Duck Brook/Witch Hole

With a little break from work for the next couple weeks, I'm really hoping to get out into the park with my new free time. Due to the newly reinstated Winter Wonderland that was once MDI, hiking the peaks is on hold this week. We'll see what the weekend brings. There may be a Great Head snowshoeing adventure in the near future...

The temperature has been bitterly cold the last couple of days, with an estimated 6-10 inches of snow that was dumped on us yesterday. The conditions are perfect right now to get out on the carriage trails, whether you prefer skis or snowshoes.  This afternoon I just couldn't pass on the opportunity to get out on my snowshoes! I mean... my mother's snowshoes. But, she's never used them!

There are many places to go in the park with snowshoes. A few weeks ago, I enjoyed an adventure in Northeast Harbor along the carriage trails by Sargent Mountain. The waterfall was completely frozen over... There's also the carriage road that takes you up and around Day Mountain, and of course, there's always Eagle Lake and the carriage road off of Duck Brook Road. We settled for Duck Brook today, and what an afternoon it became!

Megan, leading the way

If we had known beforehand that the carriage road was fully groomed for the cross-country skiing community, perhaps we would have chosen a different route to follow. However, we made the most of it by walking along the sides of the road, trying not to ruin the trails for the skiers (we're nice like that).

Thank goodness we kept going...

Witch Hole Pond

After taking a few minutes to really turn our thinking caps on and consider the possibility of crossing Witch Hole Pond, we decided to go for it! The snow was untouched (except for one trail left by fellow snowshoe wearing folk), perfect conditions for our poor snowshoes; itching for deep, powdery snow. Here was our thought process; it had been cold all week, it hadn't hit above freezing, not to mention, the snow was fresh, as of yesterday, and there was a trail already going across the pond. Would you have braved it? I'm glad we did! Just to be on the safe side, we stuck to the outer edge of the pond.

 

I love fresh, untouched snow... 

 It makes it much easier to leave your mark!

After three miles and a new blister, we made it back to the bridge. Megan broke her new snowshoes in quite nicely this afternoon. What a beautiful day!