(submitted by Jacob Schor)
Seven lucky hikers braved the cold early morning temperatures to have a perfectly pleasant snowshoe/hike down Loon Echo’s new trail to Sebago Cove this morning. It was what this participant would call a Goldilocks Kind of Day: not too hot and not too cold: not too long and not too short a distance, a bit of uphill to warm up but not too much: not so many people but nice enough people and no wind at all, and speaking of things missing, not a bug to be seen.
Laura Sullivan led the group and set a perfect pace; fast enough to keep warm but so fast for us to get sweaty. Jacob ,as often is the case, was sweep.
At the last minute Thursday afternoon, having studied the weather prophecies, we opted to delay our start time by an hour and that proved to be a wise, or lucky decision. At our normal start time of 8:30 AM the Denmark Town billbord was telling us that the temperature was still only two degrees, relatively warm compared to when I left home.
When the group got their act together at around ten AM at the trailhead, the temperature had already risen to seven or eight degrees. Let’s say seven as we had seven hikers today: Speaking of the trailhead, Jon Evans from Loon Echo wrote to tell me that I’ve been telling you the wrong address when giving directions to explain the trailhead. It is actually 55 Burnell Road, Naples and that the reason there is no sign marking the entrance is that the ground was frozen last fall when they were ready to open the area; placing the signage will have to wait until next Spring.
(l to r) Sheldon. Greg, Laura, Polly, Kathy and David. (Jacob behind the camera)
After a short spell through the woods, the trail meets an old road which we followed for about half an hour before cutting down a side loop trail that descends to the cove and then back up to meet the road again.
There is something aesthetically pleasing in the trail loop from the road down to the lakeside. Maggie Lynne at Loon Echo’s office tells me the trail building crew that built this section last summer was comprised of wood elves.
It took the group just short of two hours to return to the parking lot where it was a balmy feeling twelve dgrees. The trail was well packed by prior travelers and David made the trip wearing microspikes rather than snowshoes without undue hardship. The only thing that might have made the day better would have been a thermos of hot coffee and fresh doughnuts there in the parking lot.
This recent practice of delaying hike start times to catch the better weather has happened twice recently and we are trying to figure out how best to incorporate this pratice into our routine. Currently the final decision to cancel a hike or delay start time is left to that week’s hike leader, although an ongoing discussion between the various leaders often begins several days earlier. Our current idea is that the leader makes their decision by midday Thursday and an email is sent out by evening. The website is also updated. The change to the website might not be visible on your phone or computer unless you refresh your screen so you see the new version. For those of you who find computers challenging we can also send out a text message. If you would like a text message announcing last second alterations, please email or text Jacob with your phone number. If texting, make sure your name is included. DrJacobSchor1 at msn.com
We spent a while in the parking lot comparing snowshoes and bindings in the hope we might educate Sheldon about his choices before he makes a purchase. I’m not sure we hellped or hindered his decision making as we all had differing opinions.
Next week’s Hike:
February 6. Pleasant Mt, Firewarden’s Trail, Denmark, ME
The Firewarden’s Trail is on the western side of Mt. Pleasant (as is the SW Ridge Trail.) Allen’s book describes it as moderately difficult. It is 2.5 miles up to the summit and he estimated that it was a four hour round trip climb with 1500 feet of elevation gain. This is one of the most popular trails on the mountain so our hope is that the trail will be well packed before we attempt it. A lot will depend on the weather between now and then. The trailhead parking lot address is: 321-397 Warren Rd,, Denmark
The current forcast for the comin week is continuing cold nights but warmer daytime temperatures with no precipitation until the Saturday after we hike.
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