Hiking in Maine with Kelley: 3/10/12 Rail Trail From Dexter

Sunday, March 11, 2012

3/10/12 Rail Trail From Dexter

Cold but sunny. Still trying to avoid icy trails. Started the rail trail from Dexter. Today it was a mix of snow, ice, and bare ground. The ice was easily got around and the walking pretty good. Where we started from was in the city behind an auto parts store and immediately Kelley ran onto someones property to greet a family tapping their maple trees. Fortunately they were friendly and gave her a little attention before we got started.

No snowmobiles today

Not an exciting or dramatic hike but it was good to be out , we had the trail to ourselves except for two ATVs that passed us, and we got in a good 3 1/4 hour walk.

2 comments:

jamieMarch 11, 2012 at 6:29 PM
Bird-Dog and I spent a few hours this afternoon looping on the Beech Mtn Trail (via Long Pond Pump Station>West Ridge>South Ridge return): 99% snow & ice-free w/only one area of overflow that was easily bushwhacked around. Gorgeous day too, perfect weather, and met several other folks + their dogs, no doubt from the carriage roads being closed now due to the recent rains. Looking forward to tomorrow’s heat-wave and another outing… happy trails/tails!
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JohnMarch 11, 2012 at 6:56 PM
Hi Jamie

Thanks for the update - we like that hike a lot. Sounds like it was very good for you two. I also did not know about the carriage road closing. Seems early for that.
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Kelley

Kelley was purchased along with two cats to be companions in a nursing home my wife owned. It became evident that she had a problem with her back legs and had pain. The vet said she had arthritis and she needed to lose weight and get lots of exercise so she came home and we gradually began hiking and put her on a diet. She improved to the point that she had no more pain and had an almost normal gait. When Mary left us we dealt with it by doing even more hiking and immersing ourselves in nature. Kelley did all of the peaks at Acadia as well as most others within a couple of hours of home. And I lost about 20 pounds. She loves to hike and will go as long as I will.

Kelley Update

A bit about how Kelley has been doing. You may be wondering why we are doing shorter and less strenuous hikes. In the story about Kelley above I indicate that the problem with her legs had pretty much been resolved. At the end of August last year I broke my ankle coming down from Dorr Mtn. and was not able to hike for 3 months and then we had a hard winter. This spring Kelley had a return of the arthritis problem in her back legs. She had to go back on medication and we could do little serious hiking. I think she lost some of the strength the vet thought was compensating for her problem. We have been building up the length of our hikes and Kelley is doing better and her medications have been cut way back. I am optimistic at this point that we will get back to the level we had reached before I broke my ankle.

Kelley Update 12/31/11

Kelley is doing well, hardly ever exhibits lameness or needs pain medication. She has been very excited the few times we got snow as she really loves to run in it. She seems also to have no problem with cold and is eager to be out in the woods whatever the weather.

1/24/12

Kelley continues to do well with slightly increased mileage. She seems better the more we do.

8/8/15 Update

It's been quite awhile between updates. Kelley is now 8 years old and does not seem to have the limberness she had achieved or the endurance. Occassionaly she lets me know she doesn't want to hike and we have a day off. We have also cut down the time per hike and I have been trying different times and hikes to find the best hikes/time so that she gets her needed exercise but doesn't overdo it. I wish she could talk. We still get out most days and right now an hour and a half seems about right but it's a continuing process.

Hiking in Maine with Kelley

The Rest of Our Hiking Pictures Can Be Found Here

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Sunday, March 11, 2012

3/10/12 Rail Trail From Dexter

2 comments:

Kelley

Kelley Update

Kelley Update II

Kelley Update 12/31/11

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