Hiking Around Jordan's Pond

This is our second trip to Downeast Maine.  Six years ago we were here over the 4th of July weekend.  It was busy then, but not as busy as it is now.  Despite the crowds we have had a great time the last few days.

We are camped at Forest Ridge Campground in Ellsworth, ME which is about 15 miles from Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.  One great thing about this lifestyle is seeing friends and meeting new ones.  On Saturday we took a short drive to Orrington, ME which is outside of Bangor.  We arrived at Rick and Barbara's place for a gourmet lunch (Menu - Asian spring roll, cole slaw, corn on the cob, chix lobster) and some catching up time.

Rick and I were in the same unit (Constant Watch PMO) back in the 1980's when we were stationed in Hawaii.  He relocated back here and he and Barbara finished their careers here.  It was great to be able to meet up with them again and enjoy their hospitality.

Earlier in the week, blog readers Randy and Pat, let us know they were camped near us and we got together on Sunday.  We met for the first time at this beautiful church

then went to lunch.  The time passed quickly at Finn's Irish Pub in Ellsworth.  I think we all had fish sandwiches which worked out well.

It was fun hearing about their 18 months on the road and learning of their three kids and what they are up to.  Randy and Pat are from Indiana but moved to Christiansburg VA where they retired and became full-timers.  Check out their blog:  click here

We got together again for some hiking in Acadia National Park around Jordan's Pond.  We drove over to the Visitor Center and took the free (LL Bean supported) bus to Jordan's Pond.

It was misting a little bit and we waited for the rain to let up.  Pam was the only one with a rain coat so the rest of us got a $1 poncho before we started out.

We took the counter clock-wise route and it was a beautiful hike.

 Pat noticed some beautiful tree growth through some rocks.

 We also saw some evidence of beavers at work.

The trail was the busiest hiking we had done in quite a while.  But with the steady stream of traffic, we were able to have a fellow hiker take our picture.

In the distance are the Bubbles.  The North Bubble (left) is 872' and the South (right) is 766'.  We passed near them at the far end of the pond.  At the end of the far end is this cool footbridge.

The first half of the hike took us to the far end of the pond.  On the return, we entered into a more difficult rocky area.

Though I didn't take any pictures, the rocks were part of the actual trail and we slowly hiked a couple hundred yards over them. They were flat and it was it was an easy hike.

Then we traveled along the board trail area.  This portion seemed to go on forever.  It was probably about 1/2 a mile but it required your complete attention.  I was concerned the split logs would be slippery with the light rain but it was not an issue.

Toward the end of the hike, we paused for about 20 minutes and had our picnic lunch off the trail near some rocks.

When we finished, we visited the gift shop again and then boarded the bus for the return trip to the Visitor Center.

 The hike around Jordan Pond is almost a 'must do' while at Acadia National Park.  And it was great spending time with our new friends Randy and Pat.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Hiking the Nature Trail at Catalina Park

Catalina State Park has some great trails for hiking.  The one we chose is the Nature Trail.  It's a 3 mile wake from our camp site to the Natural Trail and back.  We picked a warm and sunny day.

It was only a few hundred yards on the trail before we stopped to snap a photo of the Catalina Mountains in the distance.

The desert was quiet except for the four or five birds that were chirping and cooing and making their regular morning greetings to each other.

The saguaro cactus is a monument to itself.  This old beauty is several hundred years old.

The trail began near our campsite and meandered through the wash to the trail head where we took the turn up the hill marked "Nature Trail."

There were a few signs telling of the indigenous animals including this display and info about the mountain lion.  Yikes!  We were ok without a personal appearance...

Years from now we will remember this selfie among the many we have taken over the years.  

The signs appeared to mostly be new and made of sturdy metal.  The information on them told the story of the of the creatures living in the area.

The mark of a well done display is enough information to explain things and hit the highlights.  These markers accomplished that.  I didn't care about the latin name of the desert dwellers or the biological history of the palo verde tree.  I just want the common name of the flora and fauna and maybe a few tidbits.

