9/30/13 U. Maine Trails

Gray, cold ( upper 40's) , foggy morning. Kelley as a bit of a cough so we wanted something easy and went to the university in Orono. I won't try to outline our route on these confusing trials- There are many more trails than appear on the map, some of the numbered trails lack markers, and there are confusing maps at some- not all- of the intersections. We just tried to go straight and when we could not marked our turns. So that ended up being an out and back but at least we did not get off track.

Still gray and foggy when we started

But about an hour into our hike the fog burned off and we had a beautiful sunny day

Kelley having a short rest

and some lichen

We walked an hour and three quarters and the last part was very pleasant with the sun. We then went home and I worked at cleaning up the garden while Kelley slept - mostly in the sun.

9/27/13 Downeast Sunrise Trail part II

Another beautiful day. We decided to try a different section of the Sunrise Trail, this time from Rte 183. There was room to park here. We started off heading west hoping for views of Schoodic and it's surroundings. It didn't look like much at the start- again, more like a road than a trail.

But there were boggy areas and small pools and Kelley was happy about the water.

We did come to views of Schoodic

and other interesting things

Schoodic from the other side

When we hit a stretch that look open for a good ways we turned back

We tried one woodsy side trail and at one point could see clearing above and climbed up expecting a spectacular view. It was an old gravel pit.

We continued awhile on the trail but then returned to the main trail and back to our start.

When we reached the car we drove the short distance to the Schoodic Beach parking lot and walked down to the pond for lunch and a swim for Kelley.

Though there were seven vehicles in the parking lot there was no one at the beach and we had it to ourselves. A very pleasant outing. Two hours on the trail and a half hour at the beach.

9/26/13 Back to Hidden Ponds

Mostly cloudy with some peeks of sun and 60's but not raining. When we were here a few days ago we did not go above the ledges our new friend  led us to. Today we wanted to continue above them and see if the trail led to the summit ( which we were told was wooded) . We started from the parking lot on Rte.182 and followed the trail to Tilden Pond as before.

Near the start is a small stream and Kelley, of course. took advantage of it.

From Tilden we followed the same trail to Spring River Lake

A brief  walk along the shore led us to the short but somewhat steep trail up. The first part is fairly dense woods so not a lot of flowers and critters about  but once you come out of the woods you are on the ledges

There was a little sun and some flowers

View from the ledges

We continued on the flagged trail but instead of rising in ran along the ridge and then seemed to be heading down before it just sort of petered out. We turned and walked back down. Looking up we could see that the ledges are near the top and we probably could have bushwhacked it.

Thought maybe we would explore the shore a bit. East was not practical and a short walk west led to the same shore conditions

Time to head back. We stopped at Tilden for lunch and then continued out. When we were almost out we met a woman with two dogs and Kelley was happy to great them all. It had been a pleasant hike  3  1/4 hours

9/25/13 Goose Ridge

Mix of sun and clouds in the  50's- pretty good hiking weather. We usually do this trail from the north end at Freedom Pond Road and go to the utility easement just short of Penny Road. We have also done a short section from the south end but not all the way to Penny Rd. and that was our goal today. We started from the Whitten Hill trailhead up to the Northern Headwaters Trail, and took that to the Goose Ridge Trail.

There are a lot of these old stone walls in the area

Waiting for me, once again

There is a pond with an old stone dam and the trail crosses this dam

Unfortunately it has a large break part way across. Kelley took a look and said, "No way,

but I can swim around it"

We encountered another similar stone structure but it had no break and Kelley was able to walk it. She also had some small work arounds for blow downs and then there was a huge obstruction of several trees and a small stream. This turned into a major bushwhack but she finally got around it.

Taking a break

We reached Penny Road  and because this had been more arduous for my girl than anticipated  we left the small piece the other side of the road for another day and turned back. We would have to deal with all the obstacles again on the way back and we did, plus a stream she jumped into and couldn't get out on the other side. She would not use the bridge, though she had used others, and I had to push her across. After that it was an easy hike.

Heading back under nicer conditions

In spite of the difficulties Kelley seemed to enjoy the hike and once over a hurdle acted her same old enthusiastic self and showed no signs of distress. Since she has a mind of her own and is stubborn I am not always able to tell if she can't do something or just doesn't want to. She continually does things I don't think she can or will do and then balks at easier things. She is still a great hiking companion.  3  1/4 hours

9/24/13 Walden

Cold ( 40's) rainy morning. When the rain stopped we zipped over to nearby Walden for an hour. Kind of soggy in places  but we had the place to ourselves and Kelley was glad to be out there. Still a lot of green, though starting to turn, and even wild flowers still.

9/23/13 Partridge and Ducktail Ponds

Yesterday it rained most of the day so we just did a short walk around the neighborhood. Today it is still cloudy,cool ( 50's) , and windy but it's not raining. Decided to Take the Partridge Pond Trail past where you turn off for the pond ; we did part of this the first time we were here because we missed the turn- there is now a sign.

Kelley was happy to be out in the woods after a day at home and I was also glad to be out. Still not a lot of color on the trees but we did find some interesting leaves and things about.

It doesn't have to be a lot of water

This is the one I had seen for the first time at Tilden the other day and now here is another

Once we passed the turn off for Partridge the trail stayed fairly close to the pond as we could see glimpses of water through the trees. In the area I had got to before we bushwhacked over to the pond but we were  not yet at the end of the pond.

I wanted a picture from the north end of the pond so we got back on the trail and continued. We came to a neat little camp- no road near it.

There was a path from the rear of the camp down to the pond but we found were still not at the end of the pond and Kelley couldn't get in the water there so we bushwhacked along the shore until we reached the end and I got my picture.

This is a pano so please click it for the large view



And Kelley could get in the water

We continued to follow the trail until it became very wet and then turned back to  go to the other end of Partridge.

Leaf on  cloud lichen

An apple break at Partridge Pond

And then back to the trail to go to Ducktail.

Another interesting fungus

Ductail pano-- please click




From there it was back down the trail to our car.This turned out to be an interesting hike with some exploring and bushwhacking- more to explore in drier weather.  2  3/4 hours