Hiking Parkman Mountain in Acadia National Park
This past weekend, I traveled to Skylands, my home in Maine, with some colleagues and their guests. When we arrived on Saturday, it was a cold and rainy day. However, on Sunday, it was glorious – perfect hiking weather! Our destination was Parkman Mountain, very close to Skylands. Parkman is one of a cluster of four open-summit peaks, along with Gilmore, Bald, and Sargent. Parkman Mountain is less than 1,000 feet, but the trail is all uphill, making for a moderately challenging trek. We were fortunate that the autumn foliage was at full peak – amazingly beautiful! I had not been on this trail in quite sometime and I forgot how breathtaking the view from the summit is.
1 The hike began on this lovely carriage road. The early morning sun's misty rays were beaming through the tall pines.
2 The blazing foliage of low-bush wild Maine blueberries
3 Leaving the carriage road, you find a meandering rocky trail.
4 There are a lot of red spruce growing in this part of Maine.
5 A beautiful contrast of autumn fern and blueberry
6 This trail is moderately challenging.
7 It's intriguing how grasses and other small flora grow so well in rock crevices.
8 I love how little growing environments are formed on rocks that can eventually become a home for a tree.
9 Beautiful contrast
10 More blueberry bushes
11 You can see how much shorter and how much more sparse the trees are at higher elevations.
12 The blazes of this trail are marked with blue rectangles.
13 In addition to the blue rectangular blazes, trails are also marked with stone cairns.
14 Another cairn - To avoid confusion, the park asks that you don't build more cairns.
15 G.K. enjoyed this hike.
16 G.K. and Simon
17 This tree is an Atlantic white cedar growing nicely next to a protective rock.
18 Approaching the summit
19 A gorgeous contrast of yellow aspen against a clear blue sky
20 The blueberries near the top have already lost their leaves because of colder temperatures.
21 The Atlantic Ocean is about 3 1/2 miles off in the distance.
22 The intrepid G.K. with Simon and Richard - That's the scenic 35-acre Upper Hadlock Pond below.
23 The fluffy grayish plant is reindeer moss, which is actually a lichen - a combination of a fungus and an alga, which share a symbiotic relationship and form a new plant.
24 What is Kevin contemplating?
25 The gorgeous view of Upper Hadlock Pond the the Atlantic from the summit, of course!
26 Off in a different direction - a view of Somes Sound, often called the only fjard on the east coast of North America. Fjards are found in low lying coastal areas instead of the comparatively severe immediate land elevation surrounding fjords.
27 Parkman Mountain has an elevation of 941 feet - 287 meters.
28 Sally was ecstatic!
29 With his blue shirt, Shaun blended right in.
30 Vanessa, G.K., Sally, Shaun, me, Francesca, Kevin, Lisa, and Richard - Kevin and Richard are wearing the new orange Skylands fleeces.
31 Posing with Lisa
32 And with Sally
33 And with Richard
34 A spectacular place!
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
I don't know which is my favorite...The Farm, or Skylands. I think it is like my favorite flower...whichever is blooming at the time. And, whichever place you're showing us is my favorite place.
The area around both is breath-taking. Along with the views.
Gloria!!
Posted by: Gloria | October 21st, 2010 at 12:15 am
What beautiful scenery to look at first thing in the morning and such an invigorating hike as well. I'm impressed that GK was able to do this type of hike. Naturally Francesca took in the scenery as well but where was Sharkey this time out?
Posted by: Sonya | October 21st, 2010 at 12:24 am
Martha, you ought to visit mountains in Poland they are just as beautiful if not more. Pozdrawiam
Posted by: Michał Jaskulski | October 21st, 2010 at 7:41 am
In photograph #16, I think that G.K. is starting to look more and more like his ancestor, Paw Paw. Love the orange jackets on the guys...one of my favorite colors. My husband can't get past associating the color orange with a rival football team, so claims to hate it. What a shame, because it is an absolutely gorgeous color. Let's keep COLORS separate from rivalries...my little rant for the day. Thanks for the forum!
Posted by: Judy | October 21st, 2010 at 7:55 am
Hi Martha,
Thanks for 'bringing' fall foliage to Florida and from beautiful Maine. So many gorgeous pictures but I really like #25 with a view of the pond and the ocean. We don’t have those great views of the Atlantic down here with all the condos in the way. I’m glad everyone enjoyed the hike including G.K. and Franny. Trish
Posted by: Trish | October 21st, 2010 at 9:32 am
Martha, thanks for sharing this blog. It seemed like a fun hike. But where is Sharkey?
Posted by: KLBrown | October 21st, 2010 at 9:46 am
Yearning for Maine!
Posted by: Susie | October 21st, 2010 at 9:59 am
Acadia and that part of Maine has been one of our best vacations...truly a spectacular place, no matter what the season is! I feel privileged to have visited there~ you are so lucky to have a home in such a gorgeous place! Thank You so much for sharing your pics with us~ it reminds me that I need to go back as soon as possible! My son adored the hiking and climbing~ he's a true outdoors-man!
