This is the fourth year in a row I have done this same 18 mile bike ride of the carriage roads in Acadia National Park, and the last three years my youngest daughter has done it with me. These carriage roads were built at great expense by John D. Rockefeller who originally owned the Acadia land and wanted to be able to get his picnicking parties to all the lovely sights. It is wonderful to bike these trails as no cars are allowed and the gravel footing is fairly good for going fast. Acadia is the smallest and most visited National Park; we visit between the busy summer months and peak fall foliage, so we practically had the place to ourselves, which we enjoy.

Our route is that we start out at the top of Eagle Lake and round up to finish there. We first cycle to Aunt Betty’s Pond, where we enjoy the water lilies and the beaver lodges. Then we ride “round the mountain” not avoiding the “big hill” (which I’ve been able to get up two years in a row now), for a high view of far off islands. We pass some of the lovely stone bridges (built 1925, the year my parents were born) where spring waterfalls must gush off the mountain but we see only trickles now. Then we breeze downhill – exhilarating! – to Jordan Pond House to have delicious popovers on the lawn and rest. The view of Jordan Pond from here is the classic photograph that one sees of Acadia National Park. We duly appreciate the view and read the signs about its glacier formation, which are included in the post below. Then there is a long slow gradual hill up to Bubble Pond, which was more beautiful today that we’ve ever seen it. We were completely alone there and the reflection and visibility were perfect. We discovered the echo from there was perfect as well and spent much time playing with that amazing echo! Eventually we had to leave and cycle back to Eagle Lake as we were losing light…

We had a great time! Enjoy my photographs of the pristine beauty that made our day, and imagine a perfect melodious, reverberating echo accompanying those pictures of perfect reflections.