While the alarm was set for 4:40am, so that we could get up and head off to Cadillac Mountain to watch the sunrise, I managed to wake up well before the appointed hour and did not manage to get back to sleep. Silly, really, as it was going to be a long day.
Five of us opted to go and watch the sunrise. Arriving at the top of Cadillac Mountain, there is a road so you don't have to climb up to the summit, it was evident that there was low cloud hugging the horizon to the east. While there was some colouring of clouds the actual sunrise was completely obscured. Such is life.
I did manage to get some photos. Not brilliant ... but the best under the circumstances.
It was cold at that early hour of the morning and none of our party had rugged up anywhere nearly enough.
It was surprising just how many people had ventured up to the top of the mountain for the sunrise. We were not alone.
Back down at our hotel we headed off for breakfast which had started at 6 o'clock.
As part of our park pass we had access to the free bus service which services the town and park. One of the routes services the major hotels. getting this bus we were duly dropped at the Village Green. A trip to the park information service allowed me to buy a map which proved very useful later in the day.
The bus service was good with most routes serviced with half hour buses and, at times, buses running every 15 minutes. It is hard to understand why so many people drove into and through the park. Parking was difficult and travelling slow. The buses had bike racks, too.
Trevor and I were starting our days activities at different points in the park and this meant different bus routes. I left Trevor waiting for his bus as I headed off to my starting point for the North Mt Cadillac Trail, heading south. I had walked this trail on Wednesday, but in reverse.
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| That string of islands, again! |
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| The trail passed through some areas of pleasant forest |
At the top of Cadillac Mountain is a shop which was doing good business when I arrived.
Coming down the south trail from the summit provided a new perspective.
I came across some tarns that appear to hold water year round. This one had an extensive reed bed.
The water feature shown in the next photo also appears to have water year round. This tarn was quite long and narrow.
There were some interesting split rocks along the trail. This looked like a cracked egg.
As I descended the trail changed from one primarily going across granite flows and boulders to a track with exposed tree roots. I think that the tree roots were far more challenging than the rock.
Boardwalks have been provided at points where the area gets wet in order to protect the fragile environment.
And another split rock. This one has a horizontal split where the lower section has dropped away from the rest of the rock.
The challenge was finding the place to catch a bus, any bus. As it turned out I managed to lose about an hour by going on to the Blackwoods Camping Ground stop as it took time to reach and then I had just missed one. I did learn that I could have just waited down on the road and flagged the bus as I saw happen three times between where I was picked up and the next major drop off/pick up point. Oh well, it did give me a chance to eat my lunch and have a rest.
My next walk started at Jordan Pond.
There was quite a crowd at this spot. On the grass there was a sea of sun shade umbrellas protecting tables full of people enjoying the gorgeous day.
There was a long queue for a table, too, which I avoided.
Jordan Pond is a drinking water supply so no paddling or swimming and definitely no pissing. I headed off in a clockwise direction. The walk was pleasant and quite a bit of it was on boardwalks. The terrain was "slippage" and, as such, quite fragile so the boardwalks had been been installed to protect the environment from the damage of thousands of feet tramping over it.
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| The boardwalk around the edge of Jordan Pond was a little rustic |
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| View across Jordan Pond |
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| Autumn is on its way in New England and on the Atlantic Maritime coast even tough it is only August. Here is just one of the many trees already showing autumn colour. |
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| Another view of Jordan Pond with one of its foot bridges |
I continued around Jordan Pond until I came to the Jordan Pond Carry Trail. I could have gone up the Bubble Trail but there was a large party heading up that track so best avoided. I did swing around and came back to South Bubble. Trevor also visited South Bubble. The marking at the top was a pole sticking out of a large pile of stones. There were not really good views and, in reality, it was a bit of a disappointment particularly as I had been told it was terrific.
Across the track from the South Bubble summit there was another area of trails and these were marked with blue trail blazers. Odd, I thought. I wondered what was so well marked when nothing else had been. While South Bubble itself was disappointing the area adjacent to it was not. The views were good and then there was Balancing Rock. I'm not sure why the rock is still sitting on the edge of the ledge!
Coming down from South Bubble I continued on the Jordan Pond Carry Trail through to Eagle Lake. I then followed the lake trail around until I reached one of the carriage trails which took me to the road and a bus stop.
The trail around the edge of Eagle Lake was very rough. Tree roots, rocks, narrowness and poor definition all added to the challenge. It was slow walking but fortunately I only had to go about a km on it otherwise I might still be out there!
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| A view along Eagle Lake |
The carriage trails are unsealed roads that have been built within the park. They are intended for non vehicular traffic. The one I used was easy walking as it was well maintained, wide with a gentle slope.
Arriving at the Bubble Pond car park I thought that I had missed the last bus. Fortunately that was not the case. One came along and I managed to make it back into Bar Harbour and on to the hotel before 7 o'clock which gave me time to shower and change before we headed off for our farewell dinner.
It had been a long day and by 10pm I was completely exhausted and could cheerfully have curled up on the floor and gone to sleep.
A group of women in our party had taken on the challenge of doing the requirements to become Senior Rangers. They had a wonderful day finding all the things they needed to check out to complete their test. They were delighted to achieve all the requirements and, apparently, were praised for having done everything so thoroughly ... not normally the case for those undertaking the Senior Ranger program. It made the day in Acadia National Park a fun one for them and also for the rest of us our our paths cross during the day.
