Trail Snails

November 12,  at Mayberry Hill Preserve in Casco. We had fun walking the quarter length distance of the new accessible trail and then adding on to that by following a second loop that is at least twice as long. And noticing the trees. Especially the oaks as three species can be seen there--Northern Red, White, and Black.

T.S., our mascot, was with us, but he chose to stay in my bag because he forgot his blaze orange. Smart Snail!

Mark Tuesday, November 18 at 10am on your calendar for our next walk. We'll head to Naramissic and Peabody Fitch Woods in South Bridgton.

There will be no walk during Thanksgiving week. 

On November 7th, St. Peter's Trail Snails, an ever changing group of parishioners and others, wandered along the paved Mountain Division Trail in Fryeburg. We had such fun noticing so many wonders as we wandered. We'll continue to explore weekly, and for the next month, the trails we follow will be in areas where we don't have to worry about hunters. All are welcome to join us. We move at a snail's pace, and notice 

As it turned out, everyone who had hoped to join St. Peter's Trail Snails this morning had to back out. Even T.S. our mascot. He decided to stay in my truck, but I ventured forth on two trails at Twin Bridges West, aka, Four Brothers Trail.

The trail beside Crooked River had so many wonderful offerings and I could hear your voices as we explored each.

On the flatter, old logging road, I discovered some Beaked Hazelnut shrubs and was thrilled to even spot a few of the nuts still attached to the tree, though looking a bit worse for wear and I suspect the drought had something to do with that.

Wednesday, October 15, Trail Snails were invited to a private property somewhere in the woods late in the afternoon of Wednesday, October 15th. Besides developing an understanding of the farm that has been in the family since 1818, we fell in love with a gnarly old Maple and a White Pine that recently split and showed off its inner workings. 

Friday, October 10,  Trail Snails ventured onto a new trail system at Loon Echo Land Trust's Sebago Cove Forest on Friday, October 10th. Two of the highlights were watching a Bald Eagle fly out of a tree just over our heads, and startling a Great Blue Heron by accident as well. T.S., our mascot, loved this trail so much, that he posed three times.

There's a new trail for us to explore. It's a Loon Echo Land Trust property in Naples called Sebago Cove Forest. 

The parking lot was recently installed by our church neighbors, Kyle and Bruce Warren. And Jon Evans and Harry von Hassln of LELT have been working hard to create the trail. There aren't any trail blazes yet, but I pre-hiked it last week and know the way. There's a short connector trail between the parking lot and an old logging road. You may want trekking poles for the connector, but rest assured that the logging road is flat. If we can, I'd like to walk to the old log landing and then follow another new section of trail down to the water. It'll be about 2 miles round trip. BUT 2 easy miles. And you can turn around at any point. 

We enjoyed a lovely, albeit slow, walk along the paved Mountain Division Trail in Fryeburg this morning. In attendance, Marion B, Barbara C, and my friend Amanda K. Our great finds--immature and mature Black Locust and Black Cherry trees, Northern White Cedar with cones, Bear and White Oak with acorns, Knapweed, Common Evening-Primrose, American Pokeweek, Indian Tobacco, and more flowers, basking Painted Turtles, a Red Squirrel and a Chipmunk, and so much more. But . . . the creme-de-la-creme: and already emerged but not quite ready to fly Dog Day Cicada!  

We stayed on the Wetland Trail and Loop at Lakes Environmental Association's Highland Research Forest in North Bridgton and spent a lot of time getting to the water and then beside the water and made soooo many spectacular discoveries. Our total distance: not quite a mile in almost two hours. We are the ultimate crawlers 

August 19th, 2025    Last week, our friend TS took a hiatus under a rock and refused to come out. But this week's cooler temps meant that he was ready to rejoin St. Peter's Episcopal Church's Trail Snails at Notch View Farm in Evans Notch, where it was 42˚ at daybreak. Hummingbirds galore at the feeders, a visit with Marta, the Norwegian Fjord Horse, ferns and leaves and insects pulled our attention as we covered a total of one mile in two hours. 

Trail Snails, August 1,2025

Truth be told, St Peter's Episcopal Church's Trail Snails only spent about ten minutes on one of the trails at Valentine Farm, and maybe walked thirty feet, but saw a few cool things including burls from the inside and out, bull's eye target fungus pattern on Red Maple, and fairy homes. Then the gardens beckoned and so did our hostess, Barbara Murphy, Habitat For All Program Director at Mahoosuc Land Trust in Bethel. If you have a chance to visit the Pollinator Garden, we all highly encourage you to do so. It's educational, whimsical, colorful, taste-full, and so many other adjectives, but you just need to experience it for yourself.

Trail Snails, August 5, 2025

The Trail Snails explored the virgin forest at Ordway Grove in Norway, Maine, this morning. Eleven of us crawled along the trail where the forest has remained intact since the 1700s. We were in awe at the size of the pines and Bruce (re)taught us the formula to age a pine. Using measurements and math we saw one that was 184 years old, another 223 years, and a third 232 years! Imagine all that they have witnessed over time.

TRAIL SNAILS     

July 22, 2025