The days are getting shorter, the nights are cooler. I have already made two batches of pumpkin bread, and the apple orchards are open with early Macintosh apples ready to pick. The days are still warm, but the first leaves are starting to change already in Maine. Fall is almost upon us and I am ready. I have lived in New England all my life and have been awed by the trees every single year I can remember. It is one of the privileges of living in a place with four seasons. I can smell the seasons changing. There comes a morning in late summer where the air is cool in a way it hasn’t been cool in months. A breeze comes which is different from those sticky summer breezes, and it smells like pine needles and drying leaves and cool dirt. This to me is the sign that we are almost at the close of another summer. The fall is a time of both joy and a sense of loss, because it passes too quickly every year, leaving behind skeleton trees and brown landscapes of dry grass not yet covered with snow.
This weekend we planned out a loop that included the Bubble Mountains, Connor’s Nubble, and Jordan Pond in Acadia National Park. This loop provided us views of Jordan Pond and Eagle Lake from above, as well as enjoying them from the shore. I swear one of these weekends I’ll do something besides hike, but…not this weekend. This area of the park was beautiful and though the route we chose was long (about 9 miles) there was a good mix of walking uphill, downhill, and over flat areas. I highly recommend taking the Bubbles trail from South Bubble to North Bubble, then continuing on to Conner’s Nubble. Yes, it tickles me that these places rhyme and are adjacent. The Bubbles trail is fairly steep, but also short (just about a mile to summit South Bubble). South Bubble summit has some views of Eagle Lake, but to be honest the best part about that summit is the Bubble Rock, which is a boulder that looks like it’s about to fall off the mountain.
Okay, it looks more impressive in real life, but you get the picture. From South Bubble, continue on to North Bubble. From here, you can see views of Jordan Pond.
My favorite part of this hike came after North Bubble. Here, we were hiking along a path bordering some cliffs with great open views of Eagle Lake. Our destination was Conner’s Nubble. Most of this 0.8 mile stretch is level ground, then there’s a descent which takes hikers to a crossing with a carriage road. Across the carriage road, there’s a very short but steep ascent to the top. We stopped here for a snack because the views were spectacular.
We descended and connected with Eagle Lake trail, which was practically deserted for much of our walk, despite the fact that it was a Saturday, mid-morning, and Labor Day weekend. We walked through the thick pine forest along the edge of Eagle Lake, stopping frequently to look into the clear water and try to spot fish.
We continued on Eagle Lake path to Jordan Pond Carry, which led us to, duh, Jordan Pond. We took the loop around the pond, and here we could enjoy the view of what we had hiked earlier in the day. Half of the Jordan Pond path is gravel and is very easy, flat walking. Once we reached the south side of the pond we were rewarded of views of the Bubble mountains. Jordan Pond is picturesque, and it’s easy to see why this path was well-trafficked.
After coming around the south end of the pond, we stepped onto a boardwalk made of two slim, side-by-side boards. The signs instruct not to step off the boardwalk for plant restoration, there would have been a few north-going Zax vs. south-going Zax moments had we not stepped onto the ground beside the walk (sorry restoration zone, I tried to step on rocks, not plants). The boardwalk felt long, but it was probably no longer than 3/4 of a mile. After finally traversing the boardwalk section, we came upon a rocky section which required a little stealth. Finally, we emerged onto a regular old dirt path which brought us back to the Jordan Pond Carry, where we headed for the Bubbles parking lot. Phew!
Here for the Weekends 
Ah, the Nubbles and the Bubbles…great post! Glad you got there before the weather turns. Fabulous photos too. Thanks!
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