Elephant Mtn (3,772 ft) 6-16-15... Not Quite

Distance: 3.33 mi.
Elevation: 1,074 ft (overall) 1,195 ft (total)
Time: 1:44 (Summit) 2:55 (Total)
Trails: Logging Roads, Herd Paths, Bushwhack

Elephant Mtn Rd doesn't have a sign at the end of it, but it is the first dirt road after Clearwater Brook when driving west on South Arm Rd. The brooks along the road are signed, so that helps. The road is a bit rough in a few places with some larger rocks and a couple culverts that have made good humps in the road. I was driving my wife's Rav4 and had no issues or concerns.

I started heading up the older logging road at the first cairn (which is where I parked). The better road continues right, but you don't want that. I headed up until I got to an old landing with another cairn on the left leading to the herd path. This path was easy to follow for a while. There is some brush down low to push through and it's a bit narrow in places, but easy to follow for the most part.

Start up the road on the left with the small cairn

Start of the herd path

Following the herd path

After a little while I came to a spot where the path appeared to split. To the right it looked like it went under/around a fallen tree. There were no boot prints in the mud here, so I wasn't sure about this route (I had seen recent prints earlier). I went to the left instead. This route stayed open for a bit and then closed in coming to just a wall of small trees with no path leading into it. I looked around and found no definitive path around either. I went back to the split, knowing that I had just passed a small cairn before it. I decided to try to the right. There was a path this way that lead to a small brook, but it seemed to end here. Being fairly open here, I figured maybe people spread out more so no path was defined. I headed up and eventually found what looked like a faint path. I even saw the remains of a single piece of flagging. This path seemed to lead away from the peak in one direction though, and downhill in the other direction. Neither option seemed correct.

An easy section of woods after loosing the herd path

At this point I decided that since the overall distance and elevation to the summit wasn't "too far" that I would just bushwhack to the summit and pick up the path on the way back down. The bushwhack went well to start, but soon it got thick. I pushed through some and tried to find routes into more open areas without losing my heading too much. This helped for a while, and then it got really thick. I eventually took the "brute force bull and jam" method and forced my way through and over anything in my way. This was very slow going. I then came to more open woods and was pretty close to the summit. As I got closer I started to pick up a path and saw lots of moose sign. In hindsight though, it might have just been a path made by the moose. Soon I could see an orange hat in a tree, some flagging, and a piece of wood that said Elephant on it (once I got close). I couldn't find a canister, but this looked like the high spot and my GPS agreed.

Moose poop around the summit

At the summit. Notice the poop on the ground at the sign

I'm pretty sure a moose spent a few weeks here at the summit recently. The area was literally a field of moose poop on the ground. I also found what I believe to be the possible remains of after birth/placenta. This makes more sense when you think about how long a moose was up here. I can see a cow staying put in this small open-ish area for a while with a new born calf.

To head down, I followed the well defined herd path leading from the summit (not the route I took up). Unfortunately, I lost this path before very long and ended up crossing back over the route I took up. I ended up just bushwhacking down from here. I picked a better but still not ideal route down past the thickest stuff I encountered coming up. I then cut across the mountain some maintaining my elevation to get back to the area where I crossed the brook. I knew if I could get here I could easily hike back to the car. This worked pretty well and I came right to where I wanted. I quickly hiked down and got to my car about as the rain started. Perfect timing. I put on clean/dry clothes and headed home. Already deciding I need to find a better route if/when I come back.

