If we could pick one scenic trail for your first visit to Acadia National Park it would be Bubble Rock. First, it is a modest climb, well suited to small children looking for adventure and those who can’t remember their childhood but would like to, rising about 500 feet from the parking area to North Bubble and 400 feet to South Bubble. You will feel like you are in a very remote area, as the wild forest surrounds you at the start of the climb.   Bring or find a walking stick if you are not used to hiking or have knee issues, as the trail is filled with large boulders and stone steps.    Second, the trail asends quite rapidly, but it’s worth the views of Jordan Pond and the ocean beyond.  Finally, when the hike is over you will be two miles away from the world famous Jordan Pond House, where you can relax by the fire with popovers and chowder after the hike before returning to Seacat’s Rest, 35 minutes away.

The trail to either peak is about ½ mile over rocky soil which the park service has fashioned into steps for the ascent. Within 100 feet of the summit the trail becomes, as most Acadia climbs, bare granite. Trail markers are blue stripes painted on the rock. Within .3 mile of the top there is a choice between South and North Bubble.  On our most recent trip we decided to try North Bubble since it seemed less traveled, and we had never been. South Bubble features an awesome balanced rock, the subject of our daughter’s eighth grade field trip, where the kids were expected to estimate the weight of the boulder. From South Bubble another trail leads down a rocky slope (not quite as easy!) to link up with the Jordan Pond trail. From this point it is 1.8 miles to the Jordan Pond House around the west side of Jordan Pond.

Fall is a great time for these hikes; foliage views show up the sharp line between conifers on the tops and deciduous trees below. Bring your camera!

Maine Blueberries can be found growing wild in and around Bar Harbor.   It’s one of my favorite snacks while biking along Acadia National Park’s carriage trails.  Wild berries are a free treat.  However, they can be found in many value added products as well.

New companies are springing up promoting the health effects of our natural nutrition filled small local fruit.    You can find blueberry syrups, jams and jellies, but that’s just the beginning.   Frozen in your grocery case, blueberries can be available all year round for your breakfast and baking adventures.

In addition, try some of the dried berry products.   Maine Munchies has a new process where they minimize the extra corn syrup added to many dried blueberry products.  Begun by Mount Desert Island’s Otter Creek residents, Maine Munchies now has a production facility in Ellsworth, and  their products are featured at many businesses in downtown Bar Harbor.

Blueberry dog biscuits are another unique and interesting development.   Called Bite O’Blue the natural, organic dog biscuit has been a hit in the dog treat world.   Produced by Peaked Mountain Farm in Dedham Maine.

Few visitors to Acadia National Park know about the big bowl of cranberries waiting for them around the first of October.  After all, most tourists don’t come here for a … swamp, right? (Well, actually it’s a bog).  Across the water from SeaCat’s Rest is a bridge over Northeast Creek on the north edge of the island, on Rt 3.  At high tide it is possible to go under the bridge, thereby reaching the cranberry bog without getting out of the kayak you entered on our shore.   We lend out the kayaks for free to our guests.   The mile or so of paddling from the bridge will take you through crimson maples,  abundant waterfowl, like the great blue heron on the left, and tea colored water filled with tiny fish to the spongy open area where  cranberries lay at your feet.  The buzz and hum of tourist traffic is far away as you gather your fill.  Some years, when the water is high, it’s easiest to pick right from the kayak but most times you’ll want to pull the boats onto the bog mats and set out on (rubber booted) foot.

Raw cranberries are too sour to snack on but they’ll keep for months in the fridge and certainly last until Thanksgiving.  Besides sauce, they’re great in muffins and bread. They can be lightly boiled with sugar and dried in the oven for a Maine memory which will last a year or more.  They are rich in antioxidants and are a perfect twin to our other blockbuster fruit, the blueberry.  To find the launching spot by car, start at the light at the island side of Rt. 3 causeway and drive toward Bar Harbor. Look for the parking area in 1-3/4 miles on your right.

Butterflies hatching here in Acadia, and Lamoine, Maine will find their way south and meet up with millions in Mexico.   These high flying migrations begin here in September, right after the equinox.

We’ve grown plants which the caterpillars feed on (milkweed family) so that we could watch this fascinating journey from here at SeaCat’s Rest.    Migrating animals are amazing.   The monarchs travel south and gather just over the Texas border in Mexico.   There they spend the winter months.   Come spring they migrate into Texas and follow little by little the blooming of the milkweed family of plants.   They lay eggs on the young plants, the caterpillars consume the leaves, the toxins of which accumulate in the adult, making it a nasty treat for predators.    The adults thus can live to migrate ever northward and repeat the cycle 4-5 times during the summer season.     Here in Maine, we are at the end of the loop.    Our monarchs here begin the journey south again, living a very long time, until the spring comes again, there to lay eggs and have another year’s generation repeat the never ending cycle.

In 2007-2008 winter there was devastating weather in the mountains of Mexico and as a result we saw few monarchs make it up north this far.   However, now in 2009, we have seen a few return.    Hopefully that increases in future years.

Guests at SeaCat’s Rest in Lamoine in August and September have only to ask and we will be glad to find a few of these special migratory critters for them to observe up close and personal. If you reserve a week in that time period with children let us know and we can work to let them observe the hatching process if the timing is right.