A family hike was planned, but as always, deciding just which trail to take amongst the many options in Acadia was the “problem” we faced. Pizza at Rosalie’s in Bar Harbor was already scheduled in as the payoff for dinner, so we knew it was a win-win no matter what trail we decided on!
On this particular day we wanted to try something new… perhaps a trail that we hadn’t explored before. Just recently, Sam and I had hiked up and over the surprisingly impressive Norumbega Mountain, and Lori, Jack and I had also hiked along the side of Norumbega via the Goat Trail toward Lower Hadlock Pond. On both of these hikes each of us had noticed expansive rocky ridges above Upper Hadlock Pond that constituted Parkman and Bald Mountains… so that’s where we decided to go.
The early part of the trail was relatively steep, and after making our way through a typically beautiful Acadia forest, we emerged onto granite ridges that afforded incredible views to the south toward Northeast Harbor and the islands beyond. Giant slabs of granite offered welcome resting places for those who wanted to pause for a while to take a brief break from the hike to enjoy the view.
After summiting Parkman Mountain, we dipped down into a lush and shaded saddle before climbing back up onto the top of Bald Mountain. I couldn’t help but notice how much the terrain reminded me of the high country in Yosemite – other than the lack of an imposing and striking 10,000 ft mountain backdrop! It might not be the high sierra, but the view down the mountain toward Upper and Lower Hadlock Ponds and the islands beyond was pretty cool. Oh yeah… and the pizza at Rosalie’s never tasted better!
Stories from home 
How do you manage to retain such good focus in the background of your images when so much of the foreground is perfectly focused?
I’m new to lenses me, very new, so I’m discovering all kinds of restrictions and limitations. I’ve gotten used to the Canon G11 over the past three years or so but now I’m starting all over again with a Canon 650D – a very different creature entirely.
In most normal situations I try to focus about one third of the way into the scene. That way you get most of the foreground in focus, and the receding background also appears sharp.
it love that third shot, I can almost smell the dirt!
Thanks Dena… love those pine needles scattered all over the forest floor.
David, this is a wonderful and beautiful landscape. And I can almost hear your son talking about that pizza while he is waiting for your capturing maaaaany photos…. 😉
Hey – and the rest of the family – tolerate my taking photographs wonderfully. I’m sure they get tired of it sometimes, but it doesn’t show.
Nice pictures, great hiking!
Again… now one of my new favorite hikes!