Heading down

The brook I crossed

Google Earth representation of the hike

*** It became apparent after this hike that I made it to the wrong summit on the mountain. I went to the more eastern peak when I should have gone to the western one. Losing the herd path ended up costing me more than just a bunch of scrapes going through thick trees. As an interesting fact though, I was contacted by the person that accidentally left the orange hat on the summit when he saw my trip report just after getting the correct summit himself. ***

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

East Kennebago Mtn (3,791 ft) 6-14-15

Distance: 3.38 mi.
Elevation: 1,278 ft (overall) 1,297 ft (total)
Time: 1:22 (Summit) 2:21 (Total)
Trails: Logging Roads, Herd Paths

The start of the road off of Route 16 is not marked with a sign, so be on the lookout. There is currently some ribbon hanging in the trees, but I am sure this is for the active logging in the area. The road to where I parked starts off ok, but gets rough with plenty of larger rocks. I don't think a car could safely make it past 1/3 to 1/2 of the way to the parking. There are also water bars to negotiate closer to the parking. My wife's Rav4 handled everything fine though and I was glad I had it instead of my Corolla.

I headed further up the logging road from the car. Past the signs telling ATVs to stop here as the view doesn't go any further. The road is easy to follow. It eventually gets narrower and soon becomes a bit more like a path through the woods. You still know you are on it though. There is one spot where it may look like you can turn right, but stay left, passing the cairn. After about 0.9 miles, there is currently a small tree down with a path around it that walks over some sheet metal. Just after this cue, the boundary path crosses. There are two small cairns and the yellow wood post is currently leaning against the hillside on the left.

Start hiking up this road

While looking for the yellow post and herd path, stay left/straight here

Yellow post and start of herd path

The boundary path is easy to follow and is marked by old yellow and blue blazes. Any hard spots on the path have herd paths around them. You will pass a few cairns along the way, before coming to a larger one where you leave the boundary line. The herd path is obvious here, and if you weren't paying attention you might not realize you left the boundary line. There appears to be no traffic heading past this point on the boundary.

Herd path following boundary line

Where the path leaves the boundary

The path wanders side to side a bit more now that you are off the boundary, but it's still pretty easy to follow. It gets faint in a few places, but you just need to pay attention. There is a fork in the path that I missed on the way up. The left fork is more of a straight shot here and this was the route I took. The two paths join up just before the summit, which is where I even noticed the second one. At the summit the flies were buzzing all around and quite annoying. I stayed just long enough for a drink and some pictures. They were bothersome enough I forgot to sign the register (but I know I was there and that is what counts). On the way back down I followed the same path I took up, knowing what to expect on it. Back at my car I could see some ATVs had been up to the view here while I was gone, but I never saw another person on this hike.

Herd path near the summit

Summit canister

Moose hair on the logging road

The view from the parking lot is the best you will get on this hike

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

Snow Mtn - Chain of Ponds (3,960 ft) 6-14-15

Distance: 7.82 mi.
Elevation: 2,107 ft (overall) 2,201 ft (total)
Time: 2:39 (Summit) 4:08 (Total)
Trails: ATV Trails, Skidder Roads, Snow Mtn Trail

I drove out to the parking area yesterday, but realized on the way that I didn't bring enough food/water (and didn't have a filter). So I used the drive to make sure I knew where I was going instead. The road was in great shape and could easily be done with a car. Coming back this morning to hike though, there was a tree down across the road about 0.5 miles from the parking area. Not wanting to park here, I got out my leatherman and used the saw to trim branches enough so I could drive over/around with my wife's Rav4. I plan to be back in the area in a couple weeks with family and will try to come back and see if the tree still needs cleanup.

After trimming branches

I headed up the ATV trail from the parking area. A sign here now says no ATVs though. I followed this past the 3rd bridge. Just before the 3rd bridge is an opening on the trail where a small path leads into the woods (if you go straight instead of turn like the trail does). There was a very small cairn here, but the only tracks I saw headed out it were moose tracks. I don't know where this actually goes. After the 3rd bridge, there is a turn in the trail where there is a yellow arrow pointing left for the ATVs/Snowmobiles. There is a small cairn on a large rock here. This marks an old ATV trail (now blocked) that looks more like a small brook bed (it had running water today). I followed this until the ATV tracks (more faint) went to the right at a small cairn. This was to avoid a patch of blown over trees in the trail/brook.

