Member Trip report
Snowshoe hike at the Nordic Heritage Ctr
04/13/2019
Trip Report/Photos from BillyB1976
Local snowshoe hike at the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle.
The Nordic Heritage Center has outdoor activities year round. In winter there is cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and fat bike riding. In warmer months there is mountain bike riding and hiking, and even a paved path for rollerblading and roller skiing.
The Nordic Heritage Center is also qualified to host IBU World Cup Biathlon events. To my knowledge there are only 4 venues in North America that are qualified to host IBU World Cup Biathlon events. Lake Placid, NY. Canmore, Alberta. Soldier Hollow, Utah. And the Nordic Heritage Center.
I have very little interest in World Cup Biathlon, but I do love the tight spandex type uniforms the guys wear. :) LOL
Although there are no spectacular views, I do like to go here to get outside, as it is very close to home, only 7 miles away.
Today was a nice spring day. The temp. was in the mid 50's when I started, and close to 60 when I got done. My jacket came off 5 min. in to my hike. I did a combination of on trail and off trail; basically just wandering around. Conditions were good. Most of the time my snowshoes kept me on top of the snow, but I did sink down from time to time. For the most part I had to break trail as no one had been on the trails recently, but was not hard.
There is probably 1 1/2 to 2 feet of snow still left in the woods.
There were not many people around. Towards the end where the snowshoe trail comes close to a cross-country ski trail, I could see a guy, and we stopped and talked for a minute. I did see 3 other people cross-country skiing.
My hike also took me past the top of the Quoggy Jo Ski Center, which was closed. There is a view of Katahdin from the ski slopes, but it pretty much just blended in with the clouds, so I didn't bother taking a picture.
I can only make a rough guess on elevation gain and mileage. 400 ft in elevation gain, and 4-5 miles. My time was 2 hours 15 min.
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The geese are back here. No robins yet. :( Looks like the ice on the Aroostook River here in Ft. Fairfield is starting to move.
Enjoyed that, Billy. I've never been to the center but have always appreciated it and remember when it was created and thought it brought some good attention to the area. Certainly you get the snow. I'm writing this outside.....still have complete snow cover, about 2 feet, BUT I hear geese flying over and robbins in the woods. (Haven't seen any) So even in the north country, spring can't be held back, though maybe for another month yet.