Acadia - Jordan Cliffs and Jordan Pond
We tried parking at Jordan Pond when we did the Park Loop Road, but there wasn't a spot to be found that afternoon. Fortunately, we didn't have any problem when we got there early in the morning on hike day. Our plan was to take the Jordan Cliffs Trail one way, and then return on the Jordan Pond Trail, for a loop of about 3 1/2 miles. (Someone else did this loop and wrote about it; find the post here.)
Finding the trail head was a bit confusing - there are several different ones that intersect in various spots around Jordan Pond House - but eventually we did. Off we went!
I never did get any good pictures of the cliffs themselves, but here's a not-so-good one. See the rocks above the treeline? That was our destination.
This is a rocky, uneven trail. However, as long as you pay attention and don't try to rush, it's not bad. And the views over Jordan Pond were gorgeous!
I thought once we crossed this bridge and headed back into the forest that we were done with the "rock climbing" but I was wrong. The best section was yet to come.
We made it across the cliffs! Isn't this a fantastic view?
After a 1/4 mile or so heading down the mountain, we came to the intersection which would take us to the Jordan Pond Path. Along the way we crossed one of Acadia's famous carriage roads, with its unique bridge.
We made it to the pond (or lake). Here is its north end. If we had gone left, we would have connected to the Bubbles Trail, but we turned right and headed back to the Jordan Pond House.
A fair chunk of this path was on a narrow boardwalk, and we quickly learned that going counter-clockwise was going against traffic. It would have been faster to have taken the carriage road. Fortunately, though, when we had to stand to the side for others to pass, our view was nice.
After checking out those who chose "have popovers and tea at the Jordan Pond House" for their activity of the day, we headed back to our car, had lunch at the Bear Brook Picnic Area, and drove to Sand Beach to take our afternoon hike.
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