Acadia National Park- Day 3 (September 17)
	Acadia National Park- Day 1 (September 15)
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Thunder Hole

After a great night's sleep, we were up early and ready to go see some more of the sights of Acadia National Park. The first thing we wanted to do was to go over to the Thunder Hole to see if the tide would be more favorable today- allowing us to hear the roar that the tunnel is supposed to emit when the water is just the right height.

From the campground, we had to do the usual- drive north on Route 3 to the Sieur de Monts Entrance and then head south on the one-way loop road to the parking area for Thunder Hole.

Since we spent a fair amount of time here this morning, and wandered around quite a bit, it might help if I could put our pictures into some context.

On the aerial view of the Thunder Hole area at right, I've marked the pertinent locations that will help you orient yourself when you look at some of the pictures.

Thunder Hole is a formation much like the blow holes that we have seen in Hawaii and on the coast of Oregon. As the information sign indicates, water is forced into the rock formation by wave action and by the tides. As it rushes into the narrow crevasse, it is forced into a partially submerged tunnel and, if the level of the water is just right, there will be a "thundering" sound as the water hits the roof and the back of the tunnel. If the tide is too low, the water doesn't enter the tunnel at all, and if it is too high, the tunnel is submerged and no sound is generated. So you have to hit this formation at just the right time.

We took a great many pictures and movies while here at Thunder Hole this morning. You might first want to watch the best of the movies that I made this morning, and you can do so using the player below:

At Thunder Hole

When we first arrived, we went down to the observation point to see if we could hear the thundering noise, but I guess the conditions were not right this morning, either. So we first climbed onto the rocks north of the actual crevasse and walked around there for a while and we got some very nice pictures. Then I crossed over the observation walkway and went on the rocks down in the crevasse, and then up the cliff at the back, to come out on the rocks south of the crevasse. It was here that I found the seagull. Fred, meanwhile, had also crossed the walkway and was south of the crevasse, looking back and taking pictures of me and the seagull. He also found an elderly lady painting, and used his zoom to obtain a close-up view of her at work. Finally, we got some good pictures of the coastline looking south.

One of the most interesting pictures I took was this one. Do the rocks remind you of anything? It reminded me of an image on something that used to be very familiar to all of us. We don't see them much anymore, but when we were younger we probably came into possession of them daily.

Do you remember this formerly very familiar and oft-seen image? To see if you agree with me, first click here and then click here.

Now that I've explained generally where we were here at Thunder Cove this morning, you can take a look at the pictures we took. From top to bottom, left to right, they are pretty much in sequence (on the rocks to the north, in the crevasse, with the seagull and on the rocks to the south). We hope you'll spend some time here at Thunder Cove with us (albeit vicariously) by clicking on the small image thumbnails below:

Otter Cliff

From Thunder Cove, we walked south a ways along the Ocean Trail just to see more of the shoreline, and eventually at the end of the trail we arrived on a broad area of relatively flat rocks, seen in the picture at left. Here, we stopped to take a couple of pictures, one looking north (with me) and one looking south (with Fred).

From this point, we could also see the next stop we wanted to make, and Fred took a telephoto picture of it- Otter Cliff. As we discovered later, the people on top of the cliff were practicing rock climbing and rapelling.

So we walked back to the car which was in the Thunder Cove parking area, and drove a bit further south along the Loop Road to the parking area for Otter Cliff.

We parked and went out to the Otter Cliff Overlook, which was a multi-level viewing area constructed of rock and rock walls. From here, there were excellent views north and south along the coast.

In addition to the great views of the coastline, it seemed as if there were a number of fishing boats nearby. Fred took pictures of a couple of them with his excellent zoom, and you can click on the image thumbnails at the left to see them up close:

There was a pathway leading down from the overlook along the top of the cliff, and I tried to get Fred to go down there with me, but he didn't care to get beyond the walls. (After our experience yesterday at the Precipice Trail, I am a lot more understanding of his inclination or disinclination to go someplace when we are hiking.) Another couple stopped at the overlook right about that time, and the guy wanted to do the same thing but his wife didn't, so he went off on his own. His wife and Fred exchanged pleasantries and commented on the fact that they are often in similar situations (Fred at that point asking me for the car keys), and I went off in a different direction.

