Day Mountain

When we were looking at the map we saw that there is a carriage road that goes to the top of Day Mountain, which is a small-ish mountain down in a corner of the park that neither Dad or I had ever been to. We figured up a loop that would include the mountain and if we used the bus we wouldn't have to retrace our steps!

We headed out to catch the 8:33 bus at the campground, however 5 of the 6 bike slots were already taken so we had to wait for the 8:48 bus. Luckily that bus didn't have any bikes on it! We had a quick lesson on how the bike rack worked, we'd seen a guy do it the other day and it looked super easy, it is easy, but you just have to know where & what to tug and pull and snap! By 9:00 we were at the visitor center and after a quick trip up and down 52 steps to the ladies room we were ready to roll.

We started out on the super steep, but short, hill - I knew it was coming this time and was in low gear and didn't have to get off and walk! We followed the carriage roads around Witch Hole Pond and on to Eagle Lake. We decided to go counter clockwise around Eagle Lake so we could go up Conor's Nubble - seemed easier this time! Then we headed out to Bubble Pond and down the same section that we'd ridden yesterday.

When we got to the turn off to Day Mountain we were by the stables and there were 2 horse drawn carriages coming! Real carriages on the carriage trail!

The trip around and up Day Mountain wasn't too bad! Going around it was very rolling, we'd go up, then down, then up, then down. Once we reached the turn for Day Mountain summit it was straight up for 1.6 miles, but it didn't seem that hard! The views of the ocean and the Cranberry Islands were great!

Our plan had been to ride to Jordan Pond House and get the bus back to the Visitor Center, however as we studied the map we realized that it was only 7 or so miles back and we could ride by Aunt Betty's Pond, one of the carriage roads we hadn't ridden yet. The only problem was that it was going to run into lunch time and neither of had brought much food - just a few Kind Bars and Larabars. No problem, they sell "to go" sandwiches at the Jordan Pond House gift shop!

We both got a veggie wrap sandwich and some boxed water (they gave gone to all boxed water in Acadia - seems like a good thing!) and went out to eat under a tree overlooking the Bubbles! They even had chairs to sit on! I'm very impressed with the veggie wrap! It had lots of real veggies in it- lettuce, zucchini, squash, peppers, some hummus. Very yummy! It was a nice break and soon we were on our way back to the visitor center.

The first section we rode we had ridden yesterday so I knew those hills - they didn't seem so hard today! Soon though we turned off on the section that went by Aunt Betty's Pond. The first part was like the Giant Slolom - steep downhill with lots of curves! Then we rode by the pond. Then we started up. And up. And up. And up. It seemed like every foot of elevation we'd lost had to be re-gained! But soon we were back at Eagle Lake heading up past Witch Hole to the parking lot for a 26 mile ride!

Just before we got to the visitor center, maybe a 1/2 mile away, Dad noticed my rear tire was losing air. Again. WTF? I made it to the bottom of the big steep hill before it started making a strange flopping noise and I got off and walked. Luckily we were so close! But still. This is the 3rd flat I've had in not that many miles.

We caught the bus back to the campground, changed into non sweaty, clean-ish clothes, got mom and went to Udder a Heaven for ice cream! I'd been thinking about chocolate peanut butter on every uphill all day! After ice cream we drove into Bar Harbor to pay another visit to the nice guys at The Bar Harbor Bike Shop. The hole this time was right by the valve stem - could have been a defective tube, or something else. He gave me some more rim tape and a new tube and it seems fixed. They were very nice and showed me what they were doing and explained everything! :-)

After the bike shop we hit Hannaford and the Natural Foods store before heading to Rosalie's for yummy pizza! We finished dinner early and it was still low tide so Dad drove out onto the sand bar so mom could see it, then it was a quick trip back to the campground to put stuff away and kill some time before we needed to head up Cadillac to see the sunset!

I'd like to go up Cadillac to see the sunrise, but sunrise is at 5am here. That would mean leaving the campground around 4:30, it's just so crazy early and I'd want to take the RV so I could make coffee! :-)

 

Posted with Blogsy