Where you turn off of the main ATV trail

Slight side path to go around downed trees

This comes to a skidder road from past logging with a cairn at the edge of the trees. I went straight at the intersection here towards the pond. Past info I used mentioned turning right at a yellow sign saying "Snow Mtn Trail" which I hadn't seen yet. My GPS also had what it thought was the trail showing as starting out this way. This path eventually became quite wet. I followed it past where my GPS thought the trail was and I still hadn't seen any yellow sign. I was also seeing no sign of hikers coming this far either. I went back to the skidder path and headed left (right as you come up). I decided I would see if this went the direction I needed and I could eventually find the trail. This does go where you need and crosses the trail at a height of land where there is some flagging and a small cairn.

Turn right onto this skidder road

Small cairn and flagging where Snow Mtn Trail crosses the skidder road

I turned up the trail and it was easy to follow. Some maintenance has been done to remove the larger trees that are down. There is one small rock scramble with little protection on your left. If you aren't comfortable with it, there is a bypass forming on the right. Any potentially confusing spots on the path had flagging to help you navigate it. The summit register is in a small wooden box on a tree at the old cabin on the summit. The fire tower was rugged enough to hold me (a larger hiker) without any worries. It's just tight climbing it with the ladder so close to the frame. The view from the top was great though.

The trail is easy to follow for the most part

On the way down I wanted to see where the trail actually came out near the pond, but I didn't want to use the time as I still had another hike planned for the day. Maybe another time I can check it out. It obviously still sees some traffic.

The pond

Fire tower

Summit cabin remains

View from the top of the tower

Hanging out on the top of the tower

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

Boundary Peak (3,855 ft) 6/13/15

Distance: 4.03 mi.
Elevation: 905 ft (overall) 1,319 ft (total)
Time: 1:18 (Summit) 2:13 (Total)
Trails: ATV Trails, Border Swath

I drove into Canada on Route 27. With 3 questions asked, it was less than a minute to get into Canada. I then drove into Gosford Park and stopped at the gate house. The ranger got there just before me, so it appears they open at 8am. It cost $10.25 to get in, but I got away with $10 because I didn't have a quarter. They will only give change in Canadian currency, so be prepared. I then followed the park road to the turn for the short road to the gravel pit. The park road wasn't too bad, just some potholes to slow down for. The road to the gravel pit was rougher and would require care with a car. There is a small grassy parking area on the left though about 50 feet past the start of it if you don't want to risk it. All the signs on the road and in the park are in French, so have some idea where you are going ahead of time. The only obvious one is for Gosford itself.

I took the ATV trail leaving the back right of the gravel pit. It forks very quickly and I took a right on the more well used path. This crosses a small brook where I only had to put my feet a couple inches into the water. The trail then heads up steeply over loose rock for a while. It bears left some before leveling out a bit and soon becoming very easy. I saw a deer just into the trees here, but it was too thick to get a picture. The ATV trail leads directly to the border swath. Tracks go both ways on the border, but to the left is much more used. This is the way you want to go.

Steep ATV trail at the start

Border swath

I then followed the border over a couple ups and downs to the summit. There is a good sized cairn on the right of the border swath with some flagging. The canister is a few feet into the woods on the US side and can be seen from the swath.

Boundary Peak in sight

Summit canister

On the way back, I retraced my steps. The turn back into the woods is very easy to spot. It has a wide opening, flagging, small cairn, and obvious signs of ATV travel.

Boundary post

Upper section of ATV trail

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

Equinox Mtn (3,850 ft) 5-23-15

Distance: 7.09 mi.
Elevation: 2,785 ft. (overall) 2,942 ft. (total)
Time: 2:33 (Summit) 2:45 (Lookout Rock) 4:19 (Total)
Trails: Red Gate Trail, Blue Summit Trail, Lookout Rock Trail

Back to the mountains to continue with my next hiking list to complete, the New England 100 Highest. Hoping to work on finishing up the remaining peaks I have on this list by next year, I headed to Vermont to knock off one close to home.