When I followed the path and got a ways down and out onto the bare rock, I could look back and up and see Fred at the overlook. Below me, I got a great view of some of the tall, columnar rocks along the shore, and I even spotted some otters on the rocks (at least I assume they are otters, what with the name of the point and all). Further along the path, there opened out below me a whole separate rocky cliff, still quite a ways down. I thought it was extremely scenic. Here, I spotted some folks on the cliff top; when I took a closeup of the people it was apparent that they were rock climbing.

Anyway, I stayed down here for a little while enjoying the scenery, and then hiked back up to the overlook to collect Fred and head off down the Loop Road to our next stop- Little Hunters Beach.

Hunters Head and Little Hunters Beach

To get to Hunters Head and Little Hunters Beach, we just had to drive past Otter Point, where we were early yesterday afternoon, and then up and around Otter Cove and past the back side of Blackwoods Campground. We parked in the area for Hunters Head and walked across the street to find the stairway down to the beach and then started down. Partway down the stairs, Fred returned the favor and took a picture of me on the stairway. At the bottom of the stairway we found ourselves not on a sandy beach, but on a beach composed entirely of rocks. Some were pretty small, but there were also larger ones lying around. Only down by the shore was there any sand to speak of. Pretty quickly, Fred went off rock hunting, even though the signs warned against taking anything from the beach. (I think we each came away with two small rocks to add to our respective collections. Won't nature make more?)

Before I went off to follow him, I wanted to investigate the little stream that flowed down alongside the stairway. It was a small stream; my guess would be that the amount of flow would equal at least a few gallons a minute. The stream flowed out onto the rocks at the edge of the beach and then disappeared about ten feet from the ocean. When I investigated, I found that the stream simply sank into the loose rock, apparently finding the level of the ocean right away. I thought this interesting enough that I made a movie of the phenomenon.

So I joined Fred rock-hunting, and we moved along the beach looking for something interesting to collect. At one point, Fred stopped to take a picture of me with Hunters Head in the background. That is where we headed.

When we got over to the rocks at Hunters Head, we found them to be really neat- all multicolored with interesting factures and veins. It was fun just walking around on the rocks and imagining the processes that created them. We took a few really good pictures here, of the rocks and of the beach, and you can take a look at them if you click on the little thumbnail images at left.

There was one other interesting thing that happened here at Hunters Head. This being early Fall, I guess it is about time for birds to begin their migrations, and this afternoon we happened to be right under a large formation of birds (geese or ducks, I suppose, although it was hard to tell), and Fred got a picture of them. I noticed that there were a lot more coming on after them, and so I got out my camera and made a movie of a very large but orderly formation of birds coming over Hunters Head, and you can watch that movie using the player at right.

It was getting on towards one o'clock, and so we thought that we might follow the park guide's recommendation and see if we could have lunch at Jordan Pond House. The guidebook said it was an extremely popular place, but since it was our next stop on the Loop Road anyway, we thought we would give it a shot.

Lunch at Jordan Pond House

From Hunters Head, we just continued around the Loop Road. Just past the Wildwood Stables, the road becomes two-way again, and then it is only a mile or two to Jordan Pond House. Jordan Pond is one of the largest lakes in Acadia, and the Pond House sits at the southern end of it. It is a gift shop and restaurant, and the restaurant is an excellent one and draws people from all over the island. It was very difficult to find a place to park when we got there, but I let Fred out to get on the waiting list and by the time I was able to join him it wasn't long before a table on the lawn (the nicest place to eat in good weather) opened up.

