Fri 21 Jun - Bar Harbor, ME

One of THE things to do here is see the sunrise on Cadillac Mountain - the first place in the USA to see sunrise every day (today at 4.46am).

So the alarm went off at 3.30am and by 4.15am we joined the other hundred tourists with the same idea. Punter numbers had increased to a few hundred by the time we left.

The sun was still below the horizon and so we had a lovey "blue light" for a while.

We ate our breakfast while enjoying the spectacle, tea which we brought with us from our motel and a sandwich each.

This is just before the sun popped over the horizon. We were enjoying the views and a couple nearby got in their car and left. What??? Coming all this way and leave just before sunrise...?

Well, there were still a lot of sunrise seekers around... Almost a bit of a party atmosphere that early in the morning.

Here comes the sun do de dah dah (think the Beatles song, which we were humming). It's all right...

The sun was fully risen just after 5am. And more people arrived then...after the event... Again, why?

Of course, by now we were wide awake so let's start hiking - on our first trail by 5.25am.

We parked the car at the Bubble Parking (more on Bubbles later). Today's hike is again a combination of various trails. Here is Hans on the Jordan Pond Path that circles Jordan Pond.

Now, which way is the trail...? Can't be to the left...

Interesting plaque, Joseph Allen was a "Lover of rocks and high places". There is probably a good story behind that plaque...

We found this lovely wooden bridge on the Jordan Pond Path.

Oh no, there is always one...

Our main destination today was the top of South Bubble, but to get up there you have to rock scramble if you follow the advice of our motel host, Jerry. He likes to set a challenge - otherwise the not so fit can take a gentle path. Guess which way we were told to go? Fortunately not scrambling for very long, but there were lots and lots of rocks.

Di looks a bit overwhelmed here. As she says "you know I'm not good with rocks..." but she managed because the rocks were maneuvered in a way to sort of create steps. Not a long climb and we are at the top.

Bubble mania. The song "Tiny bubbles..." from Underbelly comes to mind.

What Di is trying to push over the edge is called Bubble Rock. No, she didn't succeed, the rock was still there.

Hans was giving a pushing good too, but... Bubble Rock was unmoved.

Self portrait up at South Bubble. Eagle Lake in the background.

Top of the hill.. er, rubble pile at South Bubble.

On the way down from South Bubble, we saw this cute little frog on the path. Clearly a frog that liked the dryer environment as he was some distance from any water.

Di had hurt her left foot clumsily twisting it again on rocks (she did suggest that she's not good on rocks) so she decided for a loop around Jordan Pond (3.3 miles or 5.5km) rather than more scrambling and rocky surfaces.

We split at the junction between South and North Bubble and agreed to meet at the Jordan Pond House at 10am. Bye Di. Bye Hans.

Here are the Runkeeper stats for Hans hiking, except that he inadvertently stopped the GPS tracking at 9km. As noted above, we met again at Jordon Pond House which is at the southern tip of Jordan Pond. Hence, Hans probably walked another 2-3 km to a total of about 12 km. Not a long, nor strenuous hike but nevertheless most pleasant.

As there is a South Bubble, elevation 768 feet or 250 meters, there is also a North Bubble, elevation 872 feet or 290 meters. North Bubble is located... North of South Bubble. Funny that.

View of southern tip of Eagle Lake which we wandered around late yesterday on the carriage way.

Hans and Eagle Lake yet again.

The hike continues north of North Bubble and is gently downwards along the ridge. Excellent views despite not being very high.

Then it was a bit of scrambling up on the other side of the carriage way to get to the 3rd and last hilltop for today called Conners Nubble. Clearly not one of the more popular hikes as Hans saw nobody and the trail was not very well maintained or used.

Some of the paths are like this, a boardwalk to preserve the fragile lakeshore. Di came across a mile of it on the western edge of Jordan Pond. Hans on the way back south from Conners Nubble. Fun to walk on.

The Jordan Pond Path on the eastern shore is a very smooth walkway. Easy and pleasant being right on the edge of the pond. We got constant views and there were places you could stop and just enjoy for a while, including a large rock out in the water.

On Di's walk she felt like "Snow White" as it was about 7.30am, no other people, and she was surrounded by the animals of the forest. She had a close encounter with a large doe (female deer) both of them on the path about 10 meters apart. Then she met 2 more deers later in the walk. Also 1 bunny and about 100 squirrels (did she count?)

 

The path includes this nice stone causeway crossing between a swamp area and the lake.

Hans and Di met at the southern end of the Jordan Pond at 10am. This was the view not far from there, looking back towards the Bubbles.

Di had made herself comfortable in a lounger supplied by Jordan Pond House (not open until 11am).

Back to the car park to head home and we got chatting to an older couple who were traveling in a VW Van very similar to the one we borrowed from Di's mum back in October/November last year. They were very talkative about the 6 months they lived in Wellington, New Zealand, what they had seen and wanted to know all about what we had seen. Twenty minutes later we later got in the car and left. Phew - the woman loved to chat and made Di look "quiet" or as Hans suggested "she gave Di a run for her money". (Correction: No, Di was definitely not "quiet"...)

Back to the ranch for showers and coffee then housekeeping arrived so we headed out to Bar Harbor town centre again.

Lunch was a supermarket rotisserie chook with bread, ripped apart and munched at the Village Green park. Very nice and great value at $9 in total.

Here is Di washing off the hands in the fountain at the Village Green after lunch...no thanks from Di for this camera angle! Looked good in Hans' view...

A pleasant hour passed watching the world go by and blogging. As noted yesterday, there is free wifi within the confines of the Village Green.

At around 1.30pm, we wander back to our motel for some downtime. Heck, we've been up for 10 hours already. And we both snoozed. 2 hours or more. Yep, fantastic.

Just after 5pm, beer o'clock kicked in and we each enjoyed an alcoholic drink of choice then got a dinner place recommendation from a local - Poor Boys Gourmet - for good food, reasonable value and stunning desserts.

At 6.30pm we went to sample the offerings of Poor Boys Gourmet.

Good karma from the moment we arrived. Busy, nice location and a perfect table for us upstairs at the open windows. As you may note in the picture below, there was also a queue outside.

Poor Boys Gourmet had a fantastic menu and of course in Maine you have to eat...

Or if you are a bit allergic like Di they do a great alternative with shrimp and scallops. Yummy also. Say cheers...

We had been missing pasta so seafood pasta was ordered - shrimp and scallop for Di and Lobster Poor Boy pasta for Hans. The peas came in a separate bowl (that's a new one) but the waitress said she always stirs them in, so we did too. Worked well.

 

Di and her meal...

Generous servings of seafood and attentive staff - another top meal here.

Hans being slightly faced by the sun and his Lobster Poor Boy Pasta.

The dessert menu was huge and we had been told they were "the best". For Di, she left a tiny space enough to try the smallest, lightest dessert on the menu - Kahlua Chocolate Moose. Very good.

During our meal Hans could see this place across the street which was the complete opposite of our experience. They had 2 customers in the 90 minutes we were at our table. We found it quite depressing. This place needed a restaurant rescue as we could not understand how they could run a business like that with next to no customers.

And who wants to sit eating on a boring wooden table plonked onto a grey boring concrete slab in a national park area...? It may work for an Australian beer garden next to a beach with low beer prices, but definitely not here...

Home around 8.30pm and its a lovely evening to sit outside and finish our blog with some wine. Good night.

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