Back to the Poplar Hut Trail

Yesterday was a great day. Laura and I went back up to the snow trails that lead to Poplar Hut in Carrabassett, Maine. We’ve had some snow over the past week and I wanted to see how the trails looked. The Maine Huts & Trails group grooms the trails for hiking and cross-country skiing, so I had every confidence that we’d enjoy ourselves immensely.

We parked in the same lot at the Carrabassett town office. Then, again, we took Carriage Road east, but this time, instead of walking or driving up Carriage Road, we decided to head into the Poplar Hut trail head parking lot. This is a photo of the trail leading to the lot.

Since we have yet to enter the trail from this end, I didn’t know what to expect. Nothing was out of the ordinary though and we saw and decided to venture on what looked like a regular old trail through the woods. There was even a map at the beginning.

After walking on the trail for a few minutes, I decided it was time for a photo shoot. This was the best one out of the bunch. It was warm outside so there was no need for any more clothing than what I was wearing.

What’s really cool about this particular trail is that it hugs the southern side of Poplar Stream. Carriage Road hugs the other side. As we were hiking the start of the trail, we could see the road just a short distance away.

And for this part of the trail, the walking area was a bit narrow. We had to make sure we didn’t veer off the packed down snow too far or we’d fall in up to our knees.

The area was much more interesting than I had expected. There were tons of hemlock trees and all sorts of hills and rocks and all of that. It really is a beautiful area.

Since this was our first time on this trail, we had no idea where we were going. It only took a short time for us to figure that out. After walking on the skinny trail briefly, we were spit out onto the larger and more substantial trail. This is the one everyone uses to get up to Poplar Hut. This is where people snowshoe and ski and hike.

Here are some of the embedded cross country ski tracks.

Check this out. I even got to try out my new Cabela’s Snow Runners on the trail. I didn’t have a need for my spikes though, so I was a little disappointed in that. Still, I had fun with the boots.

There were all sorts of people out yesterday enjoying the weather. Everyone was exceedingly friendly, except for one nasty crab. I’m assuming she was an out of stater who didn’t get the vibe. But whatever. Everyone else was nice. Here’s one skier and a few hikers.

There was even a kid who looked about ten years old. He was out there all alone, which I found a bit strange. But who am I am judge? He was having a great time in the sun.

There’s really nothing like hiking in the snow. It’s perfect, especially when it’s sunny outside. Everything is so bright.

This is Jess. She’s part of the crew at Maine Huts & Trails. We met her and she was gracious enough to let us take her photo. What a sport.

There were even people towing sleds with supplies and people inside of them. Here’s one person pulling what appeared to be his daughter.

She seemed to be thrilled with the whole situation. I would be too, to be honest.

In my previous post about this area, I think I may have mentioned that there’s a bridge from Carriage Road to the Poplar Hut main trail. Well, on our way back, we were sure to walk across it. I love these little bridges. They’re all over the place and they’re perfect for photography. I just think that foot bridges in the woods, where no cars are allowed, are the coolest thing.

After crossing the bridge and heading out onto Carriage Road to begin our walk back to the car, I noticed another trail that heads up the mountain. After doing some poking around on Google Maps, I discovered that this trail leads to the Airport Trailhead. So if you didn’t want to walk the rail trail to the trailhead and if you wanted to ski it, you could by taking this route.

Finally, when we made it back to the car, we noticed the Bigelow Preserve (I believe) right in front of us. You know what that means. More pictures. Here’s the best one from this batch.

And then, I snatched a photo of a nearby house. Doesn’t it look so peaceful? What a perfect place to retire to. There are some many things to do around here that it makes my head spin.