The tables were kind of like picnic tables, except that the benches had backs. We got an ideal table right down at the end of one of the rows, so we had an unobstructed view of the other diners, Jordan Pond, the Bubbles (the two bubble-shaped mountains at the other end of the pond) and the lawn around us.

One of the attractions of eating at Jordan Pond House is that instead of bread, they bring you popovers with jam and honey and they are delicious. To give you a good impression of what eating on the lawn was like, use the player at right to look at my movie of dining al fresco at Jordan Pond House.

We both took some pictures before our meal, and we've selected the best of them to include here. Click on the thumbnail images below to look at our pictures of dining at Jordan Pond House:

A Walk Entirely Around Jordan Pond

Once we were done with lunch, we paid our bill and then walked down the lawn towards the lake to find the trailhead for the Jordan Pond Trail. We intended to walk the entire trail, all the way around the lake. As you can see on the park inset map at the right, we also took a short off-trail excursion partway up the Bubbles Trail, but we'll cover that in a minute.

I'll divide up the narrative and the pictures in three sections. First will be our walk north along the eastern side of the lake. Then we'll look at pictures from our jaunt up the Bubbles Trail. Next, we'll take a look at some pictures and movies from our walk south along the western shore of the lake. And finally we'll include some pictures that were taken when we returned to Jordan Pond House.

The Eastern Side of Jordan Pond

As I said, we walked down a short path from the dining area to the shore of the lake. There, at a small overlook right beside the lake, there was not only the trailhead sign, but also an informational sign that talked about how the landscape of Acadia National Park was created by glacial action, leaving bodies of water like Jordan Pond behind.

Then we started off along the fairly level path along the eastern shore of the lake. The first 45 minutes of the hike along the shore was pretty easy. It looked as if the path were designed to maximize access to the lake for everyone. Along the way there were always great views of the lake, and sometimes views of The Bubbles as well. Below are some thumbnail images for pictures that we took on this first part of the hike. Click on them to view the full-size pictures:

A Short Hike Up the Bubbles Trail

When we got to the northern end of the lake, we found a rustic wood bridge over a small creek that entered the lake at that point. Nearby, we saw a turnoff for a trail up to The Bubbles- a pair of high hills that look like two bubbles. (Actually, I think they look like something else, but even though I bet you do, too, it's hard to see how the park could get by naming them more accurately.)

Anyway, we backtracked to the turnoff and headed up the trail, not quite knowing what to expect. As we hiked, the trail got steeper and steeper. The weather was fairly warm, and pretty soon I had to jettison my pullover, but we kept going for a ways. When we finally saw a sign that told us how far we still had to go, we thought it might be better to hike up The Bubbles from the official trailhead further north along the Loop Road. So we decided to head back down and put The Bubbles as the next item on our afternoon agenda.

So we stopped partway up the trail to take a few pictures. Fred got a nice view of the North Bubble, and he also took a picture of me on the rocky trail. And here's my picture of Fred on The Bubbles Trail.

Then we headed back down the trail to Jordan Pond again, and returned to the rustic bridge.

Walking Back Along the Western Shore of Jordan Pond

When we got back to the rustic bridge, I got up on it and took Fred's picture with Jordan Pond in the background, and you can look at that picture here. On the other side of that arched bridge, Fred went first across another footbridge that led to the western side of the lake. Here, we ran into another couple coming the other way on the trail, and one of them was kind enough to offer to take a picture of the two of us on the rocky shore of Jordan Pond.

The trail back along the western shore of the lake was quite different. It was more of a trail than a path, first of all, and, for almost two-thirds of its length, it was a footbridge the width of two, rough-boards. It was so interesting that I made two movies. I made the first movie as we were walking over the rough trail and came to the beginning of the long, continuous footbridge, and I shot the second movie after we'd been walking on the footbridge for what seemed like a half-mile or so. You can watch both of them using the players below:

Beginning the Footbridge Trail

On the Footbridge Trail

We also took some pictures as we walked back along the footbridge and trail to Jordan Pond House, and you can see these pictures if you will click on the thumbnail images below:

Returning to Jordan Pond House

We got back to Jordan Pond House about two-thirty. We took a few more pictures before we headed off for The Bubbles. You can use the links below to look at them:

Then it was back to the car and off up the Loop Road to The Bubbles.

