[Journal entries for December 23-29, 2009; Lower Range Pond].

December 23, 2009. Dallas and I are staying in Auburn, Maine. In the morning, we drive fifteen minutes or so south to Poland, Maine, to the Range Pond State Park on Lower Range – pronounced “rang” – Pond. We park at the lot along Plains Road, just southeast of the park entrance. The entrance is gated for the winter and all of the park roads are snow-covered and good for cross-country skiing. We ski down the access road to the swim beach, which afford a good view of the pond. The pond is about a mile long and a half-mile wide and has mixed hardwood/softwood woods on its edges. Its surface is ice-covered today, but the season is too early to trust it for walking, so today we stick to the park roads and trails. We ski southeast along the lake shore, past a small wetland, until the path joins a plowed road. I stop to admire icicles along the shore, formed where waves have sprayed lake water up onto the bushes growing along the bank. About an hour.

December 24, 2009. Dallas, Pam and I ski again at Lower Range Pond. Today we take the shore road to the northwest. I take several detours down to the pond to admire the view, made especially beautiful today by a clear blue sky. When I meet up with Dallas and Pam, they are talking with a family of hikers that include Popy Connor, one of Dallas’ former Edward Little High School classmates. About an hour.

December 25, 2009. Christmas Day. While the turkey is baking, Dallas, Pam and I ski at Lower Range Pond. Today we combine the previous two days routes into one long loop. We also take a little side trail up onto a bluff overlooking the pond. A sign summarizing the geology of the region points out an esker, a ridge that extends out into the lake, forming a small peninsula. The esker was formed during the last Ice Age, when a stream flowing on or within the ice sheet deposited a ribbon of gravel that was left behind after the ice melted. On the way back, I sprint the park access road several times, waiting for Dallas and Pam to catch up. Almost two hours.

December 27, 2009. Heavy rain fell last night and through this morning, slackening off towards late afternoon. Dallas, Pam and I again ski at Lower Range Pond, taking the southeastern spur along its shore. The rain has more-or-less stopped by the time we get going. The snow is a bit slushy, but the skiing is pretty good. The afternoon is getting dim and foggy by the time we leave. About an hour.

December 28, 2009. Last night and this morning have been very cold. Dallas and I go to Lower Range Pond again, she on cross-country skis and me on crampons. Yesterday’s slush has mostly turned to ice. We first take the northwestern spur along the shore. Dallas skis to the end ahead of me, and I turn around when she passes me on the way back. We then head southeast. Dallas skis the spur, but I take advantage of the greater maneuvering ability of my crampons to visit the wetland. I walk around on its surface, on open ice patches between hummocks of blueberry and marsh grass. I find that the ice is quite firm in the open patches, but is slushy and weak near the bushes. I cross the wetland and join Dallas as she skis past the wetland’s far edge. We spot a turkey in the woods as we drive back to Auburn. About an hour.

December 29, 2009. About three inches of heavy snow has fallen over the last night. It’s clinging to the trees, coating each bough and really weighing them down. Dallas, Pam and I ski again at Lower Range Pond. We first take the northwestern spur along the shore. Dallas and Pam then ski the southeastern spur while I take a side trail over to the esker. I first ski south along its spine, as far as the park boundary. Beyond that the esker has been mined away for its gravel and replaced by a WalMart distribution center. I then ski north along the spine, to where the esker extends out into the lake as a peninsula. The esker is widest and highest at its southern end, where it is about the width of a two-lane road and about fifty feet high, with steep sides. It narrows to the width of a one-lane road at its northern end and declines to about ten feet in height. It is vegetated with mixed hardwood/softwood woods, and in places has blueberry brambles that are fairly difficult to cross on skis, even though a show-covered footpath crosses them. The esker does not appear to resume on the far side of the lake. About two hours.