Litton's Fishing Lines: Hiking Bubble Mountain Peaks, Acadia National Park, Mount Desert Island

Matt decided that we would approach South Bubble Mountain by the steep trail, so his mother would have an easier descent. I was very impressed by this short trail, the sheer steepness of it unabating beats the one mile 1200 foot vertical ascent to NJ's Mount Tammany for relentless climb.

We got near the top. Matt went ahead, summited, and returned with the news that our black Labrador couldn't possibly make it without being lifted up a vertical passage with iron ladder bars. No way. And she hardly made it as was. I seriously wondered if she would give up and refuse to move. I've never before heard a dog pant like that, and we gave her all the water she would drink.

We decided that we would go back down to the car, down the steep trail, taking it slow so Trish's knee held in place. Matt would go ahead and descend on the other side.

As it turned out, he also summited the North Bubble, ran down the trail, and beat us to the car. He's sure on his feet, just as I was as a teen. The photo above proves to me he's even more sure than I was. There's a drop of about 60 feet beyond where he stands on that little pinnacle. He wasn't nervous and I would have been. The last thing I would have done, rather than shoot the photo, would be to tell him to step back. No situation to make him doubt. He found the spot on his own and left it alone, trekking over peaks and running through rock fields back down to the parking lot.