climbing the steep hillside

Still more steps

This is where I slipped after stepping through a wet area

The first little ladder

Waahhhh, waiting for the shuttle to meet Gary up the road

My ride to meet up with Gary and an ice pack

Sentimental Journey at the Bar Harbor Airport

The Flying Fortress "Sentimental Journey" was in Trenton at the Bar Harbor Airport (just down the road from us) for a week or so, offering tours of the plane and scenic flights. A ride would cost $425 or more, depending on where you ride. We opted to just check it out on the ground...she is one of the few left. The flights are so costly because the maintenance and fuel is astronomically expensive. Won't be long before she's retired.

 

This glider was available for scenic flights over Acadia