3/7/15 Little Long Pond

Twenty six degrees and sunny - beautiful day. Decided to try the carriage roads around the pond again - last time we were here we couldn't get up the hill to the parking lot, slid off the road, and got stuck. It was icy today but we made it up without difficulty.

I wanted to take the Friends Path down but Kelley wanted to go on the carriage road and so that's where we went. There was a nicely packed path for us to walk.

Just has it's head above the snow

One of the few views from this section

Further along the trail had less traffic but was still pretty good walking

From the bridge over the Jordan Stream. I have never before  seen the stream  completely covered.

The sections of the carriage road above the bridge were less used but still not bad footing.

A meadow on the east side of the pond

Obligatory shot of the pond

We did take the Friends Path back up to the parking lot

Open ledge section

A very nice hike. We were surprised at how few people had taken advantage of this lovely day. We met no one 'till near the end  when we met two skiers and three people with four dogs. Kelley seemed pleased with the hike and showed no signs of difficulty. 2  1/4 hours 

3/6/15 Glenburn Snowmobile Trails

Sixteen degrees but nice and sunny. Yesterday we were stuck at home with furnace repairs and just did a walk around the neighborhood. Decided to try to see if we could find the correct path on this trail- last time we got off course.

Starting off - Kelley was enthusiastic and liked the nicely packed trail.

Into the woods

When we came to the large hill we followed the trail marker left rather than going up the hill which looked to be the trail because it had had more traffic. This led us to the lake in the correct place.

First ice fishing shacks I've seen this year

This building is near the start and some research revealed it was once a school.

A beautiful day in the woods. We only met two men grooming the trails. One of them we had met on a previous hike when we got directions from him. Kelley again seemed her usual self and was out ahead of me most of the way.

3/4/15 DeMeritt Forest

We awoke to clouds and a little fresh snow. After I cleared the drive and we got to the forest it was mid 30's, s but more sun as we hiked. We started from Sewall Rd. entrance again  and the first part was plowed.

But only to Logan Rd. as the snow was not deep and we continued on to the end

On the way back we took Logan and it, too, had only been plowed part way. We continued to the Blue Trail .

Up to this point the side trails had only been used by skiers and we didn't want to mess up the tracks  but a hiker had been on the Blue Trail so we took that to get back to Sewall. Kelley walks in the tracks but doesn't mess them up.

Turned out to be a pretty day once the sun came out. Kelley had been enthusiastic and also happy to meet two women with friendly dogs.  1 1/2 hours

3/3/15 Walker Ridge Road

Sixteen degrees but sunny and only a little wind. This old logging  road is closed to vehicles in winter and becomes part of the Interconnected Trail System . We had only done the first part of it to access Frye Mt. and today we would explore a little further. We met two snowmobilers at the parking area who were doing a 200 mile trek. We  met only another pair during the hike so we had it mostly to ourselves.

The very open start

The terrain  became more rolling as we proceeded - hilly but not as steep as our hike in the other direction

Some nice lichen

We had passed the trailhead for Frye Mt. but it had not had any recent use and the snow was deep. Another side trail also had had no use but this one had - we only went a short distance as there was a sign saying it was not a through trail

We also went a short distance on a branch of the logging road

One more weed

Almost back

Roof of the  area game management office

A nice outing. Not the most interesting terrane but the sun and snow made it pretty.  Kelley was her usual enthusiastic self. 2  1/4 hours 

3/2/15 Neighborhood

Two or three inches of fresh snow. After I cleared the drive we drove to the nearby trail along the Kenduskeag but Kelley did not want to get out of the car - a first. She had been outside with me while I did the drive and she seemed her usual self . I saw no signs of lameness. After I ran some errands we stopped at Essex Woods but she didn't want to get our there either. After awhile at home I approached her with the leash we use when we walk the neighborhood and she was up for that. Who knows?

Just up the street Kelley always stops at a neighbors house to see if her friend Homer is out. He wasn't but his owner was doing his drive and let him out

The dogs play well and there was also the yard to explore

The dogs do seem to enjoy each others company and Kelley seemed her usual self. 

3/1/15 DeMeritt Forest

Minus 10 when we got up but warmed up nicely to 18 by the time we started. Mix of sun and (mostly) clouds. We had had more snow since we were last here and din't know how the trails would be.

The Sewall Rd. had been plowed

Last time we were here the smaller trails all had little or no use. Today we found they had all been groomed and we had access to all of them.

Red Trail which we walked to its end and then returned and took the White Trail

The first part of the White Trail is through a boggy area and can be very wet. Today everything was frozen solid.

and the drier part

From there we followed the route shown on the map.

The Red Trail again as we near the end of our hike

A nice outing . We met several walkers and skiers and two dogs - all of which made Kelley happy. It had been nice to have access to the other trails. 2  1/4 hours 

2/28/15 City Forest

Sunny and 22 degrees- a veritable heat wave. Wanted to avoid the snowmobile trails on a Saturday ( there would be lots of people out on such a fine day)  so we headed to the nearby forest, where we hadn't been in several days.

We started on the West Trail. Most of the traffic had been skiers but the footing beside the tracks was not too bad.

At the end of West I went down  to check the old rail bed ( Kelley didn't want to go through the deep snow) and found little traffic and deep snow

When I got back up to West we met some friends we often see there and then decided to return via Main and Loop Rds. They were the first people we had met but on the way back we met several people and a bunch of dogs. this pleased Kelley.

Main Rd. had been plowed so the walking was very easy

 and the sun and snow was very pretty

From Main we took the Loop Rd , also plowed ,

and then Main back to the parking lot. A very pleasant outing - comfortable temps, pretty woods , and friendly people with dogs. 1  3/4 hours