Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Acadia Diaries: Day 4, Good Eats, Great Hikes

After the nighttime adventures of thunderstorm and crashing awnings, we all slept in on Day 4 of our Acadia trip.

After our leisurely morning, we headed to the Jordan Pond House for an early lunch.


Thanks to Abby for these photos!
I don't know how people feel about the Jordan Pond House.  Some may say it's a tourist trap.  Others may say it's a cultural icon.

I just really like eating out on the lawn and looking over Jordan Pond.  I mean, how can that be bad?  And of course, there are always the popovers.

Abby's photo

Jon's photo (Abby's hands)
The place is ripe for photo-snapping:

I love tea. (Photo by Jon)
Kevin liked joining us for lunch, too.  Though he didn't get any popovers. (Photo by Abby)
Kevin, enjoying the view.
Following lunch, we took a stroll by Jordan Pond, and this is probably my favorite photo of the whole Acadia adventure.


We filled up the afternoon on Day 4 with two fabulous hikes, and I highly recommend both of them.  They are not long, but they provide some spectacular opportunities along the way.  Both are on the Quiet Side of Mount Desert Island.

Flying Mountain

The first hike we did was the Flying Mountain trail.  This trail is a 1.5 mile loop.  Part of the loop is along a logging road.  This is not the exciting part.  I think a lot of people hike the trail through the woods/over the summit first, and come back to the parking lot via the logging road, but we did the opposite, which I highly recommend.  

The road itself is boring, but not long, and at the end of it, you find yourself in Valley Cove.  When I think of gems on hiking adventures, Valley Cove is tops on the list.  It is a charming beach with a rocky, pebbly shore, perfect for a quick swim.  Sailboats conveniently moored in the distance added even more delight to the scenery.  

We didn't know about this little beach, and so were not quite prepared for swimming, but Abby and Kevin made the most of it:



The rest of the hike, up and over the Flying Mountain summit, is like walking through a fairyland.  We kept describing the hike as magical.




 We did not overlook the scenic overlook, but made far too many jokes about how some people might overlook the overlook.
At the Overlook (photo by Jon)


The Ship Harbor Nature Trail

Our second hike of the afternoon was one we had found on a previous visit.  The Ship Harbor Nature Trail is also short (1.3 miles) and yet has a little bit of everything (except a lot of climbing up up and up).

There's forest walking, an incredible pebble beach/inlet with calm waters, and then a section of the trail along the rocky coast.  Who doesn't love scrambling over rocky coastline?

Photo by Jon
People like to build little towers with the stones on this beach.  Kevin preferred swimming. 

Kevin swimming! A whole minute of it!  I know!





Photo by Jon

Photo by Jon

 All in all, it was a great day--one of the best of our whole vacation.


4 comments:

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  3. Looks like a lot of fun, glad your all enjoy your trip.
    Aunt från

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  4. I was there a hundred years ago when we lived in Blue Hill. Those towers of rocks are called cairns and I've seen them all around.

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