On Sunday morning, March 26th Margaret Jenner, a colleague of mine from the VA Hospital, and I hiked up to Vienna Mountain from the south end of Watson Pond. We went to the Round Pond water fall, up Vienna Mountain to the north, then over the top and back down the south side of Round Top to Blueberry Hill.

We left the Lake and Country Real Estate Office (on Route 27 in Belgrade) about 8:15 a.m. and both drove to Blueberry Hill, where Margaret left her car. Then we went in my car to the logging road at the end of Watson Pond and started in on foot about 8.45.

The day started out foggy but by 9:30 the fog had lifted and the sun came out. There was still quite a bit of snow in the woods, with patches of mud. In soft areas, your feet would sink about 3 inches into the mud, but for the most part we were able to keep them clean and dry.

The falls at Round Pond were flowing strong with the heavy snowmelt; the roar of the rushing water was impressive. We went down to the shore of Round Pond, which had its usual pristine look. “I can‘t believe we are so close to Augusta,” Margaret remarked, as so many others have since I started taking people into the Kennebec Highlands a year or so ago.

The views on the way up to Vienna Mountain were great! With plenty of snow still in the woods, through the leafless trees we could see Beaver Pond, the channel between Round and Beaver, Great and Long Ponds in the Belgrade Lakes, Vienna Mountain, Round Top, and Blueberry Hill. All could be viewed from many different perspectives as we slowly ascended the disused logging road that winds through the center of the Highlands.

The snow got deeper and more continuous as we got above about 900 feet elevation. We had our snowshoes and used them for almost a mile till we got to the blueberry barrens. The sun's reflection radiated off the snow, soon necessitating peeling down to T-shirts. But the barrens on Vienna Mountain were snowless, and a cool breeze brought our sweaters and vests back on as we reached the summit.

“Oh my gosh!” That’s the usual exclamation you hear as someone first takes in the vista of lakes and mountain ranges, and today was no exception. I pointed out the lakes — Long, Great, East, North; the mountains — Sugarloaf, Saddleback, the Jacksons, Tumbledown, Mt Blue; many still with bright white caps. Although the sky was cloudless, there was a slight haze hiding the more distant White Mountains of New Hampshire, about 75 miles distant. A few Turkey Vultures soared leisurely by.

We ate lunch on the big boulder with a flat top that sits on the edge of the barrens, overlooking the valley formed by Round Top and Vienna Mountain. We looked down on the lower end of Long pond and Great Pond and marveled at all the coves, points and islands that so typify Maine lakes.

After lunch, we began our descent into the valley between Vienna and McGaffey Mountains. As soon as we got a few feet below the barrens the reflected heat again warmed us up, which felt good after the cooling we‘d gotten on the summit. We had a surprise encounter with a lone Yellow Cloak Butterfly — black with a bright yellow border — fluttering from rock to rock in the trail before us.

As we started south on the McGaffey Mountain road, clouds started moving in, cooling things off considerably. It must stay pretty cool in this valley; the snow was pretty deep and we got back into our snowshoes. In many places the snow had compressed to ice, probably as a result of snowmobiling since the trail is part of a major snowmobile route that goes through the Highlands.

As we started our descent from the south, I studied the little valley formed by the south side of Roundtop and the east side of McGaffey. Again through the trees there were great views of the lakes. This valley is part of the land being purchased in the first phase of the Kennebec Highlands project, recently approved by the Land for Maine’s Future Board. A possible future hiking trail down this valley along a mountain stream came to my mind.

The snow petered out on the southeast slope of Round Top and the snowshoes came off for the last time. We were very glad the we had brought them. From the road, even scouting the high point on the West Road in Belgrade on my drive out in the morning through the fog, I had seen no signs of the heavy snow, still hidden in the mountains so close by.

Margaret drove me back to my car, where we ran into another couple who had also hiked into the Falls and explored the hills around Watson Pond. A great day for all of us out in the Highlands. What a great natural resource to have in Central Maine — so peaceful and beautiful and yet so conveniently located. By 2:00 p.m., I was home in Winslow, lying on a blanket, enjoying a picnic with my daughter!