Acadia and places as we head back to Rockland

We’ve again been without reliable (or any) cellular or wifi for about a week.  The antennas aren’t allowed in national parks, so getting wifi around Acadia is hit or miss.  So far, we’ve mostly missed!  But today we are in Vinal Haven, back in the Penobscot Bay! Wifi is still available only through the ferry terminal when open or the library.  We can get the ferry terminal wifi while we're on the boat, but it's slow.  I'm giving that a try.

It was nice to be in Acadia again.  We rented bikes and rode on some of the 57miles of carriage roads built for guests of the Rockefellers and islanders between 1913 and 1957. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. financed the project.  Horse drawn buggies mostly used them then – now it’s a mixture of walkers and bikers.  So, these 2 bikers set off.

One of these two bikers thought she was going to die after walking her bike up long, long hills.  I could ride DOWN the hills :-)  but the long inclines were too hard for me. I told the bike rental place that I should get half my money back as I only rode the bike half the time!

Luke was a good hubby and rode slowly beside me or followed to make sure I would make it.

The views were beautiful.  The Bubbles and Jordan Pond.

A view of Bubble Pond.

The view from the rock where we stopped for our lunch.

The pond at the starting point of our bike ride.  Acadia National Park offers not only buses around the entire park, but also special buses to take riders and their bikes back and forth to the pond.  All for free, subsidized by the LL Bean Foundation.

To reward ourselves, we had the famous popovers at the Jordan Pond restaurant.  YUM!

A different day, I went to West Marine at SW Harbor to pick up some boat parts while Luke hiked a trail that I didn’t want to do (this would be the day after the bike ride/walk...).  The Echo trail starts at the quiet Echo Lake beach.

It climbs to a nice overview of the lake. 

Glad I didn’t go – here is part of the trail…. Note the ladders!  Too steep for steps! The first picture actually shows 2 sets of ladders to get up that section. Luke was clever enough to do the steep part on the way down!

There is a nice shore walk along the western side of Mt. Desert Island.  We took a short hike along it, maybe 2-3 miles, to see the rugged shoreline.

We also met up with friends we met last year, Mary and Dick.

They live nearby and have a CAR.  That meant a nice ride up to the top of Cadaliac Mountain instead of either hiking it (did it once…) or paying $52 for the privilege of taking a private bus to the top for a 15 minute stay.  You can see some of the many islands.

After a week at Somes Sound, we spent a night at the deserted Pond Island.  A narrow creek runs into the island.

And just as named, a pond!

Next, one of our favorite islands to hike, Buckle.  Dinghy on shore, waiting to float out at high tide and wait for us (she’s anchored)

This smaller island is where we picked muscles last year.

Fall is fast approaching in Maine.  Red leaves are already starting to drift down.

One the best parts of the walk around the island is the green door!  Right in the middle of the trail, it sits with the current message “will the last one out please turn off the light”.

Luke was the last one out!

Yesterday, at Carvers Harbor, we picked up a few groceries, had  haddock and fries baskets for lunch, and did a bit of walking around.  Planning to leave soon to go to Holbrook Harbor, near Castine, for a few days before our last run to Rockland to leave Latitudes for the winter.