Next morning starts the real fun…we rode west from Millinocket to Pittston Farm for an overnight. These are the best rides as we pack just what we need in saddlebags for the time away and hit the trail. And as a loyal fiber gal, you can see I packed some knitting along with extra hand warmers and other essentials. This is one of 8 pouches that I filled to the gills!
We always stop along the trip and take a break and here I jumped off the trail to see how deep the snow was! It actually was way deeper than this, I didn’t press my luck. We saw lots of deer and usually they yard up for the winter as the snow is just too deep. They and all wildlife use the trails as access trails to find food. The trails really are a benefit for the animals. We saw lots of moose tracks but no moose. We also saw snowshoe hares cross the trail, in their winter white camouflage fur.
We arrived at Pittson Farm http://www.pittstonfarm.com/ around 4PM, about 125 mile trip from Millinocket. Pittston Farm has their own trail system and groomers and the riding is some of the finest around; smooth and easy. This is a view of the main house and one barn. There are multiple lodging options and the stay includes 3 square meals and hospitality plus. Pittston Farm was originally a logging base camp where the horses used for all the logging expeditions were boarded in the summer months. There is another barn we’ll visit next which boarded 350 draft horses in it’s day! And with that many horses to feed you can see why the fields were utilized completely!
This is a view from the porch of the main house which is a dining area, looking toward the horse barn and a part of the field area. It truly is a working marvel and for anyone who loves a farm it is quite a treat. The place is run completely on generator, there is no cell service except the main house phone which is a satellite phone, that doesn’t always work, but they do have satellite TV in all the rooms. The weather can be quite intense there which makes it all the more exciting to come home to. The kitchen is always open, and it’s a big kitchen, with coolers full of desserts and drinks and sandwich makings…you NEVER go hungry at Pittston Farm! The dining room is always buzzing with the owners Bob and Jen and their family along the help plus visitors such as us, just there to enjoy. You’re apt to hear a good joke or a story any time you are in the dining room. While I ate dinner I watched the family bring in 50# bags of potatoes….I counted 20 bags! They told be they go through 350# of potaoes a week! And they are Maine potatoes, not Idaho, yea!
The living room in the main house is home to the owners collection of various wildlife mounts. This is a bobcat…looks real alright.
