12/23/12 Hidden Ponds

Sunny but cold and very windy with low wind chills. Some dense woods sounded like a good idea so we went to the Hidden Ponds area.

We started from the parking lot on Rte. 182 and followed the trail to Tilden Pond (the 'no longer maintained' section is still in good shape and easy to follow)  . The woods protected us nicely from the winds which we could hear in the tree tops above us.

The trail gets less clear as you follow the shore of Tilden but we found a trail off to the right that we decided to explore. It looked to be the remains of an old woods road and was quite wet in spots. Finally the wet sections became longer and we turned back.

We went back to the new loop trail and took that around Salmon Pond and then followed the trail to Mud Pond to a spot we like for lunch. Today the spot was in the shade and wind and we went back to  near Salmon for lunch before hiking back out.  Did not feel as cold as anticipated and a pretty good hike. 2  1/2 hours

When we got home Kelley was a little lame which was surprising as the hike had been easy for her- maybe the cold water she waded through. Later in the evening and this morning she seems fine.