After living in the Bethel Maine area for almost 8 years now it finally occurred to me that I didn’t need to travel to adventure. I literally live next to thousands of acres of woods with miles of logging roads to explore. So today I made my first attempt at backyard adventuring and once again realized I live in a very beautiful place.
The beginning
I had planned to go with one of the kids but wanted to see how hard it would be to do it myself. It is a fairly short trail, probably a half mile or less but being a logging road it really ups the difficulty and fun! I took a few pictures along the way to show what is possible if you just think things through and make a plan.
This is the first stretch of trail that starts from a flat area where the logging company stages the logs before hauling them away. They haven’t cut this area in many years.
These are just various pictures along the trail.
Brook crossing adaptive style
What do I do now?
I crawl and drag!
I had been warned about this brook before I started my journey, so I knew it was coming. It wasn’t very wide and after some thinking, I figured out if I put my front tires in the water I could hop out to the logs. After hopping onto the logs I just pulled the wheelchair up over them and crawled up to a flat spot while dragging the chair behind. I was a bit dirty but otherwise unscathed.
After the brook crossing the trail opens up into a beautiful spot where I am sure they used to stage logs. From there it is just a short hike back out the paved road.
The reward
This is the reward at the end, the beautiful Songo Pond where we live. I am definitely going to do this again and continue exploring all the roads that turn off from the trail I was on today. I do have some adventures in Yosemite and other places planned for the future but in the meantime, I will enjoy my own backyard. More adventures and pics to come!
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