This should come as no surprise, day 2 started off chasing sunrise. During the months May – October you must have tickets to drive up Cadillac Mountain. (the highest peak in the park) From October 7th – March 6th Cadillac Mountain is the first spot to observe the sunrise in the United States. This is due to its height and proximity to the coast. Because of the earth’s tilt during the spring/ summer months other places along the seaboard actually observe it earlier. We had tickets to drive up Cadillac Mountain starting at 4:30am. We were up at 3 am. Leaving the Airbnb by 4 and on top of the mountain by 4:30am. Here’s my first picture.
There are limited tickets available – however, that still doesn’t prevent a lot of people from participating. Turns out it doesn’t matter the size of the vehicle or how many people inside. Just one ticket required. To say it was crowded would be an understatement. Plus, there was little etiquette. People were talking too loudly and constantly standing / sitting directly in front of you. Fortunately, the chaos doesn’t show in the pictures. I was constantly bobbing and weaving to capture my pictures. Here are a few…
An hour later, the sun made its appearance. Good morning, sunshine ☀️
After officially declaring it a successful sunrise, we jumped in the car and heading to Jordan Pond. Jordan Pond is a beautiful area with a 3.2 mile trail that circles the lake. Jordan Pond is 150 feet deep – making it the deepest lake in the park. Also, it is a public water supply, so no swimming. From the start of the trail, you have a great view of The Bubbles.
The Bubbles are two small mountains- North Bubble and South Bubble. Although they appear to be the same size, they aren’t. The south bubble is closer making it appear larger.
We began our walk around Jordan Pond. It was beautiful in the quiet of the early morning.
My plan was for us to hike from the pond trail to the bubbles summit. Then we realized we needed to be mountain goats. We decided to turn around and just go to the Bubbles parking lot and hike from there.
We clambered back down to the pond trail and finished the rest of the loop around Jordan Pond.
The highlight of the trail for us was the boardwalk. To protect the fragile pond shore ecosystem, the park built a lovely boardwalk.
One thing I have noticed after our two days in the park is the resilience of the trees. They will grow anywhere and on anything. The ultimate survivors / fighters are the trees who will grow on top of a rock. A granite rock at that!
We finished our hike around the lake and jumped in the car. We continued up Park Loop Road to the parking lot for Bubble Rock. It took a little patience and a little jockeying, but we got a parking spot and proceeded to climb to the top of the North Bubble and then to the top of the South Bubble. Mountain goat skills not required when hiking this way.
The highlight of the South Bubble is Bubble Rock. It is a large boulder that hitch a 40-mile ride on a glacier. It’s is precariously suspended on the edge of the South Bubble.
By this point in our day, we were exhausted (we had been up for 8 hours and hiking 6 of them). All we had the energy for was a quick stop at the visitor center. We stopped at the Visitor Center and groaned when we saw the sign that the visitor center was 52 stairs up from the parking lot. Haha. 😆 We passed several families with kids and the kids were all counting each step. My legs were counting, too!
We enjoyed a nice shower and nap before dinner. Our dinner was a delicious reward. Dave ordered the lobster 🦞 platter and I tried another lobster roll. This one was good… however, as predicted, yesterday’s was better!
Day 2 was a success! I’m slowly crossing off my “Maine List”. Lobster Roll, watch the sunrise, hike until my legs are exhausted, enjoy blueberry pie. Now I just need the moose to participate. As always, thanks for reading!