Lynn WiezyckiWe make a plan, sort of, when we travel to our photographic locations but we also are ready to alter that plan when we see something that catches…
our photographic eye! It was one of those “squirrel, squirrel” kind of situations with Upper Hadlock Pond. A few other spots caught our eye as well!
After our very busy first day in and around Acadia National Park (parts 2 & 3) we decided to head to Southwest Harbor in search of our next Lobstah Rolls!
Upper Hadlock Pond – the First Day
As we drove along a road that we would subsequently travel on many times, I noticed a “smooth as a mirror” lake and a lot more fall color than we had seen so far. So I made a quick U-Turn and found a pull-off so we could make some images.
NPS Info:
Upper Hadlock Pond is located on the east side of Route 3 just north of Asticou Azalea Garden in Northeast Harbor on Mount Desert Island, Maine. This lovely 35 acre pond has a nice hiking trail along the southern and eastern shoreline that eventually intersects one of the carriage roads before moving onto 974 foot (297 m) Bald Peak. There is also a stone carriage road bridge to the northeast at Hadlock Falls. GPS: 44.319781, -68.288901
After shooting a couple of wide-angle shots I pulled out the telephoto lens to pull in more of the fall colors and reflections.
We spent several minutes enjoying these wonderful reflections and colors and then headed over to Southwest Harbor for some dinner.
Dinner is Not Just for Eating!
We had some adventures finding places to eat right away. Technically, the first week in October is out of season for this area of Maine, even though there were still crowds of people. Many of the restaurants scale back when it is out of season plus they were still reeling from the pandemic issues and so had cut hours. Many were still short-handed as well. We found that many of the highly-rated eateries were either temporally closed or closed that particular night. Not your usual Monday night… but we ran into closures every night!
This night we found MDI Lobster and BBQ open. This is a totally outdoor restaurant with picnic tables overlooking the water and more tables in a huge tent.
Before eating, though, we explored the area. The docks in all the lobstering towns are always interesting. Lobstermen use colorful buoys, ropes, and traps which make some interesting images. Be Creative! Just be careful, don’t trip, and don’t mess with others’ property!
After exploring the dock area we headed over to the order window at MDI Lobster and BBQ. I ordered a warm Lobster Roll. They had Wild Maine BlueBerry Pie on the menu so I ordered that also but was told they still had the pies in the oven. She told us that she would let us know when the pie was ready!
The warm Lobster Roll was excellent but the blueberry pie was so good! Fresh out of the oven! Yum!
The Little Bridge in Somesville
After dinner we headed back to the house we rented but we had to make one more unscheduled stop!
There is a small white bridge over a pond in Somesville that is maintained by the Desert Mount Historic Society which has the Somesville Museum & Garden adjacent to the bridge. The bridge is lit up at night so a stop there was a must!
We decided that we needed to return to both Upper Hadlock Pond and the white bridge in Somesville with some different light.
The Little Bridge in Daylight
I was not happy with the night shots as the shadows were just too obvious. So we stopped again when the sun was shining!
The fall colors added a lot to the scene so I changed my perspective to capture more of the color surrounding the bridge.
Upper Hadlock Pond – the Last Day
Since on the first day, we found the Upper Hadlock Pond fairly late and the sky was very overcast, we wanted to get back there when there was a better sky and more light!
On our last day, we had some time in the late afternoon so some of us drove back over to Upper Hadlock Pond. I was so glad I had made that U-turn on the first day! The color was better as there was more sunlight but the wind had picked up so there was no reflection! I shot a wide-angle image to at least capture the colors.
I started to explore along the shore and found that there was a trailhead back off the pull-off area. Stepping along the boardwalk, literally a board, I found that this area was full of colorful mushrooms!
The light was fading on our last day, so I headed back to our vehicle but I had to make one last image of the now glorious fall colors on Upper Hadlock Pond.
Note: I noticed that this “pond” was one of the most posted images on social media of Acadia National Park this past fall.
So, always be on the lookout for those places that are not on the schedule/plan! They can get you some awesome images and with some exploring, see things most everyone else misses!
Please click on an image for a larger version or visit my galleries for these and additional images from these locations. Upper Hadlock Pond Gallery and Southwest Harbor and Somesville Gallery
My next post will be about our day of “climbing” the Bubbles and the rocks around the Thunder Hole area along the coast.
That is all for now.
Lynn
Mary Presson Roberts