Recently, the Ordway clan (my parents and brothers) came for a weekend visit. My parents braved the elements at the Mount Desert Island Campground (in a tent) and my brothers stayed with us as they are too faint of heart for tent sleeping. Here are some highlights from the weekend:
We cooked over a fire at the campground. Dinner came out well despite a teetering grate which threatened to dump our food into the fire on several occasions. But compared to successfully cooking a batch of Jiffy Pop, dinner was unexciting. I think our only successful Jiffy Pop attempts in history have occurred over a gas stove (which, of course, is cheating). When cooking over a fire, we were left with unpopped, charred kernels and a few sad, smoky popped kernels that nobody wanted to eat. Because of our previously dismal Jiffy Pop attempts, we bought two for insurance when we were grocery shopping in Bar Harbor earlier that evening. As suspected, there was an overwhelming smoky taste and lots of unpopped kernels on the first attempt. I had little hope for batch number two, but was proved wrong by Dad’s artful mastery of the proper shaking technique combined with some tinfoil sculpting by Harrison. Here are the tips for successful poppage:
- Make a tinfoil “extender” for the handle. This makes it possible to hold the Jiffy Pop close to the fire without burning off any fingers.
- Shake the Jiffy Pop from start to finish, even though the package suggests shaking only after the popping starts.
After five minutes of shaking, we were rewarded with a tinfoil balloon filled with tender, buttery corn.
I wonder if the CEO of Jiffy Pop feels guilty for continuing to make money on the lost hopes and dreams of campers, who buy the product on a whim each camping trip with wistful dreams of hot popcorn on a summer night. On the other hand, perhaps this is where their genius comes in. After all, humans do love to gamble. With Jiffy Pop, as in casino games, you’ve got a slim chance of a reward, and the company gets their profits regardless of whether you win or lose. Furthermore, one win urges us to play more, now that we feel we have mastered the game. Will our tinfoil extender prove successful in the future? We’ll have to buy more Jiffy Pop to find out, and so the cycle continues.
The next day, we explored the “quiet side” of the island (the west side). We decided to hike Acadia Mountain, which overlooks the Somes Sound. The trail head is a five-minute drive from the Mount Desert Island campground (our starting point for the day). From the parking lot, we could see the shore of Echo Lake just a short walk down through the woods, and across the road is the trail head. There’s about a mile to walk before the summit, and some of the mile is fairly steep. We were almost the only people on the summit, which was a welcome change after the crowds in most other hiking spots. After that, we headed down the other side of the mountain where there were even better views along the way. We connected with the Man O’ War Brook Fire Road at the bottom to get back to the parking lot.
The boys got changed for swimming and we headed down to the Echo Lake Ledges, a two-minute walk from the parking area. Upon reaching the lake, we found a large, sloped rock with an area perfect for cannonballing (definitely not deep enough to dive). To get out of the water after jumping, there are some rock “steps” and an iron rung situated just so. Mom and I didn’t think we wanted to swim so we did not change, but regretted that after watching Harrison and Keith jump in. September is the time of year when I start to feel summer slipping away and (happy as I am to greet fall) there’s that panicky “gotta squeeze summer to the last drop” feeling. By the time we returned, Patrick and Dad were in the water as well. It was cool but not cold, and felt clean. Across the lake, we were treated to views of giant cliffs and a few trees which were just starting to turn. The beauty of this spot is we timed it to have it almost to ourselves. We shared the large rock with a woman who had stopped for a picnic lunch and some reading, and that’s it. I love a good “secret” spot, though I’m sure we were just lucky. It’s probably packed on a hot summer day.
We headed to Southwest Harbor for lunch. This town was a teeny-tiny, calm version of Bar Harbor. There’s a little one-road downtown area and all the shops and restaurants are packed into just a couple blocks. We found a place called Little Notch Bakery and stopped in for sandwiches after eyeing their homemade bread in the windows. As we suspected, the sandwiches were delicious and the bread was the highlight. I had a roasted eggplant and goat cheese on a baguette. The vegetables were flavorful and the bread had a lovely crunchy crust. Disclaimer- I don’t recommend the cookies. We tried three kinds and none of them were worthy of writing about. Southwest Harbor was a nice change of pace from the chaos of Bar Harbor, especially on a weekend.
The last highlight from the weekend was the Bar Island Trail. This trail, accessible only 1 ½ hours before and after low tide, is a sandbar that goes from Bar Harbor to an island a half-mile off shore. Upon reaching the island, the trail continues another half-mile to the summit. The summit is little more than a small hill, and would be a fun hike for little kids. We saw people walking it in flip flops and sun dresses. The sand bar has lots of small tide pools with snails stuck all over the rocks. We were lucky enough to see a gull who had caught a star fish.
On the island, a sign with a phone number of a water taxi company greets you just in case you get stranded by the tide. It’s a $50 ride if you get stuck! When we reached the summit, the view was blocked by some trees so we continued on just a little further to a small look out point which offered great views of Bar Harbor and the mountains.
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 
At the summit, we walked around enjoying the 360º views. Because it is possible to drive to the summit, there was quite a crowd of people up there. After finding a spot to rest and enjoy for a bit, we headed down North Ridge Trail. This trail turned out to have beautiful views of Eagle Lake and the ocean all the way down. North Ridge is far more exposed than Gorge Path with little to no tree cover for the entire 2.2 miles.
Here for the Weekends 