I got to the trail head relatively early and got a good parking spot in the small lot rather than needing to park on the side of the road. The trail heads out over a nice wide easy trail to begin with. This is a popular area down low on the mountain and it has lots of trails. They are well signed and maintained. The trail stays easy for a little ways before it begins the steady climb up the mountain. You'll go past one of two simple camps along the trail on your way. You'll start to turn to the right and the trail will start to climb.

The trail stays wide with good footing. There were some leaves on the sides and a few small rocks that could move under your feet. You will work past a few switchback in the trail as it goes right along the hillside. After the last switchback, you'll start heading left across the mountain with short sections of trail that level out some. Eventually you come to a bench next to the trail and a short side path to the upper spring.

Early portion of the climb

Painted Trillium. Some flowers were in bloom higher up the mountain

At the spur for the spring, the trail narrows up and now resembles what most trail in the northeast look like. There is a short section here that is a bit steeper, but then it gets back to the steady incline you've been seeing. You'll start to see a few more large rocks and possibly a downed tree, but the trail is still in great shape with some stone stairs built in places. It was in here I was finally starting to see wildflowers in bloom.

As the trail makes a right turn to head up the final ridge to the summit, it instantly changes from hardwoods to softwoods. In the spruce now, the trail gets a few more roots, but still nothing difficult. As you get closer to the summit, the trail levels out more and shortly before the turn to Lookout Rock there are a few bog bridges for damp areas. I found this to spring up if you stepped too close to the end of them though, so be careful. I bypassed the turn for Lookout Rock for now and climbed the last short section of trail to the summit.

The trail leading into the softwoods now

Summit view northwest

Summit view east

At the summit there is a new building that replaced an old one. There is access to this via an auto road as well. The building is nice with some history of the mountain. There are bathrooms, but no food. There were water bottles for sale, and there might have been a water fountain. The decks on the building provide nice views though.

After checking out the building and views for a while, I headed out. While it wasn't very busy up there, the road and structure took away from the appeal some for me today. I headed down to Lookout Rock to see what was there. I hadn't looked up anything about it, so I didn't know what to expect other than probably some sort of view. It turns out there is a bench on a rocky section of the ridge where there is an opening in the trees. The view is similar to the summit, but provides a nice overlook of Manchester that you don't get from the summit. It seems much more geared towards the people that drive up the mountain. There was also a tombstone for a dog along the trail that surprised me. There wasn't any information here to explain it either.

Lookout Rock

I headed down the mountain from here. Talking with some of the many hikers that were now coming up the trail. Seeing the number of people made me happy I got an earlier start. I took my time looking for more wildflowers while descending as was able to spot a Purple Trillium that was trying to bloom, but wasn't able to due to a dead leaf it had grown up through this spring. I took a picture and then removed the dead leaf. I gently opened the flower and leaves up some to let it stretch out. Doing my good dead, I headed back on my way. The hike down went pretty quick and was pretty easy.

Dead leaf keeping Purple Trillium from fully blooming

Green all around

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

Mt. Monadnock (3,165 ft) 3-22-15

A few pictures from my hike up Mt. Monadnock on March 22, 2015. This was was first time back here in over a year and also my 75th trip to the summit. It was a gorgeous day with nice views. It was in the low 20's with a stiff wind, but that just made it more fun for me. I hiked up the Old Halfway House Trail to the White Arrow Trail. On the way down I descended the White Arrow Trail to the Amphitheater Trail. From there it was down the Smith Connecting Link to Bald Rock. Then down the Cliff Walk Trail to the Thoreau Trail and finally down the Old Halfway House Trail.

Going up the Old Halfway House Trail

Halfway House Site

Ice bulge on White Arrow Trail

Nearing the summit

Southwest view from summit

Pumpelly Ridge

Miles' first trip to the summit

Thoreau Rock

Thoreau Trail with no sign of previous traffic

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE