Conference noted::bicycle

2575.0. "Acadia Trip report; Bar Harbor Maine" by DNEAST::FIKE_MIKE () Thu May 27 1993 07:23

    
    
    
    This is a bit long and although I went there on a MTB, roadie folks may
    find it of interest also because there are bike routes alongside the 
    roads to get there as well as the paved park loop road and the carriage
    trails themselves. It's a trip report on the Carriage roads in Acadia
    National Park; hit "n" now if it doesn't interest you..

		Acadia Carriage Roads Trip report....

	Acadia National Park is located along the coast of Maine and is one
 of the most visited national parks (about 6 million visitors annually, I
 believe I read). For more information or campground reservations, contact
 Superintendent, Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609 or call
 (207) 288-3338 voice or TDD.

	Last Saturday was predicted to be a beautiful spring day in Maine;
 clear skies, too early for black flies and mosquitoes, warm temperatures - 
 so I planned to drive up to Bar Harbor (I live just outside of Augusta) to 
 ride the Carriage Roads in Acadia National Park. For those who don't know,
 the carriage roads are a 53 mile network of 6 to 20 foot wide groomed fine
 gravel roads that go past brooks, lakes, ponds , around mountains and scenic
 Atlantic Ocean overviews that were built many years ago by John D. 
 Rockefeller, Jr. who also donated about 11000 acres (about 1/3 of the whole 
 park) to what is now the Acadia National Park. You can still pay to have a 
 horse-drawn carriage ride from Wildwood Stables during the summer months . 
 Carriages, hikers and bikers (and cross-country skiers and snowmobilers in 
 the winter) ONLY are allowed on the roads- no vehicular traffic; but there 
 is a 20 mile loop road that you can drive around the fringe of the park on 
 and see some beautiful scenery from. 
	I ride a Raleigh MTB (although I've seen road bikes on the same roads
 with no problem- the gravel is packed and fine) with an AMP suspension fork
 and various utilitarian add-ons (speedo, rack, bell, etc.) so it's a heavy
 beast fully loaded (about 35 lbs.)
	I packed everything I reasonably thought I'd need the night before;
 different clothes, sunscreen, tools - and placed 3 water bottles in the fridge
 so they'd be nice and cold when I left the following morning. I got up around
 5:00 A.M. and racked my bike on the car and headed up. When I got 30 miles 
 out of town I realized that I left my water in the fridge - major dumb! So 
 I stopped at a store outside of Bar Harbor (too early for the bike shops) and
 bought 2 liter bottles of Poland Spring water and with some minor bending of
 my bottle holders, they fit o.k.! Cold too! The gods have smiled down on me..
	After stopping at the Acadia Visitor's Center to change into my shorts
 in the Men's room, I headed up the trail. Behind the visitors center is a 
 trail that leads uphill (about a mile climb) to the first carriage road which
 goes to Witch Hole pond. It's a granny climb, so I stop halfway to remove my
 shirt and continue in my t-shirt and shorts. Witch Hole pond is a small 
 pretty pond with a few beaver houses on it and plenty of songbirds flitting
 about. Passing the pond , I continue to ride toward Eagle Lake which is a 
 fairly level 2 mile run (the last time I was up here, I actually did see an 
 eagle soaring above Eagle Lake- it was great!), and continue on past the lake 
 on the left toward Bubble Pond. I pass over some short granite bridges which 
 go over the small brooks that empty into the Lake. The trails have been 
 recently graded and gravel added to the washed-out spots; I pass only a few 
 people as it's still early in the day (8:45) and even earlier in the biking 
 season (May 8th).
	As I near Bubble pond, the road narrows to a trail and then skirts the
 edge of the pond. I see 2 men quietly fishing in a small canoe at the other 
 end of the pond. Across from me is Cadillac mountain and Dore mountain. They
 rise up (486' and 387' respectively) almost straight out of the pond and 
 overlook it. They are covered on the side facing me with massive amounts of 
 rubble that make it appear as if new rubble is constantly cleaving off the 
 mountain. It's quiet and clear and breathtakingly beautiful. I stop for a 
 drink next to a small waterfall that drops a 6 foot wide sheet of water over 
 the flat edge of a rock to a brook below. The water is crystal clear and ice 
 cold. The air is warming up nicely.
	I ride on upward alongside Pemetic Mountain toward Day mountain and
 the Wildwood Stables.  The carriage road is crossed by many well marked hiking
 trails that biking is prohibited on. These trails vary in intensity from 
 gentle family-oriented hikes, to sheer cliffs (the Precipice- very steep, 
 some ladders, well marked and a real climb; not a walk)
	Although I've ridden to the peak of Day mountain before and enjoyed 
 the 300 degree ocean view (and rapid eight-minute descent- yahoo!), I bypass
 it today and try some of the privately-owned grass roads on the outskirts of
 Seal Harbor; these are roads that you're allowed to ride on (except where
 marked otherwise) and are covered with fine grass with slightly worn gravel
 tracks. I ride silently up the back side of Day mountain upon the grassy 
 road; it's so quiet that I can hear my tires squeaking on the dewy grass. I 
 come out by the Jordan Pond House; a beautiful stone building at the Jordan 
 Pond Trailhead near the Nature Trail (Jordan Pond is about 1/2 the size of 
 Eagle Lake).  
	As I ride alongside of Jordan Pond the road is cut right into the side 
 of Penobscot mountain. To my right is the view down about 75' to Jordan Pond
 below; to my left is granite rubble precariously balanced in a mound that
 stretches hundreds of feet up at a 100 degree angle from the road. It gives 
