Jordan Pond Path & Someone has a Birthday

Thursday and Friday                                                                                                     Most Recent Posts:
June 22 & 23, 2017                                                                                  Foggy F’s Day, Cobblestones and Popovers
Acadia National Park                                                                                    Off Island, Pie and Carriage Bridges
Mount Desert Island, Maine

 

There are many things happening around Jordan Pond House other than delicious popovers.  Several trail heads are here as well as an entrance to the carriage roads which brought us here last time. One of my very favorite things here is Jordan Pond itself. It’s wonderful to kayak and has a terrific trail around it.

This morning we come back to hike the trail.  We are walking along side Jordan Pond House from the parking lot to the trail head at about 7:30 in the morning when we see a small group of women doing yoga overlooking the pond and the bubbles.

 

 

This is the view the yoga practioners have.  If you read the previous blog then you saw our first look at this view which was completely different. Today the skies are perfect and the Bubbles look just like their picture.   I will leave to your imagination how these two got their name.  

 

 

This is our view at the edge of the pond shore as we start around on the 3.6 mile path walking counter clockwise.

 

Further along the Bubbles begin to move out of view.

 

The path is quite varied as it moves around the shoreline.

 

 

This early in the morning there are no other people around to disturb the tranquility of the scene.

 

 

We’re used to seeing gray squirrels in our travels but these little red squirrels are the locals up here.  They are so cute.

 

From the shore, I see a loon riding low in the water.

 

This is what I get when I try to take a second shot.  Under water, above water, I love knowing they are here.

 

 

It was at about this spot on the path that I stepped to the edge to look out and see if the loon had come back up and might be near by.

 

Imagine my surprise when I saw what I assume is his mate on the shore below me and to my left.   It’s amazing that she would nest so near such a popular path where people are coming and going in pretty big numbers later in the day for the next several months.

 

 

Nature does such amazing designs.  Just look at the detail and topped off with red eyes in a black velvet face.

 

 

David finds a better spot, but no other loons at that moment.

 

 

We do pass this beaver lodge also right off the trail on the edge of the pond.

 

 

 

 

It might help to see the map of this hike.  It’s the solid red line around the pond.  We began at Jordan Pond House at the bottom of the Pond and moved counterclock wise around.  As you can see the pond has two short ends and two long sides.

 

 

We’re nearing the end of the eastern side when we find that part of Pemetic Mountain has become a rock slide.  Trail builders have done a great job of forging a path through.  Remember this when we get to the other side.

 

 

 

 

When we reach this cute little bridge we are at the opposite end of the pond from the Jordan Pond house which means we are right under the Bubbles. The South Bubble is closest to us and directly behind.

 

 

We know it’s over there but can’t see it without the 50X zoom on my camera or David’s binoculars.

 

 

Right next to the little bridge, David spies this banjo plucking green frog.  I’m very surprised he doesn’t yelp in surprise and jump into the water.  He doesn’t move even when I move from behind him to in front of him for these pictures.

 

 

 

 

Having rounded the end of the pond, we’re now going down the west side beneath Penobscot Mountain. Again the terrain and surface of the path varies.  The park has done just a fine job on their trails and protecting the environment from over use as best they can.

 

 

 

Not to be out done, Penobscot has an even bigger rock slide that requires some careful stepping.

 

 

 

 

 

Once we are back in the woods it is nearly all boardwalk over fragile ground.

 

We’ve been hearing some workmen sounds and wondering what they are when we find the boardwalk stops and the trail is rerouted.

Through the trees we can see a group of people working on the trail.

 

 

When we get close enough to see one of the workers, David calls out to ask him if he works for the park or a subcontractor.  Turns out all these people constructing this trail are Friends of Acadia and are volunteering their time to do trail construction and maintenance.

Wow!  David asks if they need help and the worker tells him to come by the Park Headquarters any Tuesday at 8am and they’ll be leaving from there to work around the park.   He really wants to join them.  I hope he’ll be able to

 

Here’s a section they’ve just finished with a nice 3 board wide pass by for folks coming in both directions so no one has to “step off” and damage what they are trying to protect.

 

 

More quickly than we expected, we’re back at our starting point with the Bubbles in view.  This hike is really a lot of fun and I could definitely just keep on walking around again but we have an important occasion tonight.

 

 

It’s Nancy Mill’s birthday.  In true Nancy fashion, she made plans to cook her own birthday dinner before anyone else could suggest a plan.  I don’t think I’ve ever known any two people as well organized and on top of everything as the Mills.

 

 

And what did she choose to make?   LOBSTER ROLLS!!!    Here they are being sauteed in butter.  Those of you who know the four of us know that to say we eat low fat would be putting it mildly.  But this is a seriously special occasion.

 

Sadly for Nancy, I was too focused on that delicious dinner to realize I needed to use the flash here in order to compensate for the back lighting.

 

Since we’d all just had cake last night for the Solstice, we put a candle on the 2/3rds left and renamed it Nancy’s birthday cake.  She made a wish and blew it out.  I’m pretty sure Nancy’s wishes all come true.

 

 

Nancy’s Birthday continues on to Friday evening when the four of us play dominoes at their house.  Things are going ok at the beginning.  Then David and Nancy start winning and Bill and I start losing.  

 

 

At this point, Nancy is ahead of us all.  I mean it is her birthday after all.  Maybe that was her wish, to beat Bill at dominoes.  He’s  dropping further behind with every tile he has to draw.   Nancy is amused.

 

 

The more he draws, the more we laugh.  You have to understand that Bill almost always wins.  But it’s Nancy’s birthday and she has clearly put her charms on the tiles.

 

As you can see, his luck doesn’t change and he has enough tiles to sink a ship in front of him.  Although, in his defense, he doesn’t have ALL the tiles.  Just A LOT! <grin>

 

Nancy watches the score keeping carefully but Bill isn’t interested in keeping any proof of his record breaking loss.  Good thing for him my memory is so bad and I can’t remember the score since I would have published it even though he hastily tore up the score sheet into the trash can. His hands are ripping so fast they are a blur in the picture.

 

He was a good sport about the loss, other than the scoresheet.  It probably helped that my score wasn’t a great deal better than his.

 

Fun times with good friends.
Many Many more Happy Birthdays Nancy!