Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Take a hike

I've gone on two hikes in the last couple days.  The first was more like a walk in the woods up "The Mountain" which we can walk to from the house.  From the highest point you can't see anything because of all the trees but there is a nice lookout over Long Pond at one point along the trail.  While stopping to enjoy the view, we got to see a hawk or eagle soaring just in front of the tree line.  Of course it flew away as soon as I got the camera out but it was a cool sight to see.  It had rained the day before and the rocks were a little slick so a picture in front of the caution sign was a must!
 
Long Lake from the lookout spot on the mountain
The second hike today took us to the top of Round Top, a total of about 4 miles.  I had remembered the climb as steep and tiring last year but I'm clearly in way better shape because it was a piece of cake.  There was a lot of evidence of moose activity with droppings and tracks but unfortunately we didn't catch sight of one.  The view from the spur trail was great but a little hazy and we even managed to balance the camera on a broken birch tree to snap this photo.
Compliments of the self timer
On a clear day you can see Sugarloaf in the distance
On the descent there is another nice lookout spot complete with a bench for resting the legs.  This view is of Long Pond in the foreground and Great Pond in the background.
The break in the islands on Great Pond is the view we have from the docks
There are several other trails to tackle this summer, all of which my mom and I climbed last summer.  I also tested out one of the quiet dirt roads for running and it was so peaceful for a 2.5 mile jog.  The only thing I had to be careful about was running through swarms of gnats and not swallowing any! 

One downside of all this outdoor time is allergies.  Having survived allergy season already in Virginia I'm facing them again given the lag in the change of seasons here in Maine.  I was hit really hard today and even the surface of the lake has turned yellow with all of the pollen.  I'm hoping it doesn't last too long. 

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