 the appearance that it you pull one small stone out, the whole mountain will
 rain down on your head. The gravel on the road has a slight pinkish hue and
 appears to be formed from crushed granite as the whole mountain is made up 
 of huge pink and grey speckled chunks of it. Large chunks of it line the
 roads all along the downsides throughout the park. Some of it has been cut
 into blocks and made into the bridges and retaining walls that cross the
 brooks and streams in the park. So much work has obviously gone into the 
 building and maintenance of the roads that I am occasionally amazed by the
 concept that someone once OWNED all of this. It just seems way too vast and 
 spectacular for "A" person to have actually owned! 
 	I've eaten my fig newtons and the muffin I had for breakfast seems 
 like a long time ago, so I decide to head back to my car to get lunch. My car
 is still a good hour away, so I'm off. Riding back toward the visitor's 
 center, I can't resist the road to Aunt Betty's Pond (No, not MY Aunt Betty-
 I don't know who it's named for) because I know it's got a nice downhill on
 this side of the pond and a good uphill beyond. Right after the entrance to
 this road is where it get's great!; the road snakes quickly back and forth
 across a series of 6-8 small concrete bridges (each only 10' long by 10' 
 wide) that cross a stream. It's a fast downhill and although I'm going slow
 enough to stop in case someone's coming uphill, I'm still hearing my knobby
 tires crunch through the gravel at each turn. What a rush! As it straightens
 out I'm going about 20 mph and I come out upon the pond. I stop for a water
 break and stretch out on a nice flat rock that borders the pond. I see a few
 mallards swimming around and the sun is starting to really get warmer. After
 a brief rest I continue uphill to Eagle Lake and past Breakneck Ponds (I 
 don't even want to know how they named them!) and Witch Hole pond back to
 the visitor's center. The trail down to the visitor's venter is the only one
 posted with a "Bicycle Warning- steep grade and sharp turns" sign, so you 
 know that that's a cool challenging ride down!.
	I've covered about 30 miles in the morning, and rack my bike to the
 car and head back to the Hull Cove general store for lunch. Seeing no menu,
 the nice young lady say's "we've got barbequed beef today"; Sounds o.k., so 
 I eat up some beef and chips, wash it down with a few ibuprofen and another
 liter of Poland Spring and head back out. I'm tired, but it's only noon and 
 I live 2 1/2 hours away, so there's no way I,m leaving now. I head into Bar 
 Harbor and stop at one of the three Bike shops to pick up a few real water 
 bottles; fill them up and head back to the park. This time I park at the 
 parking area along Rt. 233 and head in past Eagle Lake again. 
	The "round the mountain" road is the target this time and as I get to
 it off of the Eagle Lake road, it starts to really climb. It's about 6-7 
 miles of winding uphill and I pass a few horse riders along the way; I ride
 slowwwwllly past talking all the time so as not to startle the horses and 
 continue on around Parkman Mountain. All of these mountains were formed a 
 few years back (quite a few) by glacial movement toward the sea, so the land
 is really spectacular to look at; it's hills and valleys, ocean and ponds,
 sheer rock faces and chunky granite rubble, pine forest and views overlooking
 small towns and coastal islands, ships and sailboats, yachts and lobster 
 boats; scenic overkill at every turn in the road. As I crest the highest turn
 on Parkman, I go past a beautiful pink brick sized chunk of granite that 
 is smooth as glass on one side. It may have been ground smooth by the glacial 
 movement that left Mt. Desert Island with the u-shaped north/south valleys 
 and rounded mountain peaks that are distinctive of the park. The rock begs me 
 to take it home and put it in my fish tank and after riding past it, I 
 reconsider and turn around and go back and get it. I bungee it to my rack and 
 note that it weighs about 6 lbs. I then start my descent down Parkman. As I'm 
 really zipping along and the rock is rattling a bit on the rack I hit a rain 
 rut crossing the road and I think that's where I got the broken spoke from. 
 I'll alway blame that extra 6 pounds of granite for that because I'm certain
 that it couldn't have been caused by my 195 pounds bouncing down on the seat!
	Alongside the Bald Mt. trail is a stone bench built into the side of 
 the retaining wall and I sit for a break and listen to the waterfall drip on
 the rocks next to me. It's a very soothing sound. The whole ride is like a 
 long meditative experience. After a rest I start up again and ride on past 
 the Upper and Lower Hadlock ponds to continue the "round the mountain" ride.
 I realize that it's getting late and I really should be heading home, so I
 head back in the direction of my car passing Jordan pond again and riding 
 hard the last 5 miles along Eagle Lake. I slow down and cool off as I get 
 back to my starting point on Rt. 233. I hate to go, but I know I'll be back
 many times this year because once you ride here, it almost spoils you for any
 place else (although I DO like my single-track rides closer to home).
	

great ain't it. my wife and i go there almost every year and we never get sick
of it. 

>Across from me is Cadillac mountain and Dore mountain. They
> rise up (486' and 387' respectively)

the summit of cadillac mt is at 1530 ft. for roadies there is a road to the top
that's around 4 miles long with a panoramic view from the top.  it's off of the
park loop road which (as you could guess) loops around the park. the loop road
is around 25 or 30 miles as i remember.

    
    Misread the map - that's supposed to be in meters not feet. (thought
    that sounded short!)