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

12/5/13 Walden and Old Rail Bed

A cold gray morning with rain forecast. We went to nearby Walden to get a hike in before the rain. We parked at the end of Tamarack Trail and took the Loop Trail to the rail bed and walked that until we reached the spot where a small stream cuts across. Not wanting wet feet we turned back and on the way met a group of nice women also trying to get in a hike before the rain. Kelley of course ran ahead of me to greet them. We had a chat about trails and trail maps and continued on our way. When we came to the snowmobile trail we took that because Kelley always wants to. That lead us to an unnamed trail that took us back to the Loop Trail and on to the car.

 I only took one picture - an ice formation in a small pond.

We got two hours in without rain and it was , as always, just good to be out.

12/4/13 Perch Pond Trails

We have sun and most of the snow in our yard is gone. Decided we could park at the trails and not get stuck as it's only a few miles from home. More snow than expected in the parking lot but we parked anyway and started out on the South Trail.

There is a series of bog bridges at the beginning. When we first started hiking Kelley wouldn't use them but then learned to accept them- not today, with the snow ( this was taken on the way out- there were no tracks going in). You can see she is looking for a way around

There was a lot more snow than at home and no tracks of anyone walking the trails ( later on the old roads someone had skied)

To our surprise, not long after starting on the 100 Acre Woods Trail we found ourselves back where we had started. Not wanting to repeat ourselves we continued on the South Trail and took the route shown to the pond ( no problem following these trails)  

No swimming for Kelley today

After an apple break at the pond we walked along it and then headed for the other end of the 100 Acre Woods Trail. I wanted to see if I could find where we went wrong earlier. After a brief detour ( wrong turn) we started on our trail. All went well until we came to a spot where the flags seemed to end . After looking all around for flags we gave up and just bushwhacked. I'm guessing the trail would have been easier to follow without the untracked snow. Eventually we came upon the trail again and continued on out to the junction with the South Trail and back to our start.

It had been a bit of a slog for both of us because of the snow, but especially for Kelley ( she made use of the ski tracks when those were briefly available). But it had been a sunny day with temps in the upper 30's so a pretty good hike. 3  hours

12/3/13 Marsh Island

Gray dreary day with fog when we started and rain in the forecast . Kind of day that dampens my enthusiasm for getting out of the house.  Nearby Marsh Island seemed like a good choice with uncertain weather. Kelley is just happy to be in the woods and ( almost) never complains about where we hike.We started from Hillside Ave. and walked to the river and back by a slightly different route.

She was able to find a stream that was running and she could get into

And I found a couple of things to photograph

We did an hour and three quarters and it was good to be out in spite of my initial  lack of enthusiasm. Even though I sometimes would rather curl up with a book,  once we are outing hiking I am always glad we are.

12/2/13 City Forest

We woke to three inches of snow and Kelley waited ( sort of) patiently for me to shovel the drive ( she really likes snow and wanted us to be out in it) . I thought the trails at Perch Pond would be pretty so we drove out there. Parking area had not been plowed and there was a bank of snow across the entrance left from plowing the road. I really didn't want to deal with a stuck car so we didn't enter but headed for City Forest.

We started from the end of Kittredge Rd. and walked down to the pond- no place for Kelley to get in because of ice so we headed down the West Trail

Kelley was very excited by the snow and kept running ahead, stopping for me to catch up and then running ahead again.

We then met Pete and his dog Cadie

Kelley ran forward to meet them

And the dogs had a grand time. Kelley has not played this energetically with another dog in some time.

Eventually we had to move on. Kelley found some water to get into

We walked to the end of West Trail and then took the old rail bed

We then took an unnamed trail back to the West Trail to complete our loop

Kelley waiting for me to climb the hill back to our start

So, a good hike with lots of fun for Kelley . 2  3/4 hours

12/1/13 U. Maine Trails

Light snow with rain predicted later. We went to the nearby university trails hoping to get a hike in before the rain (light snow continued and it never did rain)

On a previous hike we had done well following the trails except for the Black Trails, which were confusing. We had previously started from the College Ave. Extension and today started from Stillwater  Ave. near the Black Trails to try to sort them out. They were still confusing and we met a couple who  also thought them confusing .  When they heard Kelley's name they said they had seen our blog. We gave up and headed for the other trails.

The light snow made even the road in pretty

I like how the snow isolates subjects.

Another pretty trail

We also got off on some unmarked trails but soon backtracked as there was a lot of water and we also ended up on private property.

Back on track we headed for the river to see how that was in the snow - pretty nice.

And then a little bit different route back. On previous visits here we have only met one or two people total. Today we met several people and several dogs. We met a couple with a black and a yellow lab and so we had all three colors together  Even though gray, it was a pretty day because of the snow and no wind. A very pleasant hike  3  hours

11/30/13 Walden

A cold but mostly sunny day. We got a late start and went to Walden with our friend and her dogs. The dogs enjoyed being out in the woods , as did we. We walked part of the loop trail to the old rail bed and that to the place where it's usually too wet to proceed . Today there was a fair amount of ice but not quite solid enough to support a foray further along the old rail bed. We walked back along the rail bed to a section my friend had not done. Along the way Kelley got into some water along side the path but then had difficulty getting out because of the ice. We also met a nice man with his dog and talked about the end of the rail bed. He also wants to follow it to Forest Ave. We returned using part of the snowmobile trail and a small unnamed trail that took us back to the loop trail. Even though it was only 4 o'clock it seemed as though night was near and the temperature had noticeably dropped. Winter in Maine. I only took a couple of pictures- reluctant to open jacket and take off gloves- and was not happy with them so no pictures today. It was still an enjoyable hike and nice to be out with friends.  2  1/2 hours