This little guy surely has one of the most impressive views on the east coast. He sits on the South Ridge Trail about half a mile from the summit of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park, and he looks out on both Frenchman Bay to the east, and the Blue Hill Bay and the nearby islands to the south and west.
Just me playing with a large aperture and a shallow depth of field as I used my 50mm f1.8 lens on my Canon 5D II 🙂
Does Oliver have hair or fur? I’m never sure which it is. Either way, he’s a cutie, and when walking on the South Ridge of Cadillac over the weekend, he would often pause to enjoy the blustery conditions. The gently sloping granite ridge is a perfect trail for him, and the view isn’t too bad for us either. The heat from the summer is gone for another year, and as we transition into the cooler temperatures of the fall, our hairy/furry friend seems a lot more comfortable. Here he is getting a big hug from my Lori… Oliver doesn’t seem to mind getting hugs 🙂
The south ridge of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park is my all-time favorite hike. It’s about five miles one-way from the ocean at Blackwoods campground to the summit of Cadillac, and as you cover that ground laterally, you’ll also deal with about 1,528 feet of elevation – it truly does seem to rise right out of the ocean making it seem even taller. One of our favorite things to do is park at the Blue Hill Overlook just before the top of the mountain, and then walk back down the gently sloping granite ridge for a mile or so before turning around and hiking back up.
On this particular visit, Lori and I had Oliver in tow – Jack was resting back at the house with Granny and Grandpa. We figured the openness of the granite ledge near the top would suit Oliver really well, and we knew that there wouldn’t be anything too tricky for him to handle. He was extremely nimble as he scampered along the rocky trail, though we still had to make sure he was aware of the sometimes deep and wide cracks in the ice-shaped granite slabs. As we stepped onto the trail, we could see an off-shore storm blowing our direction, and although we didn’t have any desire to get soaked, we decided to forge ahead anyway… we had been itching to get out onto this trail, and we figured what the hey… if it started raining too hard, we could easily be back at the car within a few minutes.
As the storm blew through, it kinda brushed us off to the left, and in behind it came some wild and dramatic light. As the sun dipped lower toward the horizon, it streaked across the overhead sky, painting the breaking clouds on the edge of the storm with some amazing light… and I loved how it made the mountain landscape come alive. We experienced some turbulent atmospherics on this hike, with clouds, wind and sunshine all seemingly wrestling to prevail. Their battle played out to our advantage, providing an evening of pretty special weather, and I was especially pleased to share my all-time favorite hike in these conditions with Oliver (and Lori).
Here are a couple more images from a recent trip down to Acadia National Park. After spending a pretty amazing sunrise in Monument Cove along the Loop Road, we headed to the top of Cadillac to work our way back down the South Ridge of the mountain. It was a crystal clear – but cool – spring morning, and we had a wonderfully expansive view of the coastal islands and beyond. When not socked in by clouds and fog, the views from this trail can be absolutely spectacular, and on this particular morning the low-angled light warmed the granite, contrasting nicely with the deep blue skies.
After a great lunch at EPI in Bar Harbor and a visit to the cannons on the harbor lawn, we drove the short distance to the top of Cadillac to begin the 2011 hiking season with a brief wander along what is probably my favorite hike in Acadia… the South Ridge of Cadillac Mountain.
Not knowing how wet the lower part of the trail would be at this time of year, we decided to park at the Blue Hill overlook and hop onto the top of the trail heading down toward Blackwoods. Greeted by a stiff breeze and bright sunshine, we only explored about a mile or so down the ridge before settling in behind some large rocks to get out of the wind and enjoy the view.
The terrain on the upper part of this trail is pretty easy to navigate and on a clear day like today offers some of the best views of Acadia that you can imagine. The Cranberry Islands off in the distance absolutely sparkled in the afternoon sun, and the striking glacial erratics strewn across the landscape kept me busy with the camera. I am making plans to come back to this trail when the sun isn’t yet up, and I also have some ideas bubbling for incorporating the available elements into night photography.
On the drive home we worked toward finishing the 870 page “Order of the Phoenix” and then jammyed up after dinner to watch the movie. When going to bed, Jack wanted to start reading “The Half-Blood Prince” right away, but we persuaded him that maybe we should take a short break from the Harry Potter series and read something else… phew!
All in all… a pretty good day 🙂
Phew! It doesn’t take that long to get to the top of Cadillac Mountain when you hike this route, and it also doesn’t take long for you to realize that you are going to get a decent workout! As with most things of any value though, there is a give and take… this time in return for the effort expended going up so sharply, the early views from the trail across Eagle Lake and off toward Blue Hill were breathtaking.
With Lori and Jack enjoying Storyland and Santa’s Village in New Hampshire with the cousins Chloe and Isaiah, Sam and I decided to pull on the hiking shoes once again and head down to Acadia. We wanted to hike, but we also wanted Rosalie’s Pizza… nuff said. I gave Sam the task of deciding where we would hike… my only stipulations were that it had to be a loop hike where we don’t come back the way we went, and that we get to see something new.
He chose to create his own little loop where we started at the Bubble Pond parking lot going up – and I mean up – the Cadillac West Face Trail until we met the South Ridge Trail. From there we made a left turn and proceeded the rest of the way to the top of Cadillac – it took us about an hour total from the parking lot at Bubble Pond to the top of Cadillac. We stayed only a few minutes atop Cadillac before retracing our steps down part of the South Ridge Trail toward the Featherbed, a pretty little mountain pond tucked into a small dip on Cadillac. After stopping to recharge the batteries and water the horses one last time, we made a right turn just before the Featherbed and descended off the mountain via the also steep – and tricky – (Jordan) Pond Trail.
As always, I thoroughly enjoyed this hike. There is something about being on top of one of the long mountain ridges in Acadia. I am always fascinated by the glacial erratics strewn all over the place, the combination of warm summer sun and cool breezes is refreshing, and of course, the views are to die for. The South Ridge Trail of Cadillac is fast becoming one of my all-time favorites. It is relatively long for Acadia, but the gentle sloping granite ridge that winds its way to the summit has so much to offer.
As we came down the Pond Trail toward Bubble Pond, the evening had already begun the transition to twilight. Never having been to the far end of Bubble Pond, we stopped along the shore to soak in the view. Rosalie’s was the usual source of pizza extraordinaire – our favorite delicious thin crust, New York style pizza in Bar Harbor, Maine… a great way to round off the day.
Stories from home 