6/20/14 Hidden Ponds

Cooler today ( 60's ) -supposed to be sunny but there were also a lot of clouds, sometimes making it gray. We started from the lot on Rte. 182 . I have added the newer Loop Trail to the map. We continued on the trail past it- marked "no longer maintained" but in good shape and easy to follow. If you skip this you miss Tilden Pond and the trail to the lake.On our return we did do the Loop Trail  but skipped going to Mud Pond. On our way out we met a family but no one else the rest of the hike.

About 5 minutes into the hike

Tilden Pond

At the end of Tilden we took the short trail to Spring River lake- this trail has several wet spots, the worst sections can be avoided with a side loop.

Kelley liked the lake too

Little Long Pond

Salmon Pond

A good hike in spite of the clouds and an increase in mosquitoes. 3 hours 

6/19/14 Little River Trail

A beautiful day- sunny, lower 70's , and a breeze. We started from the Water District office where there is parking. From the lot you get this view of reservoir No. 1

Near start of trail

Kelley was very excited with all the water and was in many times: one time she got in at a place it was hard for her to get out of and she swam along side me until she found a place to get out.

Just before Perkins Rd. ( the only road on the trail ) was this tree I have photographed several times in winter. Today it was surrounded by wildflowers.

Water coming over the spillway

and a wildflower

We hiked to the point where the trail turns away from the water and heads toward the ball field at the other end and found a spot by the river to have lunch- at this point it really is a little river rather than reservoir.

On the way back Kelley continued to run ahead to get in the water - in addition to the river and reservoirs there are several small streams that cross the trail.

Near the end she had one last dip in the reservoir.

A nice hike on a beautiful day. Kelley missed out on people and dogs as we met no one on the trail. 3 hours

6/17/14 City Forest

After yesterday's hike Kelley seemed a little gimpy so even though she seemed fine this morning, I chose a short easy hike with lots of water.

We started from the end of Kittredge Rd. and walked across the meadow and down to the beaver pond. for a swim.

Besides getting in a couple of swims she got to see some fiends who were also using the pond.

We went a short ways on West Trail and then took a side trail over to the old rail bed. A short distance on that and then back to another side trail and then one I wasn't familiar with that I hoped would take us back to West- it did.
 It was quite breezy so I ended up with a lot of out of focus pictures of wildflowers. This hawkweed was the best of the lot.

Back to the beaver pond for a couple more dips and up the hill to our car. It had been a pleasant hour and a half.

6/16/14 Sheepscot Headwaters

Near perfect day- sunny, breezy, 62 degrees at start 72 at finish. We had recently come at the Hogback Overlook access from the Frye Mt. area and found logging and a confused trail situation. Today's goal was to approach from the other side to see what we could see.

We started from the parking on Halldale Rd. , climbed to Northern Headwaters and then down Hemlock Hollow to the Hogback connector ( this newer map has the trails listed separately by number) . There were lots of insects in the sunny sections but they were skittish and the breeze made close ups difficult-- Kelley din't help either but I got a couple.

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We walked past the first trail up Hogback- on an old woods road- until we came to some huge trees down and blocking the way. We could see there had been  logging  beyond and gave up on going further. Heading back I realized we were on the wrong path- I didn't think we had made any turns but the road was rising ( I've marked the one I think we were on) . I guessed it would take us to the overlook and it did.

We had lunch and hiked back down to the connector but took it to the Bog Brook Trail to return a different way.

Found these huge fungi- largest I've seen - the largest was 26 " across

Kelley was happier on this trail- the Hogback section had been fairly dry and we now had small streams she could get into.

Found this moth in the parking lot

We didn't accomplish our goal to clarify the trail situation but it had been a beautiful day in the woods.
3  1/2 hours

6/15/14 Stillwater River Trail

Mix of more sun than clouds. A short nearby hike so I can pretty much finish the garden.

This trail runs from downtown Orono along the Stillwater River. It is mostly wooded but stays close to the river and is quite pleasant.

And, of course there is the river for Kelley

Running ahead looking for the next place she can get in the water

A short section crosses private land

In the past we have mostly had the trail to ourselves but today we met several people and some dogs and this was a plus for Kelley. A very nice hour and a half. 

6/14/14 Downtown Bangor

Another gray day with rain predicted. We went downtown for a short walk and met some people working on flower beds around town. They were volunteers ( the city has lacked the resources to keep the beds up) and had elicited support form various local businesses for supplies and plants- the city helped too with things like mulch. Pretty nice to see these people in action and also the results of their work. We were only downtown a short time as we had to go help a friend but I got a few pictures.

6/13/14 City Forest

Another rainy day. Yesterday it was almost constant but mostly quite light . We took a walk around the neighborhood and then I decided it was a good day for setting out plants so got in squash, melons, eggplant, and cucumbers. We took advantage of a dry spell and went to the forest- it didn't rain again until afternoon and I got in peppers ( in pots) and some tomatoes after our hike. Rest of the tomatoes tomorrow.

We did our usual loop from the parking lot with two trips to the beaver pond. There was lots of other water around, some people and a few dogs so Kelley was happy. It turned out to be a pleasant two hour walk. These are some things we saw.

This sign, at the start, has been there a long time.

 But this one was new.

We saw neither owls nor bears.

Later - Decided I needed to add a Kelley picture