Posted by: Eva Dihrberg | October 21st, 2010 at 10:47 am
Hi Martha, Thank you so much for taking us on this delightful hiking tour of Parkman Mountain. These photos showing the autumn colors in Acadia National Park are extremely stunning! It reminds me of hiking in our Cascade Mountains and Mount Rainier. How lovely that the weather improved for this tour on Sunday! It looks like G.K. was having a delightful time and he sure reminds me of Paw Paw. I'm sure Sharkey was with you, but only saw photos of Franny and G.K. Hiking a thousand foot mountain-how incredible! Loved seeing you on the Today Show yesterday and your TV Show was extremely fascinating! Have a great day! Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | October 21st, 2010 at 11:44 am
Astounding beauty in the views and colors!
Am just returning on-line to my very favorite site and blog after several months of recovery from a serious accident..it is great to be here again and what a wonderful post to view of this hike on my first day back. I will be unable to hike again for a long time, but loved looking over these fantastic photos of yours. It was quite a treat.
Posted by: Becky Kuchefski | October 21st, 2010 at 1:34 pm
Dear Becky,
I am so sorry to hear about your serious accident and I am happy that you have returned! Good luck with a speedy recovery. There are so many trails to hike.
Posted by: Martha Stewart | October 21st, 2010 at 1:49 pm
A gorgeous hiking day...very scenic for sure...thanks for sharing. Loved how autumn fern/blueberry leaves look together.
Posted by: sherey | October 21st, 2010 at 2:07 pm
Breathtaking is how I would describe picture # 34. Wow! Love the colors of falls so much!
Posted by: Frances | October 21st, 2010 at 3:17 pm
You made my day........I was just at Acadia over the holiday weekend, and never get tired of seeing pictures of that gorgeous park. I live in New Hampshire, which has nice views, but when I see the views from atop Acadia I just feel so centered. Reading your blog on a daily basis is inspirational after a busy day teaching First Graders. I've learned so much from your show and bring it to the children on a regular basis. I love exiting them about science and nature through stories and sharing life experiences. Yesterday I got them exited about planting pumpkin seed in the spring, but I also promised them a few weeks ago we'd plant lettuce. Today I sparked their 'scientific mind's' when we compared and contrasted trees. Have you ever realized how much of a scientist you are? I find so much of what you present to us is science in our everyday life. How about doing a show along the lines of .......Do Something Scientific Every Day!................Keep the sharing coming!
Posted by: Nancy Hamann | October 21st, 2010 at 6:02 pm
So happy you are enjoying my backyard. I need a new fleece, Martha, are the orange Skylands fleece in the on lineshop? I think they should be, I would be upset if I found them in the Jordan Pond House Gift Shop. Back in Boston pitching those wonderful MS kitchen cabinets and Corian counter tops. I need a fleece, Martha.
Posted by: Caroline | October 21st, 2010 at 10:42 pm
Thank you for posting such beautiful pictures. I'm going hiking tomorrow in our last day of sun before the rain here in Illinois; not that gorgeous, but the best we have around here.
I read on your calendar in the Nov. mag that you're headed to Churchill to see the polar bears. Can you take me? I have the day off.
Posted by: rebecca | October 21st, 2010 at 10:59 pm
Thank you so much for sharing the beautiful photos from your hike. Isn't Maine gorgeous!
Posted by: Sue | October 22nd, 2010 at 9:51 am
If I understand correctly, Martha you are wonderful to join us in wishing Becky well.
Posted by: ann | October 22nd, 2010 at 12:21 pm
Martha,love the pictures, so clear & crisp. Who takes the pics when u do these kind of adventures? Looks like everyone was enjoying the view.
Posted by: Kathleen | October 23rd, 2010 at 11:11 am
I love Maine! Thanks for sharing the pictures from your hike
Posted by: Cynthia | October 23rd, 2010 at 9:47 pm
I was there the same day I think running the Mount Desert Island marathon. I could not believe how glorious the colors were on that beautiful day! We go every summer, but this was my first time seeing the fall. Amazing. I really wanted to hike up some of those trails after the race, but boy were my legs tired! We did walk down to Hunters Cove Beach the day after, one of my favorite places. I think we'll go again same time next year, just to hike (and eat popovers), not to run.
Posted by: Jennifer | October 24th, 2010 at 3:15 pm
We visited this area of Maine in September and we just fell in love with the land, the sea, and the food! And yes, we walked it all off, too!
Posted by: Dana Jones | October 25th, 2010 at 6:06 pm
Your sunset pictures were wonderful, I know you have many pictures and it would be great to know what camera was used and the settings
Posted by: Susan Paturzo | October 25th, 2010 at 7:35 pm
Beautiful!
Posted by: Teresa Touey | October 25th, 2010 at 9:43 pm