Realistic itinerary for Memorial Day?
My partner and I are visiting Bar Harbor over Memorial Day weekend (Sat-Tues) for our anniversary. For reference we are late 20s early 30s and reasonably fit.
I’ve been researching ad nauseam to game out our hiking itinerary. Given the holiday weekend madness, Monday and Tuesday are our designated park days. Would love some eyes on this to determine where this schedule falls between realistic and pipe-dream.
**Monday the 25th**
- 7:15 am: arrival at Hulls Cove Visitor Center to do ebike fitting & orientation.
- 7:30 - 8:45 am: E-Bike the carriage roads to Jordan Pond House (10 mi shortest route if my research is correct).
- 8:45 - 11:30 am: Hike Jordan Pond Path to Bubbles. Follow blue blazes to see Bubble Rock. Consider going up to North Bubbles based on our pace/fatigue. Take Bubbles Divide to rejoin Jordan Pond Path and finish loop back to Jordan Pond House.
- 11:30 - 12:30: Lunch @ Jordan Pond House (reserved but able to modify)
- 12:30 - 2:00: E-Bike the carriage roads back to visitor center and return bikes.
2:00 pm on - Grab a beer in bar harbor and sightsee around town. Hit our hotel in town for nap.
*Tuesday the 26th**
- 8:00 Enter park and drive down the loop to Sand Beach parking
- 8:30 - 10:00: Hike Beehive Loop
- 10:00 - 10:45: Breakfast picnic on Sand Beach
- 10:55: Take Island Explorer to Otter Cliff.
- 11:00 - 12:30: Hike Ocean Path trail back toward Sand Beach, stopping halfway to enjoy Thunder Hole.
- 12:30 - 1:30 : Chill out at Sand Beach, do some reading, take a chilly dip in the ocean if it’s sunny and 70s and we’re sweaty and gross.
- 1:30 - 4:00: drive the Loop and do some gentle sightseeing. Look for an indulgent lunch spot as we go… maybe take a jaunt to southwest harbor?
- 4:00: Leave park and do naptime at hotel.
- 7:00: Head out for our 7:00-7:30 Cadillac Summit reservation. Bring blankets and tea in thermal cups to stay comfy while waiting for sunset around 8:00 pm.
My concern is that my eyes are bigger than my stomach for Monday. We’re fairly fit people. We met through rock climbing, like to hike, and have happily done 20K step days before. That said, biking to Jordan Pond house, hiking 4.5 miles, then biking back might be a little much for folks that work desk jobs. I figure pedal assist e-bikes will help enormously with fatigue, but don’t want to be arrogant. I’ve never ridden an e-bike before and admittedly it’s been about 9 years since I’ve biked at all.
For Tuesday, I worry we’re not starting early enough for Beehive. Will most of the crowd have dissipated by Tuesday?