Greeley Ponds

Off to the White Mountains....and WHITE they are. Stunning backdrop on the road trip up. The ride up was an adventure on it's own. We stopped to photograph a hawk on a wire on the side of the road and low and behold, it was a Barred owl! HOW EXCITING!

It's markings both front and back were so pretty. I kept a safe distance as it may have looked at a little dog like me as lunch!

We headed up the trail into the glacial ponds called Upper and Lower Greeley. A side trail leads up to Mt. Osceola. We've hiked that before too. This trail ran up the gulch between the larger mountains. We were enchanted by more of natures spectacles. A birch tree formed into an elbow resting on a large rock......

....and snow crystals stuck to pebbles in the brook.

We could hear the ice cracking and popping as the trail led down to the first pond.

The moon rose over the pond as we approached. Sun on one side moon on the other, nothing but bright blue sky in between.

Very little snow lie on the ice so we could look down and see really cool designs in the ice. Like this "Ice Daisy"....just for my Mom..."Miss Daisy"

Headed home later we passed several frozen waterfalls...........

......and then we were treated to an awesome sunset.

Steep Falls

Happy Holidays everyone. Just wanted to share a little hike we took, in between shopping trips. We walked up the Saco river to Steep Falls. We have taken this walk in all seasons, in all kinds of weather. This time we were amazed at the ice that had formed on the base of everything. A virtual high water/ice mark. Brrrr does that water look COLD!

The ice formed into long crystal-like formations, like chandeliers. So pretty.

The water was high and pounding down over the falls.Gotta love winter in New England.

Holidays

Hey everyone, been busy, busy with holiday preperations. Hope your all enjoying the seson.

Camden Maine

"Come on Dad, park here, we're hikers!"
And hike we did!
Mom wanted to hike, Dad wanted to see the coast. As always we picked the perfect spot for both. Friday night we headed North, slept in the van just outside of Camden,Me. A clear crisp night. Perfect for snuggling in the van.
In the morning we headed for Camden Hills state park. We took one of several hiking trails to the top of Mt. Battie. There is an auto road to the top, but Mom says cars are for sissies! It was a very pleasant hike to the top. Up to the top of the tower on top we went. WOW what a view! There's your ocean Dad! Stunning!

From the top of the tower I could see Camden Harbor, Most of the summer boats gone or wrapped for winter.

On our way down we heard a woodpecker.tap,tap,tap, looking for his lunch. Oh there he is up there. Handsome fella.

Afternoon found us hiking up yet another summit. The sister mountain to Battie. Mt Megunticook. We stopped ,had a snack and a nice rest in the stunning beautiful sunny warm weather on the cliffs called Ocean Outlook. We could look down and see the tower and auto road on Mt. Battie. Really cool!

Our trip was rewarded with an enchanting sunset on our way home down the highway.

South and North Baldface

Follow me up into the Alpine zone on yet another epic adventure for Team Moxie. A loop hike up....and I do mean UP......and over both South and North Baldface mountains. We followed a brook trail part of the way up, in the shelter of the woods, avoiding the very gusty morning winds. The trail took us up the gulch of the brook and dumped us out onto wide open ledge. The guide book said 4 miles of open rock ledge, so off we went. The wind died down a bit and it was quite nice all the way up.....and I do mean UP....to the top of South Baldface.

The views were unsurpassed up above tree line. The trail turned into a series of rock cairns. Of course Dad stopped to do some stone repairs.

....up, up, up, UP, UP,UP.........

It was like hiking on the moon!.....did I mention UP, UP, UP?????

AHHHH, but the rewards so GRAND. The view of snow covered Mt. Washington in the distance took our breath away.WOW!!

Wind picked up on the top so we didn't stay long and headed down into the crag between the two mountains and then, wind dieing back down, up.....yes, UP again, and over North Baldface.Stopped for a few quick pictures of the views and some really cool zigzag rock formations, then boot scoot down the very steep backside of the mountain and managed to out run the sun. But boy, these little Yorkie legs are feeling it now. Well worth every step. One of the most epic hikes of the year for us and we would highly recommend it to those of you seasoned hikers who want to do some jaw dropping rock scrambles.