4/28/13 Cedar Swamp Mountain

Another beautiful day- that's three in a row of shirt sleeve hiking. Seemed like a good day for Cedar Swamp Mtn. via the Sargent S. Ridge Trail. This part of the trail has some minor work arounds for Kelley but nothing she needs help with. It's a pretty trail with good views as it alternates between woods and open ledge.

Two views from Cedar Swamp Mtn.

From there we decided to return by the Amphitheater Trail . The main problem with this route is a steep drop down to Birch Spring which Kelley cannot do without help and she doesn't care for that at all.

We made it down and got on the Amphitheater Trail

Kelley scrambled right down this steep rocky section

because at the bottom was Little Harbor Brook and a swim.

We followed the Amphitheater to a carriage road and that to the Asticou and back to the carriage road we had come in on. We only met two women with a dog on the whole hike- on the way up they passed us and then we met them again as we were all nearing the parking lot.  A nice hike on a beautiful day.  3  1/4 hours

4/27/13 Sunkhaze Meadows Refuge

Another beautiful day. Thought Kelley could use something easy after yesterday and I need time for garden work so it's nearby Sunkhaze. Plan was to do the Oak Point Trail and then Johnson Brook. We parked at the end of an old woods road just past the Oak Point trail head but  Kelley insisted we go up that road instead of the trail - two huge boulders bar vehicles and it wasn't posted so she got her way.

Turned out to be road and woods and little else, though quite pleasant on this lovely day. On softer parts we could see evidence of vehicles in the not too distant past- apparently from the other end.

Still little evidence of new spring growth

We continued walking for 45 minutes. Kelley seemed happy with her choice- she always like new places and she found a few small pools of water to get into.

When  we came to a 'T' with roads going left and right and looking much the same we turned back the way we had come.

We drove the short distance to Johnson Brook so Kelley could have a swim in the beaver pond.

A very pleasant and relaxing outing  2  1/4 hours

4/26/13 Western Mountains

Beautiful day. Sunny and 50's when we got to the trails and little wind- shirt sleeve hiking!

The mountains in this part of the park all have wooded summits without views. The trails are mostly woods walks except for the first part of  West Ledge and the one we chose- Razorback. This is, to me, the most interesting trail in this area and has some nice views. It was more difficult for Kelley than I remembered and entailed  work arounds , several boosts, and bushwhacks.

Parking is at the pumping station at the end of Long Pond and Kelley, of course, was immediately into the water.

First view after climbing through woods and over rocks

From this point you are mostly on open ledge with brief woods sections

This required the largest bushwhack and I led Kelley through brush and fallen trees to get around it.

A stream running down the mountain provide a cold drink

The section from which, I think,  the trail name was derived

It may look precarious but this section was actually easier and Kelley trotted right over it.

Looking back from the point we were off the rocks and entering  the woods to drop down to Great Notch.

From Great Notch we took that trail down to the Pond Trail  ( both easy) which took us to the pond and then runs along it's shore back to our start.

A ledge that sticks out into the water where we usually have lunch and Kelley a swim.

A beautiful day and a nice, if challenging in part, hike. It was a real treat after the gray cold weather we have been having. 3  1/4 hours

4/25/13 Marsh Island

Still raining when we got up but it stopped by 10 o'clock and we headed for the nearby Marsh Island trails. Still working on getting the garden in shape and hope to have time for more of that this afternoon. The trails were not as wet as I had anticipated but a small stream we crossed had lots of water and Kelley was happy with that

and I got a picture of a knot on the rail of the bridge

We followed the trail that leads to the Penobscot and there was water in the boggy areas that had been dry when we were last here.

We found no wildflowers and the trees have not leafed out yet- still kind of wintry looking.

A pleasant hour and a half.

4/23/13 and 4/24/13 University Forest and Bangor

Yesterday it was supposed to rain so we went to the nearby University Forest. These are the most confusing trails we hike and I don't think we have ever managed to follow this map. One day we met a biker who said he had used them for years and still got lost. There are many more trails than those indicated on the map. There are different maps posted at some intersections- other intersections have no indicators. The numbers posted on some of the trails do not  coincide with the maps numbers. We started out to follow the trails to the Corn Field loop. Trail 9 continued long past where it is shown on the map and then became so wet we turned back. We ended up out by a road and a construction  business, turned back and tried various trails until by accident we found the Corn Field loop. We then did a hit or miss on various trails until we found one we recognized would take us back. I was concentrating on trying to sort out the trails and didn't take pictures. There were many muddy spots and lots and lots of water. Kelley was perfectly happy with the situation as she was constantly in and out of the water. I was mostly frustrated for 2  1/2 hours

Today it was raining when we got up and continued  all day. We finally  went downtown and just walked about in the rain for an hour. Kelley was into intensive sniffing-usually when it's wet she is more attuned to the smells along our walk - so the going was a bit slow. I was looking for signs of spring ( besides April showers) and found a few along with some other things.

I think this is more work by 'Pigeon' as it is pasted  rather than painted on the wall.

4/22/13 City Forest

Trying to save time by not driving so I can get garden work done ( planted peas today and started tomatoes and eggplant inside) . A little nippy at the start of our hour and three quarters at the forest but Kelley was quite excited- there was water everywhere and none of it frozen and she took full advantage. We also met a few people and two dogs.

Not much photography today. There were two male mallards on the water and when I reached for my camera they took off. One grab shot in their general direction got this not very sharp image. I liked it anyway.

4/21/13 Schoodic Mtn. and Black Mtn. Cliffs

Sunny but a windy and cool start ( 30's) . After the rain and melting we wanted something that maybe wouldn't be too muddy so we headed for Schoodic. We parked in the Schoodic Beach parking lot ( no other cars) and head up the trail to Schoodic.

This is a pretty trail with easy wooded sections, steep rocky sections , and open ledge with views.

Here we can see the goal in the distance

Kelley beats me to the summit again

A view from the summit

It doesn't have to be a lot of water

Are you coming?

We had our apple and then greeted a couple who arrived at the summit and headed down the traik to Donnell Pond and Schoodic Beach

We walked along the shore to the Black Mountain Trail.

It starts out easy but becomes steep in sections and seemed harder than Schoodic- but perhaps I was just tiring. I have seen trail descriptions that describe this section as ' Black mountain Cliffs' and talks about the views. We have only ever found glimpses through the trees though the walk along the ridge is quite nice.

We followed the trail back down to the parking lot and along the way I got this years first butterfly- this ones for you Grace. It seems a bit beat up for this early in the season.

Though we had met no other hikers besides the couple on Schoodic, there were seven other vehicles in the parking lot. A beautiful day and a nice hike. For Kelley there were some minor work arounds that she managed on her own but there were numerous streams flowing and I lost track of the number of times she got into them.   3  hours