Hiking Parkman Mountain in Acadia National Park

October 21, 2010

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.

: The blazes of this trail are marked with blue rectangles.

: In addition to the blue rectangular blazes, trails are also marked with stone cairns.

: Another cairn – To avoid confusion, the park asks that you don’t build more cairns.

: The Atlantic Ocean is about 3 1/2 miles off in the distance.

: The intrepid G.K. with Simon and Richard – That’s the scenic 35-acre Upper Hadlock Pond below.

: 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.

: G.K. and Simon

: Vanessa, G.K., Sally, Shaun, me, Francesca, Kevin, Lisa, and Richard – Kevin and Richard are wearing the new orange Skylands fleeces.

: Posing with Lisa

: And with Sally

: And with Richard

: Parkman Mountain has an elevation of 941 feet – 287 meters.

: A spectacular place!

: A gorgeous contrast of yellow aspen against a clear blue sky

: The hike began on this lovely carriage road. The early morning sun’s misty rays were beaming through the tall pines.

: The blazing foliage of low-bush wild Maine blueberries

: Leaving the carriage road, you find a meandering rocky trail.

: There are a lot of red spruce growing in this part of Maine.

: A beautiful contrast of autumn fern and blueberry

: This trail is moderately challenging.

: It’s intriguing how grasses and other small flora grow so well in rock crevices.

: Beautiful contrast

: I love how little growing environments are formed on rocks that can eventually become a home for a tree.

: What is Kevin contemplating?

: The gorgeous view of Upper Hadlock Pond the the Atlantic from the summit, of course!

: More blueberry bushes

: You can see how much shorter and how much more sparse the trees are at higher elevations.

: G.K. enjoyed this hike.

: This tree is an Atlantic white cedar growing nicely next to a protective rock.

: Approaching the summit

: The blueberries near the top have already lost their leaves because of colder temperatures.

: 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.