4/21/11 Orono

Because we got more rain yesterday we decided to skip the mud and walk around Orono instead. A cool day with lots of clouds but some sun. We walked down to the river and walked along that until we discovered some trails of the Orono Land Trust we had not know about and decide to explore them. As expected there was a good deal of water and mud. There were also no maps and we just wandered, not being sure where we were, until we came back to the river and then figured out which way to walk--the wrong way would have taken us to Old Town rather than back to Orono. All of this resulted in a longer than planed hike which I hope wasn't too much for Kelly. 2 1/4 hours.

4/19/11 Northeast Penjajawoc Preserve and Veazie Railbed

Kelley has had a problem with pain in her legs and lots of bad weather has combined to limit us to walks in the neighborhood or downtown. Kelley is feeling better and we had mostly sunny skies so it was back to the woods ( nearby). We walked through the preserve to the old Veazie rail bed and walked that until there was too much water to cross and we turned back.

Kelley was happy to be in the woods and lost no time taking advantage of the wet conditions ( and again not posing for me)



These leaves managed to stay on the tree all winter



This looked like very old barbed wire


A nice if somewhat soggy 1 1/2 hour walk

4/8/11 Canon Brook

A sunny cloudless day. We chose Canon Brook because it's mostly flat. Started from Rte 3 trail head and took it to the A. Murray Young which we did only the part we planned on doing before returning the way we had come.


Pond near start of the trail


Canon Brook had only small patches of snow




The A. Murray Young is a very pretty trail that closely follows a stream


More lichen


The A. Murray Young still had had a surprising amount of snow


There comes a point on this trail that is very difficult for Kelley ( large rocks to climb) and we turned back as we neared the rocks


Lichen and some leaves peaking through the snow





Kelly crossing Canon Brook on the way back


Odd bark




Another pond near end/start of trail

4/7/11

A sunny but cold morning for a walk around downtown Bangor. Kelley enjoys these walks because there are LOTS of things to sniff and she gets to meet people. She was still a little gimpy after yesterdays hike so this was an easy day.


Along the riverfront


An old fire alarm box

4/6/11 Norumbega Mountain

A very nice day- low 40's and mostly sunny. The trail was mostly clear with some stretches of snow and of water. We hiked from the end of Hadlock Pond Rd. to a bit beyond the summit where the Goat Trail heads down the mountain and then retraced our route back.





Tried to get a picture of Kelley at the summit cairn but , as usual, she was not into posing.

4/3/11 From Harden Farm Rd.

A beautiful sunny day with temperatures around 40 degrees. We chose this area because it has several alternative routes and we did not know how the trails would be. We parked at the end of Harden Farm Rd. near the golf course at the closed park entrance. The park loop rd. was clear in some spots with areas of snow in others but not difficult walking. Kelley was excited to be in the park and with the snow and then we met a woman with her dog and that made her very happy. We walked to the Gorge Path trail head before turning back ( both the Gorge and Kebo Mt. were snowy and we wanted easy) and returning to the Stratheden took that and others to the Tarn. All of this provide numerous opportunities for Kelley to immerse herself in water ,which she did, along with a lot of running and exploring. The Wild Garden Trail took us to the nature center where we stopped and shared an apple. The Jesup and Hemlock brought us back to the park loop road and from there we did the Great Meadow Loop which is relatively new and not done by us before. After the woman and her dog at the start we saw no other people except a girl near the end and enjoyed a very nice walk. We were so enjoying this beautiful peaceful day I didn't even take out my camera. 2-1/4 hours

3/2/11 Neighborhood

More snow last night so after doing three driveways we just walked around the neighborhood for an hour. Kelley was very excited with all the snow-- she is like a child not knowing which way to go first and so dashes all over the place. She was also happy about getting to greet all the people outside doing their drives and most were happy to see her.

Our back yard this morning