1/5/14 Down East Sunrise Tral

This was not our original goal.  When we got our last snow a few days ago the weather people said the Franklin area had got a lot less snow than we had so we thought we would do Hidden Ponds. As we drove up Rte. 182  it became obvious that my information was incorrect- snow still on the road and lots of snow in the trees. When we got to the Hidden Ponds parking lot we could not enter because of the large amount of snow left across the entrance by the plows- the lot had also not been plowed. Nearby Dynamite Brook Rd. ( access to other trails) was also not plowed so that was it for that area. . We went back to Franklin where the rail trail crosses Rt, 182 to walk the rail trail. We soon met a man with two large dogs on leads that he was having a hard time controlling. He had them on leads to keep them from chasing snowmobiles. Kelley wanted nothing to do with either of them and we continued on our way. A pretty sunny day with temps in the upper 20's and no wind. 

There was a sign beside this side trail saying it was a 'dead end' trail. We climbed up to have a look and it crossed  a large field with buildings in the distance.

The footing was good because of the snowmobiles but, unfortunately, there were a lot of them out today so our walk was not as peaceful as it might have been.  Almost all were considerate and slowed down and gave us wide berth. When Kelley heard them she went to the side and laid down until they passed. 

When Kelley saw a bridge ahead she quickened her pace to reach the stream. Sadly it was frozen solid.

When Kelley saw this picnic table she trotted right over- we had had our lunch there the last time we were here in September. Today we just had our apple.

One more shot of the trail

So, not the day we planned but a pretty day with mild weather and we still enjoyed it. 2  1/2 hours