1/17/14 From Dover-Foxcroft

Gray morning with possibility of rain. Hesitant to drive very far, only to find icy trails. Decided to try the rail-trail that runs from Dover-Foxcroft to Newport ( 26 miles ) . In the past we have done it from both ends- of course, not the whole trail. We parked at the Irving and I looked at the trail and it looked pretty good. Even though only 35 miles north of us , they had a lot more snow. A trail continues on ( east?) and since we had never done that decide to try it. The trail was firm , solid , and not slippery- best conditions we have had in ages. Kelley was also happy as she gets excited when we do a trail she hasn't done before. This would prove to be a trail with a lot of variety. The trail first passes a marshy area with perhaps ponds- it was hard to tell with the snow and ice.

And the briefly into woods

and out of the woods and through the back of the town , crossing several roads, and neighborhoods.Not exactly the experience we were hoping for.

from beside someone's yard

then we were back in the woods but not far off the trail was a gigantic timber operation. It went on for acres and was loud. We would get glimpses of huge piles of trees so I climbed a snow bank to get this picture of a tiny part of the operation.

A runner came from behind us and stopped to give Kelley some attention. She said the trail used to go through nice woods but had had to be rerouted. She was also happy with the footing and said it was greatly improved from yesterday because of the small amount of snow they got last night.

We continued on with more woods and  these nice birches

And then came to a series of very large fields.

and then more woods . Kelley had not been able to find much water she could get at and actually broke through some soft ice to get in here- unusual behavior for her.

After crossing a road the trail  looked like an old rail bed

We had not seen any snowmobiles to this point but then a group of five passed us- we didn't see any more the rest of the hike.  It was time for us to turn around but we may return and start from one of the roads we crossed, skipping the town stuff at the beginning and the timber lot. On the way back we got some light rain but not enough to make me uncomfortable.

Near the end Kelley really wanted to get to water and ventured out on the ice- again, not something she usually does. You can see she is a bit tentative.

Well an unusual hike but the excellent footing and easy walking made up for some of the other aspects. Kelley had really liked it with lots of running ahead, which she does when excited. 3 hours