The Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust had a great hike as part of the Great Maine Outdoor Weekend, a series of events held twice a year focused on Maine’s outdoors and connecting people to the natural wonders of Maine.  The location for the hike, the State of Maine Four Ponds Public Reserve area through which the Appalachian Trail winds, was carefully chosen because it is not a heavily traveled area in the winter, the scenery is spectacular (as you can see from the photos) and the terrain is mild.

Since the Height of Land parking lot was not plowed, the group parked in a turnout up the road, and headed south along Route 17 to the A.T. crossing.  Weather conditions on the road were bitter, with temperatures below 10 degrees and with gusty winds coming off Bemis Mountain and across the open expanse of Mooselookmeguntic Lake.  Fortunately, once we entered the woods heading up Spruce Mountain, the winds were mitigated by the trees and everybody warmed up with the effort of the short climb.  Trail conditions couldn’t have been better for a snowshoe hike – there was a packed base of about three feet of snow, covered by a foot or so of fresh powder.

The conditions made for some spectacular sights and a great experience in the Maine woods.  We stopped for lunch where the A.T. winds along Four Ponds Mountain along the northern edge of Long Pond, and due to increasing winds and falling temperatures, we all decided to turn around.  Everybody agreed that this made for a great experience on the way back so there were plenty of photo opportunities and time to talk.

Thank you to the Maine Outdoor Coalition and everybody who participated in the event!  See you in the fall for the next GMOW!