To round out our Acadia NP visit, we needed to do a hike. After consulting with the rangers and thinking about what level of hike we thought we could do (since we have not been hiking much this year so far), we settled on the loop trail around Jordon Pond. We arrived at the parking area around 11:45 and had to circle 2 times trying to find a parking spot. We saw one that was marked for oversized vehicles, but we were not sure if the Behemoth counted as an oversized vehicle (it sure felt like one in that tight parking lot). Leslie jumped out and checked with a couple of rangers that were writing tickets for people who had parked wrong and they guided us into a spot that a small RV was pulling out of. At 3.4 miles and only 69 feet of elevation gain (1749 calories burned), it was an easy hike to get our legs moving again. We headed counterclockwise along the northern portion of the trail which was wide and smooth. The views out over the lake were beautiful. The southern portion of the trail on the return was a bit more challenging. The first half mile was through a boulder field that had a path through it but there was still a fair amount of boulder hopping. The next mile was on a wooden boardwalk that was only 2 feet wide. There were wide spots where hikers could step off to the side to let others coming the opposite direction to pass. But of course not everyone was this nice and we had several times where we had to step off the boardwalk to let oncoming traffic to pass because they would not stop at one of the wide spots to let us pass. A bit annoying. Also, after a half hour of balancing on this boardwalk (with no railings), we started to feel a bit of vertigo. We were happy when the boardwalk ended. After completing the hike, we pulled out or bag chairs and picnic lunch and went back to the shore, found a shady spot, and enjoyed a leisurely lunch. While we sat there, a gentleman approached us and asked us if we were park volunteers because he had some questions. We explained that we were not. He later came back to chat with us some more. Turns out he was from Uruguay and was on a summer visit with his grandkids to see several of the US National Parks.
 |
|
 |
| Jordan Pond from the North Shore |
 |
| Jordon Pond from the west end |
 |
| Bridge over the creek at the west end of the lake |
 |
| The boardwalk along the south shore |
 |
| The bubbles from the south shore |
 |
| Jordon Pond House |
No comments:
Post a Comment