Driven crazy by deer flies

     What a wonderful change in weather. The wind and rough waters are back but it is sunny and no humidity. I love the sun and heat but when the humidity is so high you can’t breather it’s hard to be a happy hiker. 

     Today is hubby’s first day of vacation. We don’t have any grand plans. We hope to stay home and have adventures from here. Our first one began when we set out this morning for a hike to Trout Pond. It’s one of the many Trout Ponds in Maine. It’s a little hidden secret known by few.

     Since our trek is in the neighborhood I got to go passed my neighbors garden I wrote about earlier in the spring. The once empty plot is lush with vegetation now. 


His well groomed landscape produces beautiful perrenials and annuals. It is just the opposite from our unkempt section. 


Our stretch of the road my be in need of TLC but right now the weeds are quite pretty with these mini bell shaped flowers that are as sweet smelling as honey suckle. So I will put the no mowing ban back on until they wither away. 

     Bruce, Barney and I enjoyed an easy road walk for almost a mile before entering the woods to the secret fishing hole. We would not be wetting any lines, we were only out for a hike and to enjoy the woods. 



           The trail through the woods is about half a mile and in poor condition. It is privately owned with access by permission only. It’s great to have friendly neighbors. The tall grass in the beginning soaked my pants in no time but my trusty Cresta Hikers from LLBean kept my feet as dry as could be while Bruce’s were drenched within a few yards. As we continued down the trail it got muddier and wetter. But my feet stayed dry. Barney was having a great time.

     We were not the only ones who had been using the trail. Moose tracks were every where and even a large pile of droppings. 


     Once we reached the other side of the wooded trail we were on dry land again. 

The hike is mostly on dirt roads except for the jaunt through the trees. The roads are not connected. If we wanted we could follow this section of road about 6 miles around and back through another trail to complete a loop.  We do that at least once or twice a year. It’s a nice hike with no traffic. 

     I had to work hard to keep up the Happy Hiking attitude. I was being driven crazy by deer flies. My friend would say the road to my senility is short. It was even shorter today. The mosquitos were bad enough but the deer flies were thick and hungry. At one point I said, “That’s it, I am going home!” I turned around and headed back. With a little coaxing Bruce encouraged me to continue.

     We made it to the little pond. And it wasn’t long before we realized it might not be such a secret after all. There was an old boat in the woods. 

At the shore stuck in a stump was a car key. 

I would guess someone had a hike out they were not planning on. We took a couple more pics then headed out. 


     All I wanted to do was get back home and out of the bugs. I did stop to capture a few more photos of nature


     Round trip it took us only an hour and 45 minutes. I was not slowing down for anything. There was no snack or water break. If only I used Bens 100 bug spray instead of a cheaper formula. Sometimes you get what you pay for. And today as I scratch away the welts, I will be reminded of that fact. 

Happy Hiking. 

Emily M. Leonard

About Emily M. Leonard

I am a 50 year old Maine native and lover of the outdoors. Former Physical Education teacher and soccer coach. I am Married to the best husband ever and gave up teaching and coaching to raise our two wonderful sons. I have always enjoyed being outside and on the go.