Hiking Up The Bubbles

The parking area for the Bubbles Trail was only a short distance up the Loop Road from Jordan Pond; you could see in the pictures from our hike around the pond that it wasn't far. The Bubbles Trail begins at the parking area and heads up through the forest, eventually coming to a fork. To the left, the trail goes up to the South Bubble and Bubble Rock; we did that trail first. Then we came back down to the junction and went off on the other trail to the top of the North Bubble.

To the Top of the South Bubble

When the trail forked, we went off to the South Bubble, reaching the top in about thirty minutes. From the top of the South Bubble, you can get good views of Jordan Pond and on to the ocean, but the main attraction is Balanced Rock, which is a huge boulder seemingly "balanced" at the edge of the rock dome that is the top of the South Bubble. Below I have put some thumbnail images for the best of the pictures that we took here at the top of the South Bubble; please take a look at them by clicking on the thumbnails:

I also took a movie of the panorama from the top of the South Bubble.

Once we were done at the top of the South Bubble, we thought we would go ahead and hike to the top of the North Bubble as well, so we headed off back down the trail to the junction.

To the Top of the North Bubble

When we got back down to the trail junction, we headed the other way up the longer trail to the top of the North Bubble. This trail was a good deal more interesting. It began with a shady trail through the forest but eventually came out onto patches of bare rock and low bushes; at one point, there were some stone stairs. The trip up to the top of the North Bubble took another thirty minutes or so. When we came out on top of the mountain, we found ourselves on a bare rock dome with excellent views all around. For example, we could look south and see all of Jordan Pond, and we could look almost directly down the mountainside (where the trail that we took for a while when we were walking around Jordan Pond is located) at the north end of Jordan Pond and pick out two wooden bridges that we took pictures of on our loop walk.

Here is another, different view of Jordan Pond from the top of the North Bubble, and you can see the rocks that have been placed here at the summit to define the area that it is safe to walk around in. There was also a very good view to the north from here. Before we headed down, I made a movie of the different panorama from here at the top of the North Bubble, and you can watch that movie using the player below:

I also took a movie of the panorama from the top of the South Bubble, and you can use the player at left to watch it.

After wandering around for a while, we headed back on down the trail for one more stop this afternoon.

A Drive to the Summit of Cadillac Mountain

Getting to Cadillac Mountain involved just a further jaunt up the Loop Road until we saw the entrance for the road to the top of the mountain. The scenery was quite pretty all the way up, although it had gotten just a bit cloudy and quite chilly (which wasn't helped by the continual wind at the top).

There are a couple of interesting things in the pictures we took. In some of them, you'll see a cruise ship in the harbor at Bar Harbor. Coincidentally, the ship was the Royal Caribbean ship 'Jewel of the Seas,' which was, of course, the same ship that we had sailed on in February. I suppose it moves north for cruises in the Fall. In another of the pictures, you can see the sand bar that appears at low tide and allows walking access to one of the islands in the harbor. We were walking there yesterday evening.

Here are thumbnails for the pictures we took from the summit; click on them to view the pictures:

Before we left, I also made a movie of the view from the top of the mountain, and you can watch that movie using the player below:

View from Cadillac Mountain

This was our last stop today. This evening, we decided to walk around Bar Harbor for a while, stopping in to a cybercafe so that I could check my email and so we could make some phone calls. We ran across a nice restaurant, but it was closing when we got there, so we resolved to have dinner at the campsite again and then try the restaurant tomorrow night.

You can use the links below to continue to another album page.

	Acadia National Park- Day 3 (September 17)
	Acadia National Park- Day 1 (September 15)
	Return to the New England Trip Master Index