2/19/10 An Adventure

Sunny but windy. Mary joined us again but was having a bit of trouble with her ankle so we decided to do a mostly flat and easy hike. We parked by the Kebo St. entrance (closed)and walked on the loop road to the Jesup Path and that to the nature center area and the Tarn. As we explored the area Kelley spotted the trail called Kurt Diederich's Climb and wanted to take it and Mary agreed so off we went. This trail is fairly steep but much of it consists of stone steps which make the climbing fairly easy. This trail intersects with the Schiff Path ( formerly Dorr East Face Trail)and continues on to the summit of Dorr . This trail also had fairly good footing except near the top where there were large open icy areas which we needed to work around. It was very windy at the top and we did not linger. We came back down the Schiff to the Emery Path and had some dangerous icy patches to get across ( at one point I actually thought we might slide off the mountain from the narrow ice slicked trail). After passing the intersection with the Holmans Path we came to a steep icy section that we decided was too dangerous and back tracked to the Holmans. This is a fairly recently reopened trail we had not been on before. There was one steep icy section that Kelley and I bushwhacked around and Mary slid down luge style on her butt getting temporarily stuck under a rock but mostly the trail was not too hard. This trail ends near the nature center and we walked to the Strath Eden Trail ( a welcome pleasant walk in the woods) back to the loop road and then to our car. Kelley found some open water to get into and lay down and this had her excited and running down the road ahead of us. 5 3/4 hours


Kurt Diederich's Climb







Mary and Kelley - Dorr Summit

Schiff Path

Homans Path



Strath Eden Trail

2/18/10 Bowl and Champlain Trails

The day started out gray and dreary but by the time we were on the trails it had turned mostly sunny with fairly mild temperatures. Mary joined us today and Kelley was happy she was with us. We started on the Bowl Trail from near Sand Beach and took that to the Champlain Mtn. Trail at the Bowl. This trail is fairly gradual but has a few spots that are difficult for Kelley. She was able to find her own way around these spots and she became excited and obviously pleased with herself when she did so. This trail has a lot of spectacular views and with those and the mild temperatures and sun made for a beautiful hike. We ran out of time before reaching the summit and returned the way we had come. 3 hours


The Bowl

Champlain From The Bowl

Champlain Mountain Trail








The Bowl From Champlain Trail

2/16/10 Norumbega Mountain

When we left home there was a winter storm advisory but the day turned out to be a beauty- sunny, 30's, little wind. We started at the Norumbega parking area on Route 3 but instead of going up directly on the Goat Trail, which I don't care for, we took the Lower Norumbaga ( mostly flat but rocky and icy in spots) across to Hadlock Ponds Trail ( more icy patches) and that past Lower Hadlock Pond to the Norumbega Mountain Trail (some ice but more snow and quite pretty today) and climbed from the south. When we reached the summit we looked around a bit but then returned the way we had come. We didn't see anyone during the hike so Kelley got to be off leash almost the whole hike. 3 3/4 hours


Norumbega Mountain Trail







Norumbega Summit



Lunch View Lower Hadlock Pond

2/13/10 Penobscot Mountain

A beautiful - day-mid 30's, brilliant blue skies, and little wind ( except at the summit).We started at Jordan Pond and took the Asticou trail for about 30 minutes to the Penobscot Mtn. Trail. This is an old trail that has been reopened and provides a more gradual ascent than the older trail (now called the Spring Trail) which has a section Kelley can't negotiate. The Asticou had been used recently and provided very good footing. Someone had preceded us on the Penobscot also so this trail was easier then anticipated with only a few small sections of deep snow and the ice near the top was easily avoided.The first part of the hike is through lovely woods and then opens out to long vistas. Kelley was very happy to be at Acadia and though I had started the morning a little blue was soon also in good spirits. It is almost impossible not to have your spirits lifted by these surroundings. Even though only a short distance from roads and "civilization" it is easy to forget those facts and feel that one is alone at the top of the world. We saw no people and heard only the wind.We returned the way we had come. 3 1/4 hours

12/12/10 Glenburn

I didn't feel like a long drive so decided to explore some other snowmobile trails. These were in Glenburn just a few miles from home. We drove out Broadway to the Lancaster Brook Rd. One of the trails crosses that road near the railroad tracks and that's where we parked.We started on the trail going southwest to check out the stream crossing situation. This trail went through a nice wooded area and was flat with well packed snow and good footing- very pleasant. We crossed the Lancaster Brook with only a little anxiety about the ice but when we reached the Kenduskeag stream there was a sign saying "check the ice" This river is fairly wide and we could see areas of open water. Had we broken through the ice on the brook we would have got wet feet but here the consequences would be more severe so we decided against crossing. There were smaller trails going both left and right and we tried each of these. To the right the trail was well used and led eventually to a road. We returned and tried the trail to the left which was lightly used and led to a branch of the river and stopped so we returned to the main trail. As we were walking back I noticed one of my gaiters was missing and decided we would need to backtrack to find it ( they cost me $30). I couldn't imagine how it had come off without me noticing as there is both a hook on the front of the boot and an elastic that goes under the boot. I decided I must have left it at home and was wasting my time looking for it but I also couldn't believe that I had hiked for an hour without noticing I had only one gaiter so on we went. I did not find it, of course, and when we reached the car removed the one I was wearing . We then crossed the road and took the trail toward Hudson and Pushaw Pond. This section of trail was mostly woods but with two large fields and a marshy area. The trail had some icy sections and I'm not sure why-perhaps more use than the other section. When we reached the pond area we stopped and returned to the car. 3 3/4 hours. Upon returning home I discovered the missing gaiter. I hope this is not a sign of things to come.


Kenduskeag Stream

A Tree on the Road to the Trails

2/11/10 Hunters Brook and the Triad

Windy day so we chose a mostly woodsy hike. We parked on Route 3 and walked down the bank to the carriage road and that to the Hunters Brook Trail- beautiful woods. This trail follows the stream for about 50 minutes and then turns west climbing to the carriage road.The trail continues across the road but we turned north to the Pond Trail which hadn't been used lately and was a bit of a slog. This trail took us to the Triad Trail ( a nice gradual climb through more pretty woods) which we followed to the summit, shared an apple, and were ready to continue on down the other side when I discovered I had dropped Kelley's leash ( which I would need when we neared the road). This meant we had to retrace our steps and did find the leash at the beginning of the Pond Trail. We got back on the carriage road and walked it back to near the stables and then walked down to the loop road and back to our car. 3 1/2 hours



Hunters Brook Trail

Hunters Brook

Beside Carriage Road

Pond Trail

The Triad

2/9/10 Cadillac Mountain

Sunny and not so cold but windy at higher elevations. We started on Route 233 at the Cadillac Mountain entrance (closed for the winter)and walked on the loop road to the start of the Cadillac N. Ridge trail. The first part of the hike was really nice as we were sheltered from wind and someone had preceded us a few days ago leaving nicely packed snow.Great views with a brilliant blue sky. As we ascended and the trees thinned out the wind was much stronger. The person who had preceded us had not continued and as the blazes now were on rocks under snow the trail was harder to follow. We ended up slogging through some deep drifts and kept having to relocate the trail but we did reach the summit, shared an apple and headed down the auto road. This was a nice walk as snowmobilers had packed the snow and the views were grand. We met a nice couple on their way up and stopped for Kelley to say 'hi' and for a brief chat about conditions on trails they had recently hiked.When we reached the loop road we took that back to our car. 3 1/2 hours




Cadillac Mtn. N. Ridge Trail



From the Auto Road