Trip Report: Acadia National Park, Day 2

Welcome back to the exciting conclusion of the coverage of my trip to Acadia National Park!  Beth reminded me that I had failed to mention that we became boy scouts, so I'll start by explaining how that happened.  Then I will talk about the coast and then about the bubble and the lake.  And, as promised, the dramatic ending will be a new desktop photo!


Topic 1: We are now boy scouts.

Our campsite had a fire ring.  On the first night, we had a bundle of logs and some papers we found sitting around the backseat of Beth's car.  We tried to make a fire.

It took us three tries to get a fire burning.  On the first try, we used paper and no kindling.  The second try, we used paper and a handful of damp twigs.  On the third try, we spent about 20 minutes peeling bark off the logs to make kindling, and were finally successful.

Night 1 was kind of pathetic that way.  Now, we watch our progression to becoming boy scouts:

On night 2, we actually had some kindling, and we lit the fire on the first try.  Then we went to hear a park ranger give a talk, and when we returned, we lit the fire using only the old embers from the previous fire!  We figured this pretty much made us boy scouts.  I can even tie a figure 8 knot, and a fisherman's.

Topic 2: The Coast

Acadia is known for its coastlines.  I think we were too busy exploring, because we don't have many pictures.  There are lots of fun rocks to explore.

There are also many coastal birds.  Ever since my friend Larissa pointed it out to me, their shape reminds me of footballs waiting to be kicked:

So...that's about it for coastal photos.  We had a lot of fun climbing around, though.


Topic 3: The Lake and the Bubble.

Our hike for the second day took us up the "South Bubble," a majestic peak rising to a height of 768 feet above sea level!

Its sister "mountain," spotted across the way, was not doing much better, height-wise:

The reason that so many people hike up South Bubble is to try their strength against a "glacial erratic" (a rock deposited in a funny place by an old glacier).  I gave it my best:

I couldn't get the rock to go over the side.  Beth and I tried together:

We couldn't get it to go over the side.  You may ask, "Why even try?!?!"  Well, first, the park ranger the previous night told us to.  Second, it's like gambling!  It will probably go over the side eventually, so the only question that remains is, how unlucky are you?  Turns out, Beth and I are both lucky!  It's good to know!

From the summit of South Bubble, we hiked down to a nice lake.

The hike around the lake was really nice.

Almost a bit too nice, actually.  Acadia, being a National Park, has parts of it that are somewhat resort-y.  Halfway around the lake, we came across and outdoor restaurant on a lawn.  We picked up some sodas and used the restrooms before continuing on.  In fact, I think I went the entire 3-day camping trip without using anything but a flush toilet.  It almost doesn't count...

Here is another view of the beautiful lake we walked around:

From a little further (clockwise) around the lake, the two "bubble" mountains you can see in the distance looked a lot like breasts.  You may remember the last breast-shaped rock formation featured on this blog, from this post...

Here's another nice view of the water:

Time for some miscellaneous nature photos.  The dregs!  These are two trees that wound their way around each other in a confusing way.  What exactly happened here?  Did someone tie them in a knot as saplings?

Finally, here is a mushroom montage:

The last mushrooms in the montage are...


Topic 4. Your new desktop photos!

Choose one, and click for a large version.  I think my preference is for the second one.