Kayaking Lower Hadlock Pond and Walking its Lovely Shore Trail

Monday July 24, 2017                                                                                  Most Recent Posts:
Acadia National Park                                                                        Up Down and Around Dorr Mountain
Mount Desert Island, Maine                                                               Beech Mountain and the Cliffs

 

 

Somehow pictures from our Potluck with Nancy and Bill on Saturday ended up in the folder with the pictures of this paddle rather than in the Saturday Folder.  So enjoy the pie before you get in the kayak with us.  

After all that blueberry picking David wanted to bake a pie.  If you have followed us for any period of time, you know that he is justly famous for his spelt crust pies especially cherry and blueberry.   Betty Crocker’s don’t look or taste as good.

Like Mama always said, you have to eat dinner before you can have dessert so we all got together and each brought our own dinners which were just an excuse to get to the pie..

 

Bill is smiling – David is cutting.

 

 

 

Nancy is Ooooohhhhing as she takes a picture of her slice. No ice cream yet.   She and I are having great fun playing  “dueling cameras” but I’ll only post one of the funny pictures I took.   Bill complains about our cameras and so many pictures so I only put all of him in a couple.  I hope this pleases him.  

 

 

 

I was in a hurry so everyone could eat and didn’t check to notice that the pie baker had his eyes closed but he looks happy with the results and so are we all.   Sorry about the picture David.  It was a fantastic pie!!

 

 

 

Zooming from Saturday to Monday, we are parked and on the pond by 7am.   It has a nice natural put in and about 4 total parking places near by.  Early is the word.

 

Sometimes we decide to go around the edge in opposite directions so the first kayak won’t scare off whatever s/he sees before the second one gets a chance.  But sometimes that means whatever it is isn’t there by the time the other gets around.  I definitely lost out today but it’s fun to pass by on the far side and offer pointers on what to look for.   On this day I wanted to save my favorite spot for last so I elected to go left around the bank.  I didn’t give enough consideration to the overcast skies and bright white sun.

 

The still pond makes for wonderful reflections.  I find the orange of the Bayonet Rush stems particularly lovely as the grasses are reflected in the water.

 

I head around toward the pump house by the dam.  David goes the opposite direction.

 

 

There are two Hadlock Ponds, Upper and Lower, both are located between Norumbega and Cedar Swamp Mountains.  David is over there somewhere or soon to be.

 

Love the bayonet rushes in front of the pump house and bridge.  

 

 

Once around the rushes I can see that the dam, the bridge and the house all make beautiful reflections.   The old Earth and Stone dam is really an engineering feat.  Still here after 83 years.  Remember it for later, what David will see  wasn’t there when I came by.  Too bad for me.

 

 

This pond is also part of the MDI water supply. There are “no swimming” and “no dogs” signs all around. It doesn’t mean no dogs on the trail, just no dogs or anyone else in the water.   So you can imagine my surprise when just as I am in front of the pump house I hear this huge splash.   If I were in Florida, I’d think gator.  Here, I don’t know what to think.   But then I see some owner either doesn’t read signs or thinks the rules don’t apply to him.   Since the signs are everywhere, I think it must be the latter.  The dog is having a great time.

 

 

 

The rocks along the shore line are particularly striking as are the lilies.

 

 

I didn’t know we would be walking this shore line as well as paddling it.

 

 

At this point, I meet up with David coming the other way around. 

 

 

I finally come to my favorite spot which is a mere shadow of itself from earlier this summer. 

 

 

Before you get close you can hear the water but it is so low now that you have to be really close to see it.

 

The best looks now will be from the land.

 

But I doubt I’ll be able to see the great reflections from there.

 

 

Speaking of the land, here is a bit of the trail that goes around the lake.

 

 

I look around to see where David is and find he’s at it again, even in his boat!   This is my picture.

 

This is his picture.  Not sure if this is before or after he helped himself.  I went by there and didn’t even see them.  Two strikes for me today.

 

I’m on the last section of the shore line headed back to Ruby when I pass by the only home on the water.  It’s actually a pink compound with 4 residential buildings.  They don’t quite match the Bayonet Rush.   Sweet place to live especially in the off season.

 

 

And there is Ruby waiting for me.  David is around the corner pulling in at the take out.

 

 

 

P.S  Here is what lucky David saw.  Remember I said you should keep the dam in mind? 
So who is it? 
He’s at a distance so his pictures are not great but I think you can tell.  Or at least we think we know.  Wish I could have gotten my camera on him.

 

 

 

This is probably the most distinctive picture

 

 

David followed him along the shoreline hoping for a better picture.  Do you see him?

 

So what’s your guess?  
We think it was a mink.  
First one either of us has ever seen and I’m so bummed that all I saw was the pictures. 
But thanks David!  How exciting for you.

 

When we finish the paddle it’s still early so we think we’ll do the hike around the pond.  We start out down the road that leads to the pump house.  There is a gate.  Official vehicles only.

 

At the fork, we turn right toward the pump house.  The sign pointing straight ahead says “bridle path” so apparently it is for horses.  Not sure about bikes.

 

 

We pass the second public water supply reminder.  They are all around the lake including at both parkingl lots.  Since there were no other cars in the lot,  it seems the dog and his owner must have walked in.  Not sure how they missed the signs.

 

We get a different look at the stone and Earthen Dam.  Even more impressive I think.

 

 

The sign on the pump house says the dam was constructed in 1934.  That would make it a WPA project most likely.

 

Directly across from the pump house we can see what we are calling the “pink compound”. They look pretty cute over there.  The trees block several of the buildings.

 

When we get to the other side of the dam we are given the choice to go to the “golf club” or the Lower Hadlock Pond Trail.  A golf club through the woods and up hill?   I’d like to come back on another day and check that out.

 

 

The Lower Hadlock Pond Trail goes all the way around the pond right next to it.

 

Because David takes the car each Wednesday, I am no longer keeping my hiking boots in there for spur of the moment hikes.  I don’t want to forget and then not have them for Wednesday hikes.   The problem with that is obvious today when David gets his boots out of the back seat and changes into them and I cannot.

 

Luckily I know this trail well enough to know that I can do it with care in my Oofos.  Not my preferred shoe for rooty terrain but it works on this comparatively easy trail although I think it is labeled “moderate”.

 

 

It’s a lovely trail which gives a different view of the lake than on the water.  It is great to do them both back to back.  Really glad we had the time.

 

 

 

An umbrella for the wee folk.

 

At points the trail veers away from the water but it can still be seen through the tall trees.

 

There are some ‘watch your step’ sections.

 

When we come to the boardwalk through the swampy area, we know we are near Hadlock Brook and the little water fall.  There is a much bigger water fall on the brook higher up and viewable from Waterfall Bridge.

 

 

I take this picture of the tiny cascade from beside the brook which is mostly flowing under the stones at this time of year.

 

 

We head up and over two rough hewn cedar bridges to cross the brook.   They seem perfect for the setting.

 

 

 

From the middle of the second bridge, I take this picture out into the pond.  My boat would have been in this picture had someone taken it when I was seeing the cascade from the water.

 

There is a bit of climbing on the trail.

 

There are other bridges of the same style.

 

We are on the home stretch at this point but can’t quite see the giant rock by the kayak put in.

 

 

Here is the one draw back to living in the “Pink Compound”.  The trail walkers go pretty much through the edge of your yard.

 

You can see how close the trail is to the houses as it goes through these ferns.

 

From here it’s just a short way on to the car and the end of our very fine morning enjoying Lower Hadlock Pond from every angle.

 

THE END!