My original plan was to hike around Jerry Pond but, as I pretty much expected, it proved to be too wet. I don't mind getting wet during the hike, but I don't like getting wet at the start of a hike. So, after hiking to the east side of the pond, I climbed a hill which I thought would take me out of the wet, in order to make my way back. It was wet on top of the hill too, but not as wet. Then, I took the Dolby Trail, which is a snowmobile trail. There were several places where it was flooded and I'd have to make may around by stepping on stumps, rocks, and fallen logs. It was a beautiful day, however. When I got to the fork in the trail that would take me back into town, I decided I wasn't ready to quit yet, so I went north to where there was supposed to be a bridge crossing Millinocket Stream on what had once been a road. The bridge was there and in good shape, as it apparently serves as part of the snowmobile/ATV trail system. From there, I walked the Stacyville Road, which is a maintained gravel road. I met a few cars along the way so, although I had never traveled that road before, others do. When I got back into town, I wasn't ready to go back so I hit off the road onto another snowmobile trail. It took me into a marsh, with marsh grass, cranberry bushes, and water up to my knees. The trail paralleled the railroad tracks so when I got tired of sloshing through the swamp, I climbed the embankment up to the tracks, and went west until it crossed a marked multipurpose trail. There was a long climb up a large hill on that trail but, from the top, I could see civilization. I came out at the north paper mill entrance and walked the sidewalks to the railroad spur that goes behind my house. I map my hikes on Trails.com, which gives me a graph showing the elevation, along the bottom, and it also tells me the distance, which was 7.75 miles. By the way, while I was on the trail just west of Jerry Pond, I came across a group of thirteen kids, two dogs, and a couple of pellet guns. They were escaping the forced isolation on the trails. I'm pretty sure it was a planned rendezvous, probably involving a couple of kids saying they were going to walk the dog. They were probably from 11-13 years old. No school, the first really nice day of the year, and I can see that they weren't in the mood to bury themselves in electronics. I came across a group of kids on another trail a couple of weeks ago. Maybe some of the same kids.
I still haven't gotten rid of my stomach but it's getting smaller, and I'm building up some pretty good leg muscles.
On the second bunch of pictures? The trees over the path? There were a few places where trees had fallen across the path, but I didn't take pictures of all of them. Also, some of the pictures of streams were actually the path, where the snowmelt turned the path into a stream. Although there are some pictures of brooks and streams, as well.
I went right, but it simply curved around and came out on the same trail, anyhow. No, wait. On that one, I went left but Millinocket Stream had flooded it completely so I went back and took the right fork, which was clearer.
I get bored with exercising for the sake of exercising, and that includes doing the same walks every time. I really like that there are so many trails in the woods all around Millinocket. I don't have to drive out of town in order to get out in the woods. Although I haven't seen any yet this year, from the tracks, I know that there are deer, moose, and bear, as well as some turkey tracks that I came across today. Growing up here would have been good, I think, and I was pleased to see that the kids were escaping the social distancing rules by heading to the woods.