Biking Acadia

Acadia has many wonderful features, but perhaps the most unique are the carriage trails. John D. Rockefeller built the carriage trails and their stone bridges prior to giving the land to the park. Today they are used primarily for biking and walking. One of our objectives for this trip was to spend some time biking on the carriage trails. I had convinced Dorcas that the trails were flat, but it turns out that they are hillier than I had remembered. Nothing terribly steep, but definitely rolling terrain. Today was a great day for biking: sunny and clear, with temperatures in the 50s. We put in at Jordan Pond, headed north on the Around-Mountain trail, went by Aunt Betty's Pond, around Eagle Lake, and south back by Bubble Pond. When he came to Day Mountain I coerced Dorcas into going up. Day Mountain is the only summit with a carriage trail to the top. While it is only just under 600', it does offer good views of the island. When we returned to Jordan Pond, we had biked almost 17 miles. After biking we went into Bar Harbor to check our e-mail. We have had great success in New England accessing the internet at public libraries, and Bar Harbor was no exception. In fact, Bar Harbor's Jesup Memorial Library is the most impressive library we have been in. The exterior is brick with intricate carved stone highlights. Inside it is an open space with two levels of balconied book stacks along the outer walls with oak and walnut paneling. Very majestic. The librarians at New England libraries have been very friendly and accommodating, Additionally, they have been a font of information about the locale.