7/19/10 Ragged Mountain

The plan had been to hike Frye Mountain near Montville but when we stopped the car in a field next to the trail head we were engulfed in a veritable cloud of deer flies. We didn't even get out of the car but immediately drove off. Looking at the map we decided on Ragged Mountain and drove to the trail head on Rte. 17. The first part of this trail is an easy walk in the woods ( and no deer flies) as it meanders along the side of the mountain. It then climbs fairly steeply to the open ledges of the summit. Along the way we met and talked to a nice man from Rhode Island who gave Kelley some attention which made her happy. This was an out and back hike and took us 3-1/4 hours


Kelley finds relief from the heat in a small stream

Mirror Lake

A house seen from the summit

This frog was very still

7/17/10 Messalonskee Sream Trail

This trail is in Oakland about an hour from home.It is another of those basically urban trails that has the feel of being in the woods. Most of the trail ( except for a short section which follows a power line) is a pleasant woods walk with small hills and follows the stream but mostly up from it. We had to walk down to it to get Kelley into the water. She was very excited as she always is when we do a trail she has not been on before.


Near the end of the trail is a small dam with an old wooden penstock which you can see leaks.

To get over the penstock you must cross a walkway made of metal grate (along the railing in the above picture) and Kelley would not walk on it.

I left her briefly and crossed to see the continuation of the penstock and returned to her and we headed back the way we had come.

We checked out a side trail that only led back to the power lines and Kelley had a couple more chances at the water.

A pleasant and leisurely walk. 2-1/4 hours

7/16/10 Tanglewood

Still warm and humid but mostly cloudy and we picked a wooded hike with water for Kelley so it was much more comfortable. Tanglewood is part of Camden Hills State Park but contains a 4H camp associated with the state co-operative extension service. We started from the parking area on Ducktrap Rd. and followed the Forest Loop Trail

to the River Trail which mostly runs along the Ducktrap River



but climbs to a ridge from which you can look down to the river.
We followed it to an area with a huge fire pit where the trail seemed to end but we could see where others had preceded us so we continued on for awhile hoping to reach the highway so we would know how far we had come. We turned back before that and returned to where we had turned off before but continued on the River Trail. The river was more serene in this section.


On all of the trails there was the most amazing display of fungi. I have never seen so many or so many varieties ( perhaps a result of all the humidity?) . This is only a small sample. Many were past their prime or partially eaten. I wished I had brought a tripod.














We ended up taking the Old Boundary Trail ( not having done it before) across to a continuation of the Forest Loop and that back to our car. An interesting hike 3-1/2 hours

7/15/10 Beech Mountain

Remains hot and very humid. We were going to do a longer loop, including Beech and Canada Cliffs, but we cut it short. 2-1/4 hours

Beech West Ridge Trail

Beech Summit View

Beech Mountain Loop

The Valley Trail and relief from the sun.

7/13/10 Schoodic Mountain

Clouds, fog, and humidity but only a couple of deer flies. We had hoped the fog would have burned off by the time we got over here but it had not and we decided to do the hike anyway. We started at the trail head at the Schoodic Beach parking lot. This trail is mostly through woods with a few more open areas near the top and nothing to challenge Kelley.




As expected there was fog at the summit but it was denser than anticipated and you could not even see the tower from the top of the trail. Still it was pretty.


We took the trail down to Schoodic Beach on Donnell Pond.


You can see that it is still foggy on the mountain.

Unfortunately there was an unfriendly dog there and we moved on toward the Black Mountain Trail to make a loop back to the parking lot. As we passed through the camping area Kelley found something to eat and wolfed it down before I could stop her.

When you get up along the ridge on the Black Mountain Trail there are a few spots where you can catch a view. Not today.


But, again, it was a pretty hike anyway.


When we got to the car, Kelley jumped into the back seat and promptly threw up whatever she had got into earlier. I have the seat covered but had to get her out and remove the soiled blanket before we could leave. 3 hours. Kelley seemed to recover quickly from her dietary mishap.

7/12/10 The Wildlands

Hot, humid, and plagued by deer flies. We have done many of the other Wildlands trails but this was our first time in this section. We started from the north gate on Bald Mountain Road and walked to the Hothole Pond Trail. It's not signed but is the first right off the Valley Road. We came to this small pond and Kelley got to cool off.

As this view shows beavers have created this pond.

This trail starts as , essentially, a gravel road but as you proceed more vegetation encroaches

and then, a short distance from the pond, becomes a narrow woods trail which ends at a nice sized pond.



We backtracked to the Valley Road and, in spite of the heat and the deer flies, headed south to the Flying Moose Trail. This trail is also has no sign but is the next left off the Valley Road where a right fork is the Mountain View Road. The map shows a fork near the end of the trail but we turned too soon onto a trail that just sort of ended in a field (had I bothered to look at my map I would have realized it was too soon). Back on track, we climbed to the end of the trail and these views.



We had our lunch, picked a few raspberries ( Kelley hadn't had them before and pronounced them 'good' ), and returned the way we had come to our car. 3-1/4 hours

7/9/10 Western Mountains Loop

Another foggy morning. For this loop we started at the pumping station parking lot and took Cold Brook> Razorback > Great Notch > Long Pond.

Razorback begins in woods

but rises to rocky ledges and ridges that ,today, were transformed by the fog into a very different place than on a sunny day









It then drops down into woods as it heads to Great Notch

Along Long Pond there are some ledges that jut out into the water and provide an excellent lunch spot with swimming for Kelley.

When we got back to the car there were people with two dogs and Kelley played with them briefly until I put her in the back of the car. A man on a bike asked me some questions about trails and as we were talking I heard the owner of the two dogs calling to let me know Kelley had followed them up the trail and she was bringing her back. I had not seen her slip out of the car when she decided hiking with them would be more fun than listening to me talk. 3-1/4 hours