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| View from the West Branch Bridge |
This last week of November has been unseasonably warm and great for hiking. On wet, cloudy Sunday Frank, Leo and I walked the Carriage Road starting from the Jordan Pond House to the
West Branch Bridge and the
Cliffside Bridge.
The
West Branch Bridge is a very tall, skinny bridge with lovely views of the
Jordan Cliffs and a slit-like view of
Little Long Pond and
Bracy Cove, which can be seen through a gorge which I'm guessing has the West Branch of
Jordan Stream running through it far below.
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| Leo at the base of the Jordan Cliffs Trail |
Walk a little further along the carriage road and you are at the base of the
Jordan Cliffs Trail, with its steep, rough-hewn granite steps rising up into infinity. There are expansive views of
Little Long Pond,
Bracy Cove and the
Western Way as you walk along the ridge that rises above noisy
Jordan Stream.
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| Frank and Leo arriving at the Cliffside Bridge |
Less than 1/2 a mile from there is the massive, medieval-looking
Cliffside Bridge, made of giant blocks of reddish rock, built right into the side of a cliff. The views and the winds there are spectacular and expansive. It is one of the warmest, sunniest spots in Acadia when you're skiing on a cold winter day. You can see the top of
Day Mountain, all of the
Little Long Pond area, and the sea beyond.
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| The crossroads on the Hadlock Brook Trail |
Today, Monday, Leo and I took a new walk, starting from the
Brown Mountain Gatehouse, walking along the carriage road to the little
Hadlock Brook Bridge, a pretty arched bridge over a sun-dappled brook in the middle of deep shaded woods. There I decided to hike the
Hadlock Brook Trail up to the
Waterfall Bridge. The trail was well-constructed but a little rough going, with roots and wet in some spots, and which required some creative thinking for how to cross some of the little streams without getting my feet wet. (Leo loves getting his feet wet.)
It was one of those days in Acadia when it seems like hundreds of brooks and streams are rushing all around you. At one point I stopped to listen in a spot where I could hear two large streams loudly rushing on both sides of me, but were made invisible by trees. With the sun shining down and the smell of mud, wet leaves and pine needles wafting up, it was magical.
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| Arriving at the Waterfall Bridge |
Our leisurely hike up to the
Waterfall Bridge took only about half an hour, and when the bridge finally appeared it was as dramatic as I had hoped. The waterfall was blasting full force, the best I've ever seen it. It was much colder up on the carriage road than it had been in the woods, with a good wind blowing. The walk back down to the parking lot was filled with thoughts of great skiing to come.
