Member Trip report

Snowshoe hike at the Nordic Heritage Ctr

04/13/2019

Trip Report/Photos from BillyB1976

Featured Photo

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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BillyB1976 Posted Apr 14, 2019 at 5:04 PM

The geese are back here. No robins yet. :( Looks like the ice on the Aroostook River here in Ft. Fairfield is starting to move.

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