I find myself with too many stories and not enough days to share them. When you're playing a sport and you've got a lot to do in a short amount of time, you start doing 2-a-days. So, for the time being, I'll be posting 2 stories every day. One at 10am and the next one at 4pm.
Earlier this morning we were exploring the island of Acadia. We stopped around 2pm to head back to the RV to grab an early dinner. Now we're headed back to a place we've been trying to hike since we got here. Jordan Pond! It's one of the most popular places in the park!
When we've tried coming here earlier, the parking lot has been a zoo. We'd thought about getting up even earlier to beat everyone to the parking lot so we could get this hike is, but then Theresa had another brilliant idea. Everyone is trying to get here early in the morning to go hiking. Why don't we try getting there at the end of the day? The nearby restaurant closes at 5pm and hopefully things will be a lot less busy. She was right! I parked the truck at 5:30pm in an empty parking lot!
And that also means the trail is going to be a lot less busy!
The kids wanted to touch the water. Go for it, though it is a drinking water source.
It's a pretty view. The two peaks are known as the North Bubble and South Bubble. They were formed when a mile wide glacier pushed through here.
Having our choice between going right or going left, we picked right.
The water here is incredibly clear. I do wish the sun was overhead a little more so we could see down into it better. Normally I'd see mossy rocks, silt, plants, etc, but this water was as clear as bottled water.
We haven't encountered too many other hikers on this right side of the trail, but it's been plenty wide, covered in gravel, and just a well groomed trail.
It's been a very pleasant hike!
At the back side of the lake and the sun is starting to go down.
Some interesting bridges to get over the small streams that feed this lake.
I asked the kids to pose for me. This is what Alli gave me.
And Ian.
And when they get together, they get silly.
Time to tackle the other side of this lake.
As we were making our way through the trees, we started coming up on another couple and they motioned to be quiet as we drew closer. I noticed there was a small tree across the path and a tree trunk that looks like it's been gnawed away.
And what's that in the water?
A family of beavers! This is the closest we've been to a beaver in real life! They were happily munching away on some branches. They're herbivores and only eat plants.
Those are some crazy bite marks on a pretty solid tree trunk!
This left side of the pond is quite a bit different than the right side. The kids were scrambling over rocks for a bit.
We took a moment to appreciate the last rays of sunlight hitting the mountain across from us.
What a fantastic day!
I wasn't expecting a boardwalk on the trail.
It was only wide enough for 1 person to walk down, except for these sections every 30 yards or so.
And I didn't realize how far it would go! I mapped it later, based on the GPS coordinates on my photos and saw that this boardwalk stretches for about 3/4th of a mile! That's a lot of wooden planks to put down!
I'm really glad we're doing this at night when it's not busy. If we were doing this in the morning I can't imagine how long we'd be shuffling along, waiting for people to pass, passing others ourselves.
Maybe that's why the guides say this 3.2 mile hike takes 2.5 hours. It took us 1:20 to get around the whole pond.
It was a really pretty hike and I can see why people enjoy it. If I had to do it again, I'd come a little bit earlier in the day when the sun was still up, say 4pm instead of 5:30pm. That or pick another nearby hiking trail, join up with the right (east) side of Jordan Pond, then hike out.
Not surprisingly, when we got back to the parking lot our truck was the only one left!
Ian - Acadia National Park - My favorite part was doing a half marathon. We saw two snakes. We touched Jordan Pond. I want to come back.
Alli - Acadeya - We did anaml ulimpis I likt it. My favorite prt was getting goonyr ranger bags. The thigs in the booklit wr fun.
Theresa's idea to come later in the day proved to be an excellent one! Being able to enjoy the trails without wall-to-wall people or "long" waits makes for a more tranquil walk. Those beavers sure know how to bite through the tree trunks! Cute "silly" picture by Alli & Ian on the bridge :-) Lots of beautiful scenery around Jordan Pond and the pond, itself. That second-to-last photo with the setting sun behind the twin bubbles and the peaceful pond w/ foreground rocks is gorgeous!...perfect closing shot to end the day's memory of the pond. EOM
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