Hiking in Acadia - The Bubbles

Here's an older draft post I'm clearing out - it's from my time in Acadia National Park in Maine a few months ago in late August.

Acadia National Park in Maine is a great place for hiking and I just wanted to post a description of another nice one that I can highly recommend if you're ever in the area.  It's a hike over the Bubbles which rise like a large pair of breasts over Jordan Pond (they don't look like bubbles to me, they look like breasts, what can I say?).

There are a few hikes possible here.  You can go over North Bubble (to the left), over South Bubble (to the right), or both (of course).  There's a path through the cleavage in the middle for easy access to either side.  There's also a nice path around Jordan Pond itself.

My family, being lazy, didn't want to hike as much as I did so I came up through the middle and over South Bubble while they took the carriage road to meet me on the shore of the pond.  It's a nice hike over the Bubble.  The geology was similar to Cadillac Mountain being composed of the ubiquitous pink granite (I liked how the orange lichens colonized the joints in the bedrock here).

The top (not too much of an accomplishment at 768 feet!).  The view is looking north across the saddle toward the North Bubble.

The view of Jordan Pond (and the Atlantic Ocean), however, was incredible.

The south end of Jordan Pond is a slight ridge which dams the lake (it's the location of the Jordan Pond House mentioned shortly).  The linear lake was carved by glaciers during the last ice age and the ridge at the end ponding the water is a glacial moraine (a mound of debris dropped when the glacier melted away).

Here's the best part about South Bubble - the large glacial erratic perched precariously on the edge of a cliff.  While it looks like it will tumble off at any minute, it's actually quite stable.

 

Looking north (above) and south (below).

 

 

Of course I had to crawl around near the edge of the cliff and peer at the underside.

 

Someday, it will tumble down that cliff, but it probably won't be in our lifetime.

The descent down the south face of South Bubble was very steep and slightly exposed with a few iron handrails bolted into the rock (it would be easier to climb up rather than down as I did).  For some reason, I didn't take any pictures.

The trail around Jordan Pond was an easy stroll on a carriage road on the east side.

Then you cross a bridge at the north end of the pond.

And the trail on the west end was a bit rougher over rocks with boardwalks for the swampy bits (but still easy for people with no walking difficulties).

The trail ends at the Jordon Pond House. 

Looking back over Jordon Pond toward the Bubbles from the lawn gives a classic view.

And here's the reward at the end of the hike.  Freshly baked popovers, fresh strawberry jam, and tea at the served out on the lawn at the beautiful setting of the Jordon Pond House.  Very classy.