Sunny and cold but a pretty nice day for January. Park personnel had told us there was a lot of snow so we decided to just go over and look for places where others had broken trail. Tomorrow is supposed to be extremely cold so we wanted to get one in today.
We started from the Little Long Pond parking lot and headed down the Friends Path toward the pond. Not too bad here as others had preceded us
Part way down there is a fork in the path with the right ( the one we usually take) leading to the end of the pond and the left taking you further up the carriage road. No one had yet been on the right so we took the left which had little traffic and did not follow the trail as we remembered it. It seemed to be more of a bushwhack but we followed rather than break our own trail
Once we reached the carriage road the going was much easier as there had been several hikers ahead of us. I had a bit of a slog ( I have snow shoes but don't like to wear them) but the crust supported Kelley and that was good.
But eventually we came to a point where no one had yet walked.
We turned back and returned to the parking lot and drove the short distance to the other side of the pond looking for better traveled trails. We found pretty good walking along the pond and the loop back to the start. Kelley twice had a problem when she saw a dog and then a person across the field and attempted to run across it. It was too deep for her and she had to struggle back to the broken trail. She did get to meet some dogs on the trail.
Another short drive brought us in the back way to Jordan Pond- they keep this road and one of the parking lots open in winter. I had hoped that access to the loop road there would lead to easy walking- snowmobiles are allowed on it in winter and pack the snow. There had been very little activity so we walked down to the boat launch and looked at the pond.
We walked along the bottom of the pond to the carriage road- little activity north, some south. We walked to the Jordan Stream
And I thought we might try the Asticou trail which is normally easy and flat but Kelley refused to cross on the small bridge
Back along the shore of the pond to the intersection with the nature trail at the bottom of the pond and another view.
The trail across to the east side trails was a sheet of shiny ice and we turned back and took the nature trail- untrod and a bit of a slog but not too deep for Kelley because of the dense woods- back to the parking lot.
An unusual hiking day with a total of 2 hours total for three spots. But is was sunny and pretty.
Hi John...Thanks goodness for the sunshine we have been having, I have not been tempted to go out in this weather ...last night was a chilly one!!
ReplyDeleteI do have to get my snowshoes out and blow of the dust ; } ! I like it when there are snowmobile trails to..can walk for miles!!
Your photos are gorgeous, snow is not fun to shovel, but is sure makes it look like a wonderland!! That last on is lovely!!
Poor Kelley not able to get around like she would like in this snow!!
Grace
Good morning Grace- yes, it is pretty once you have cleared the drive, etc. We haven't seen much snowmobile activity yet but in the past have been able, like you say, to walk for miles from our backyard. It is rare for Kelley to have a problem with the snow- this was an unusual situation.
ReplyDeleteWhat lovely blue skies! Looks like you have tons of beautiful new snow. Good for you and Kelley to get outside on a cold, snowy day.
ReplyDeleteHi Linda- thanks for visiting and commenting. Yes, finally significant snow and it was a beautiful day. Kelley loves the snow.
ReplyDeleteI guess there would be no temptation to walk on the ice on Jordan Pond! Even the most foolhardy person could figure that one out..
ReplyDeleteHi penbayman- yes, it has only been really cold for a short time. I heard on the news that a woman went through the ice of another pond on her snowmobile.
ReplyDelete