From the top of the Nature Trail, we could see the Catalina's in the distance and the rest of the beautiful scenery.

It was great day to go for hike.  Hopefully there will be more to follow.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Deadwood Trails in the Cactus Forest

We love to hike.  Fortunately there are many ways to do it.  We fit into the recreational, casual category.  We enjoy getting out and taking a easy walk through different places.  It helps us appreciate nature and gives us some badly needed exercise.

I couldn't wait to get over to our nearest National Park (we are at Davis-Monthan AFB campground) and take a hike through the desert.

Pam put together some sandwiches, we got some water bottles and our walking sticks and made our way over to Saguaro East.  We have been on these trails every time we have visited Tucson.

This particular one was the Mica View trail that is hard-packed and disability accessible.  Not sure that is a word but wheelchairs can roll on this portion.

 We went down that the path for a while,  found a joining trail and continued on.

I found myself stopping and say, "Wow -- look at this view!"  Its not like I had never seen the desert or cacti before.  Or this was the first time we'd been hiking on a beautiful, warm, calm day in the desert.  The first trail we took was aptly named the Mica View.

This huge one Saguaro was really something to look at.

From their we joined up with the Cactus Forest trail.  We have been out here on previous visits to Tucson but I have never really stopped and thought about "Cactus Forest".  I don't know who coined that term but it is quite remarkable.  And this area has a lot of big Saguaros which are magnificent all by themselves, let alone in the midst of hundreds of other ones.

A couple of days later, we returned and went on another hike a little later in the day on some different trails:  Shantz, Pink Hill and Loma Verde Wash.  This time we went after lunch in the heat of the day. It was mid-70's.  It was beautiful and hot.

This time I noticed the wood ribs of decayed cactus that were scattered near the trail.  

There were lots of dead and decaying wood from the cactus near the trail.  And this gem in the middle of a young green tree, and an old dead one.  All kinds of variations of life among the cactus and desert trees.

I guess I was most impressed with the 'wood' laying around the once used to be Cholla or Saguaro cacti.  This one was in a class by itself.

We didn't go on a long hike, but long enough for us until we get more miles under our feet and used to the heat.

From here later this morning we go up the road to Catalina State Park.  Hopefully we can hike some more of those trails again.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Farm Island State Recreation Area - SD

We were in Pierre (pronounced "PEER") South Dakota to see the State Capitol and found a great campground.  We loved this place.  Outside of town is the Farm Island State Recreation area.  We pulled in and went to our original site, but trees blocked access for our satellite TV and we were able to pick from a list of open sites.  

We found this one that was terrific.  It must be an open camphost site, because unlike the others, it had water and sewer.  The great thing about the place was not only the great view, the level site and the hookups, but also the personnel in the Office.

Brannon was completely willing to work with us and help us find a spot that worked for us and it was great.  Often times people are not able (or willing?) to move some things around to get the best site.  But this was different and we loved it.

We got settled in and enjoyed the nice surroundings.  The next evening, we were treated to a Classic Car parade.  35 or 40 cars came parading through the campground for our enjoyment and it was great!

That was a real bonus!  A nice summer evening and watching all these cars cruising by!

The next day I explored the area on my bike.  I was up for a good ride and left the campsite and rode over to Farm Island.  The flood of 2011 put everything in the area underwater, but they had the trails restored.  

The trail went along side of the Missouri River.

Farm Island was a Civilian Conservation Corps site back in the 1930's and it had some markers along the trail which showed some old pictures from then.

After a few miles around a loop, I returned to the trail near the campsite off Farm Island and toward Griffin Park near downtown Pierre on the Lewis and Clark Trail.

It turned out to be about a 10 mile bike ride which was just about right.  It was a nice weekend, a nice campground and we enjoyed our time there.

Thanks for joining us on this edition of the Roadrunner Chronicles!