Acadia Part Two

Thursday dawned a picture perfect sunny day. After a hearty breakfast, Hubby and I headed back to the stables. DL has been going extremely well and we knew that we had not challenged her with the relatively short routes that we have been taking. The eight mile loop around Long Pond is a lovely drive BUT she did that in about an hour. SO we decided to do one of the longest loops through to Hadlock Pond which is 15.7 miles. I am SO happy that we did.
With picture perfect weather in the upper 60’s, it was the best choice. I must admit in the rainy weather we have had, we almost had the park carriage roads to ourselves. Few people ventured out and only the devoted and well behaved bike riders took to the trails. Today, the IDIOTS were out.

One of the most beautiful vistas on all of the carriage roads is along the Jordan Pond next to the rock slide. It is long climb up but worth it. As we were pleasantly walking along, some idiot woman on a bike decided to pass us on the right. NOW, keep in mind we are to the right about two feet from the huge granite boulders that line the cliff edge. IT is a LONG way down to Jordan Pond! I think SHE must have had a death wish because if DL stepped one foot to the right, she and her bike would have been over the cliff. I yelled at her big time and told her “RULE of the road. You pass to the left.” DL never took a step wrong and could have cared less when the stupid woman passed us to the LEFT.

As we left the busy section of the carriage roads we came down to a fabulous set of six or seven cement bridges that wind down a gentle slope. I let DL have her head and we flowed down the windy path with great bending deep into each curve. Hubby started laughing and asked me IF we were practicing a dressage test. NO, we were doing what DL loves best “ZOOM! ZOOM!”.
I must admit after driving many of the various loops you can take, this was one of the most pleasant. Before leaving on this loop, I had checked out Google Earth. While many of the carriage roads of Acadia can clearly be seen on Google Earth, this one is hard to see since much of it is under a canopy of trees. This is perfect when you are doing a long distance drive with the sun out. You don’t want to ‘bake’ either the pony or driver.

When we got back to the stable, DL was only damp under the saddle. Yes, she did have plenty of stone dust on her legs where she had sweated during the drive. DL was very grateful for a nice hosing off as was the carriage and harness. It was definitely a great late morning drive. Later we took Maggie for a short loop under her hated bridge . She went under it better.

My sister, her daughter and two grandchildren (Zach and Cody) came up to join us on Friday afternoon. Gretchen arrived late on Friday night. DL was a saint on Friday afternoon taking me, my sister and her grandson out for 8 miles loop down to the shoreline and the Long Pond. WE all had helmets on and my sister and Zach (grandson) had body vests on. I picked this loop because it is very scenic PLUS on mostly Rockefeller private land that doesn’t allow bike riders. Yes, numerous people had their dogs off leash (even though a statewide leash law) and several were out of control running up to DL who basically ignored them being the seasoned pony that she is.

I let DL pretty much pick her own pace because I realized that between the carriage and three people she was pulling her own weight. Of course, this barely slowed DL down and she still went ZOOM, ZOOM at her favorite places. DL loved every moment of it and hardly had sweat on her when we arrived back to the stables. She loved the great rinse off she had since she had stone dust on her body BUT enjoyed the carrots my sister gave her the most.

Saturday morning, Gretchen (daughter) and I had great fun doing the Bubble Pond 8 miles route which is even more scenic but goes through some of the most congested areas of bike riders. DL is SUCH a good pony and never took a step wrong.

Later in the afternoon, we took Maggie out for a nice drive on the Rockefeller land and she did a good job even under the scary bridge that echoes every hoof beat ten times louder than it is. While she is not unflappable as DL, she does a great job and there is a not a lazy bone in her body as she put her chest into the breast collar up the hills. She has just not reached the confidence level of her sister. I have to remind Hubby and Gretchen THAT DL started driving the year Maggie was born. A five year old Cob is still a “baby” in the mind department.
Sunday was spent cleaning out stalls and packing everything in the trailer. THEN we had the six hour drive home. Thankfully, we hit little traffic which is rather surprising for a summer weekend on the Maine Turnpike. I guess we were just lucky. Plans are under way for next year.