Norumbega Mountain Loop

Like many hiking loops in Acadia, this loop winds between two worlds, upper and lower, both equally damp on the day of my hike. The Goat Trail starts in the lower world of mixed woods, then quickly rises over rocks and roots to open ledges populated by pitch pine, juniper, huckleberry, blueberry, and a variety of lichen. Generally this upper world is a drier, sunnier, windier place than the shaded woods, opening onto vistas of parallel ridges on Mount Desert Island and lesser islands spread like stepping stones to the horizon. Shrunk by the fog, my view was no less spectacular, looking upon a landscape of granite and wizened pines receding into shifting mists.

The upper world of Norumbega Mountain extends for about a mile along a ridge running north and south on the eastern side of Somes Sound. Similar to the ridges on Champlain and Dorr mountains, this world offers a glimpse of terrain where rainfall equals that in other parts of Acadia, but there is almost no soil to hold moisture for later use, so vegetation is limited to species needing little water and a great deal of sunlight. Enter the pitch pine and its faithful companions to create a landscape which, though spare, is as beautiful as any in Acadia.

Heading south from the summit, the Brown Mountain Trail (Norumbega was called Brown Mountain before George Dorr tweaked the names to make them worthy of a national park) leads down a gradual slope into the lower world of damp woods and tall trees. Here pitch pines cannot compete, so eventually give way to spruce, fir, cedar, maple, beech, and red and white pine. What struck me most about this lower world was the luminous green mat of bazzania covering the forest floor, here and there accented by ferns and patches of low plants. The descent is now steady but proceeds by a series of broad terraces between granite slopes, pitch pine thriving on the drier ledges, then alternating with stands of thirstier species where soil is thicker.

The Brown Mountain Trail descends to the south shore of Lower Hadlock Pond, where it meets the Hadlock Path which circles the pond. I turned north and followed around the west side of the pond to the falls where Hadlock Brook makes its entry, the path keeping to the woods the whole way. Two loons showed as black silhouettes against pale mists shrouding the far shore. Wet roots can be slippery, so this trail called for cautious footwork in places, as did the following stretch of the Upper Hadlock Trail connecting to the Norumbega Mountain parking area. The wettest spots on both trails are spanned by corduroy bridges or poles laid over the mud. The best bridge on the loop is the arched corduroy span across the brook on the Hadlock Path. Below the bridge, the brook spreads to a width of 25 feet; above, it races through a gap between a rock and a hard place only eighteen inches wide.