Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day, but the wind was brisk out of the northwest and kept things colder than it looked outside.  It was good to see the bright sunshine, though.  I measured a half inch of precipitation yesterday morning from Monday's rain.  We have lost most of our snow, but the ice on the pond appears to be untouched for the most part.  I noticed this morning there's a little water showing at the Rossi's where the Ice-Out flag is set up, but out on the ice by the flag, nothing seems to have changed. 

We had a low of 23.3 degrees last night, so whatever melting happened yesterday and in the rain on Monday has been stopped.  Today we're supposed to get warming temps, and perhaps a little more rain, but by the weekend we'll have cold weather again.  Nice, slow spring.  This kind of weather pattern has been good for the roads - at least for us, most have not been terrible.  There are the usual spots that break out, but no huge mud holes to get through.

I took some pictures this morning to show you what the pond looks like.  Yesterday I thought I noticed the ice in back of the islands, which is about all we can see of the pond from our house, was getting a little dark.  It apparently had some water on it, but this morning is frozen up again, and the next picture shows the channel seems to be frozen over again, too.  That will melt quickly if the temperature stays warm today.  Right now we're at 40 degrees, with no sun.

 We are excited that our young neighbor, Henry Burke, will sing the national anthem at Fenway Park this Sunday.  We are all very proud of Henry.  We'll be watching, you can bet.

The Caledonian Record had a short piece the other day about the rail trail that runs past Joe's Pond.  The lack of funds is on-going.  Added expenses from damage caused by storms and seeking permits over the past two years has cost the project both time and money.  VAST (Vermont Association of Snow Travelers) began work on the trail in 2007.  Now, Director Alexis Nelson says this summer they plan to construct two bridges, one in St. Johnsbury and one in Danville, and then will begin work on the Morrisville to Cambridge section of the trail.  That section requires the least amount of actual ground work on the train, he said.  

Right-of-way for the trail belongs to the State of Vermont after the Lamoille Valley Railroad stopped operating in 1994.  VAST has been charged with turning the rail bed into a recreational trail.  Having spent so much money on damage repairs and seeking permits, the project has nearly run out of money.  Project directors hope to be reimbursed by the federal government for storm damage or  ask that what has been spent on storm damage be considered part of the matching funds needed in order to free up more grant money.  As things stand now, there will be no money for the eastern end of the trail in this phase one of the project.

The trail past Joe's Pond is regularly used for hiking and some biking in the summer, and is maintained for snowmobiles in the winter.  Volunteers from the Joe's Pond community during the summer keep the trail somewhat mowed and clear of debris along the stretch by the pond, but as far as we know there is no coordinated volunteer effort to maintain it along further stretches either towards St. Johnsbury or Hardwick, although I believe there is some use of it by hikers and bikers during the summer.