Gorham Mountain, Acadia National Park, ME, 6/30/14

First stop on today's hike: Pelegrin Watch. Rangers were on hand to man the telescopes pointed towards a falcon nest with two 40-day old fletchlings.  Trouble was, fletchlings fly and do not stay put.  I got to see just one by the nest for a brief moment. 

Second stop: Sand Beach, my favorite.  There is only one sandy beach along Acadia's rocky coast and the water is a frigid 50 degrees. Just warm enough to wet one's toes.

Next, we followed the Ocean Path to the Gorham Mountain trailhead. You can see Sand Beach at the horizon.

One more stop before starting our climb: Thunder Hole.  Apparently the waves go wild in this crevice but we, along with a crowd, waited in vain for the show.

Coastline views from higher up.

Almost at the top.  A friendly Canadian from Quebec took our picture.

Top of the mountain. Seagulls were hovering. I saw one flying off with a plastic food wrapper in its mouth... What we do to the earth...

Last side trip: Cadillac Cliffs, a steep, rocky and not well marked spur trail.

One more view ofthe coast: Pom-Pom seaweed balls flotting along the shore.

Bike Ride, Acadia National Park, ME, 6/29/14

We took the Express Bike shuttle from Bar Harbor to Eagle Lake to start our day's bike trip along the Carriage Roads of Acadia National Park. John Rockefeller Jr wanted motor-free roads for horse and carriage rides on Mount Desert Island. Construction lasted from1913 to 1940, including the building of 16 bridges.  The result is 45 miles of carriage roads used today by carriages, horseback riders and hikers.

Our destination for lunch was Jordan Pond House, known for its popovers, a more than 100-year old tradition.

Along the way we passed Eagle Lake, Bubble pond and Jordan Pond, a 10 to 12 mile ride round trip.

And yes, the popovers were delicious!

Sunset at Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park, ME

For our first Arcadia National Park hikes we decided to go watch the sunset atop the highest point in the park.  We arrive early to get some hiking in. Started with Dorr Mountain trail - too steep.  Tried Cadillac North trail - too steep also.  Retraced our steps and tried South Cadillac trail - better but ran out of time.

Acadian style Bates cairn.

Facing Western Bay towards the sunset.

10K - Osha Loop Trail, Sandias, NM, 6/7/14

We started on the 10K trail with the intention of hiking the Osha Loop trail when about 2 miles into the hike we realized that doing the loop would make it a 7-mile hike for the day. A little more than we planned. So we changed course and set out to make Osha spring our lunch and turn around point.  Only after hiking Osha Spring trail for a mile or two did we realize that Osha Spring is not on Osha Spring Trail but on Penasco Blanco Trail...

The trail is named after the medicinal Osha plant that thrives in the dry west. It is used as a decongestant and a tonic. Not sure at all that the plant above is the Osha plant... Nice flowers so I took a picture :)