Thursday, August 26, 2021

Jordan Pond & The Bubbles

Thursday, we had breakfast at Mount Dessert Bakery again and then headed to the Jordan Pond Trailhead in Acadia National Park.  This is another popular spot, but there were plenty of spots when we arrived.  We set out on Jordan Pond Path around the lake hiking counterclockwise.  It was really beautiful in the morning light.


The water was very clear and a number of rocks were sticking out of the water.  There were several spots to go out to see the lake along the trail.


As we approached the north end of the lake, we got on the Bubbles Trail heading steeply up South Bubble Mountain.  We had nice views of the lake as we headed up the mountain.


As we got close to the top, we came to "Fat Man's Squeeze", a difficult section where humans climb up through a crack.  It was too narrow for Alex to go through.  We let the other people pass us and found a ledge to the side that Alex could fit up.  Sandy went up and I lifted Alex onto the ledge, then he could climb up to her.  There were a couple more spots where Alex needed a little help to get up, but soon we made it up to the top.  The other people who had passed us cheered Alex for making it up such a difficult trail and he was very proud of himself.  We stopped for a rest at the top with fantastic views of Jordan Pond far below.


Then we continued on to Bubble Rock, a seemingly precariously perched rock near the summit.


Heading down the trail, there was another spot to go out for a nice view.


Shortly past here was an intersection.  We went right and then left to go up North Bubble.  It was a little steep, but no challenging sections like going up South Bubble.  Another nice view of Jordan pond from the top.


After a short break, we headed down to Bubbles Divide Trail and went right to head back down towards Jordan Pond.  The last section was very steep and rocky.  At the bottom, a bridge crossed a little creek at the head of the lake.


Jordan Path Pond continued around the lake.  It looked like a land slide mostly wiped out the trail near Tumbledown Cove.


The last segment of the trail was almost completely on a boardwalk around the southwest corner of the lake.


We came out near Jordan Pond and enjoyed one more view of the lake.


  We had planned to get popovers at Jordan Pond House but it was extremely crowded so we just left.


We headed into Bar Harbor and got an early dinner at Leary's Landing, sitting outside along the sidewalk.  Another guy was eating outside with his dog, Lucy.  He had tied Lucy's leash to a chair and something knocked it over, scaring her and she took off.  The chair dragged behind her, scaring her even more, but fortunately he was able to catch her.  After an unexpectedly eventful meal, we made one more stop in the park at the parking for Norumbega Mountain.  Crossing the street we picked up Hadlock Brook Trail and follows it just under a mile to where it crosses under Waterfall Bridge.


Hadlock Falls was just upstream of the bridge.


In low water and poor lighting from the afternoon sun, it wasn't too impressive.


We climbed up to the Carriage Road and walked a short ways to pick up Maple Spring Trail below Hemlock Bridge.


The water was low but the tributary here was scenic.


We followed Maple Spring Trail down to Hadlock Brook Trail and started making our way back.  Less than half a mile from the trailhead, Sandy saw what she thought was a squirrel.  With a closer look, it was in fact an long-tailed weasel.


He was really cute, scurrying about around the rocks and logs on the ground.


We sat for a while watching him and getting some pictures.  He didn't seem too bothered by our presence and Alex was interested in him.


I managed to get a short video of him.


After a bit, he got a little too close and we decided to take off before Alex did take an interest.


It was just a short walk back to the car and then we headed back to the hotel for our last night on Mount Desert Island.

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