12/7/13 Partridge and Ducktail Ponds

Yesterday was lots of rain so Kelley went to the nursing home for the day. This morning it was cold, windy,  and gray but with a promise of clearing. By the time we got to the trail head the sun was out. The temperature stayed near 32 the whole day, so pretty comfortable except in the open by the ponds where the wind made it feel colder.

We started from the Partridge Pond trail head

very wintry looking

and walked past the turns to the ponds to near the end of Partridge.

 from near the upper end of Partridge

 There were some interesting ice formations near the shore.

Another shot from that end

It was too wet to go further so we turned back and visited both of the ponds before heading back to the car. We met a man on the trail who was  "scouting winter camping sites" and asked some questions about the trails as he had not been on them before. I wish I had asked him what was the appeal of winter camping, brrr.

I found this shadow of a very small pine on the way out.

A pretty good hike as we were mostly in woods and protected from the wind. The sun was nice after two days without it and Kelley was, as usual, just happy to be hiking.  2  1/2 hours