Leaders: Deb Roberts and Halsey Bagg
Write-up: Halsey Bagg

Over the river and through the woods to Deb & Halsey’s house they came… chili, salad, cornbread and libations topped off with Half Moons enjoyed by all on Friday evening. Fresh snow made for a beautiful winter wonderland as we enjoyed our morning coffee and breakfast.

Saturday, Dec. 7 – Burnt Bridge Trail

On a sunny winter day, with newly fallen snow clinging to the trees, six tramps started snowshoeing the Burnt Bridge trail, located just east of the “hustle and bustle” (lol) of the Cranberry Lake Hamlet.

Although it was only 20 degrees, everyone quickly became overheated and started removing layers of clothing. We enjoyed the beauty of the snow-covered trees, particularly when the snow falling from the trees started cascading from high in the treetops.

We went 2.5 miles through the State Forest and then returned for a total of 5 miles. Our goal was to reach a pond created by beavers. After 2.5 miles Deb decided we had gone far enough. After returning home and looking at the GPS trail, Halsey told us we were about a football field away from the pond and beaver hut.

This trail is shared with the Cranberry Lake 50, which our very own Sharon Kaelin hiked this summer in two days. Usually experienced hikers take at least three days to complete the 50 miles.

Janice did great on her first snowshoe in over a year.

Kody was glad to see us all come home and we spent the afternoon with soup and a warm fire. Went out to dinner at the Thirsty Moose. Good times with great people.

 Sunday morning…. Coffee, pancakes with homemade syrup, blueberry muffins, and bacon; then off to another hike.

Sunday, Dec. 8 Lost Pond Trail Hike

Seven people snowshoed the 2.2 mile loop around Lost Pond, starting from the Cranberry Lake Boat Launch trailhead. This trail is also shared with the Cranberry Lake 50.

We knew there was a bald eagle nest, and eagles had been seen this past summer. There was anticipation to see the nest and high hopes of seeing bald eagles. We found the nest. Then, as we started around the pond, Deb’s eagle eye spotted big birds in the air.  Lo and behold, we saw three bald eagles, one adult and two fledglings. The adult flew directly over us, so close we could clearly see his white plumage and gold beak. We saw many wildlife tracks in the fresh snow. We think there were porcupine and coyote tracks.