Speckled Mountain Loop 7-19-25

Distance: 17.0 mi.
Elevation: 1,444 ft (overall) 3,926 ft (total)
Time: 2:10 (Speckled Mtn) 6:34 (Clearing at low end of Miles Notch) 9:19 (Rte 113)
Trails: Spruce Hill Trail, Bickford Brook Trail, Red Rock Trail, Miles Notch Trail, Haystack Notch Trail

With the Caribou-Speckled Mountain Wilderness being a 3+ hour drive from my house, I haven't actually knocked off any miles on the tab of the redlining spreadsheet. In order to make a nice dent in this region that is farther away from my house, I worked up today's route in order to make a nice big loop and really get some miles done. Being by myself like normal, today's loop would require a bit of road walking at the end, but hopefully that wouldn't be too bad at the end of the day.

I parked at the small lot on route 113 that is the access for the East Royce Trail (heading west) and Spruce Hill Trail (heading east). The Spruce Hill Trail is easy to follow, and starts off pretty mellow with some sidehilling as you start to climb. This made for a nice little warmup to get the day going. It didn't seem to take too long before the trail enters into the wilderness, trail markers and signs get smaller or just plaing go away, but things were still easy to follow and there were no real obstacles most of the day. As I steadily gained elevation without climbing anything steep, the sun started to come through the trees (I hade gotten an early start after all). The trail goes past the unmarked summit of Spruce Hill, which is just to the left of the trail if you follow the small herd path. While I didn't need to go over to the high spot, I figured I would do it while in the area in case for some reason later on I wish I had. And being as I was redlining, I felt like tagging as much stuff as I easily could while going by today.

Steady climbing through a beautiful forest

After Spruce Hill, the trail drops just a bit in elevation before coming to the Bickford Brook Trail where I took a left to keep climbing towards Speckled Mountain. As the trail goes around the northern side of Ames Mountain, it crosses an interesting section that is a steep sidehill section of trail, but with a nice area for the trail to go across. This makes for an interesting looking section, but without any drop offs that would make you nervous while hiking past them. After this section, you pass the upper end of the Blueberry Ridge Trail where you keep left and have a short half mile to the summit of Speckled Mountain following a gradual incline up the ridgeline. There will a small open area on the trail shortly before the actual summit.

An interesting steep sidehill with a nice trail cutout

The summit of Speckled Mountain

View from Speckled Mountain

While the summit of Speckled Mountain was great and very much worth the trip, I couldn't spend all day up there with how many more miles I still had to hike. The summit here was the only place I saw other hikers all day during my entire loop. I was glad these other two hikers were there though, because they didn't help show me which direction the trail left the summit from. It was completely obvious which way I needed to go with the mix of open rocks and scattered trees around. Once on the start of it though, it was again easy to follow. The climb down from the summit, was probably the steepest section of the day. It did have solid footing though, so it wasn't difficult to go down.

Once down this climb into the saddle between Speckled Mountain and Durgin Mountain, the remainder of the ridge is mostly gentley ups and downs over/around all of the smaller peaks. Durgin Mountain was a mix of some open rock heading through the trees which meant some warm sunny spots, and lots of blueberries along the trail today. They made for some nice snacks while I was hiking along.

The trail followed near the top of the ridge all morning

At least there was blueberries to eat today

The scattered open areas of trail made for some nice periodic views along the hike, but with how sunny it was today and with very little wind, it made for some warm hiking. At least in the trees, there was shade to help keep cool. If there had just been a nice breeze today, this section would have been more enjoyable. Near the summit of Butters Mountain, I found a nice spot along the trail that was a bit like a bench to sit on for a short break. I was getting warm, so I took my shirt off for a bit to help dry it and myself while fueling up with a little bit of food.

Bewteen Butters Mountain and Red Rock Mountain, there was a small interesting notch that they trail passes through. It almost had the feel of an old woods road passing over the ridge, but there wasn't good enough terrain on the northern side for this to be the case. There was an interesting old US Forest Service marker attached to a tree here. Along the climb up out of this small notch were some small views back to the west and the direction I had come from. It was interesting looking back and seeing Speckled Mountain and realizing just how far I had come along the ridge. While the ridge was the harder terrain of the day, it still meant I wasn't even quite half way through now.

A view back towards Speckled Mountain from along the trail

Open trail going over some bare rock near Red Rock Mountain

The drop down off of Red Rock Mountain into Miles Notch was a nice break with mostly downhill. There was unfortunately, a small climb up at the very end of the Red Rock Trail just before hitting the Miles Notch Trail. I was getting warm and a bit tired, so this short uphill was slower going for me than it should have been. Coming down the Miles Notch Trail, conditions progressively got better and easier which meant I was able to pick the pace back up again. By the end of the trail, you are basically following a woods road which was nice and wide and smooth. The only tracks I was seeing through here that were fresh, were a set of moose tracks.

Red Rock Trail dropping down to Miles Notch

Wide easy trail nearing the low end of the hike

The worst part of this section of the hike was the lower end of the Miles Notch Trail. The old woods road that you are following comes out into an area that was logged, so I was back to being in the hot sun with no breeze. Being so open as well, the vegetation has grown a lot through here, and at times it was between waist and chest high. This makes the trail/road harder to follow since there isn't much traffic through here. If you pay attention though, you can stay on the road, which eventually bears a little to the right and through more of the middle of the opening. I was feeling a bit cautious through here knowing the berries were rippening and a bear could easily be just out of site in all of the tall bushes.

The sun through here was really getting to me and I just wanted to be back in the shade. When I got to the junction with the Haystack Notch Trail, I really debated if I wanted to continue down to the parking area near here. I wasn't quite sure what the real distance was since my two maps were contradicting each other a bit. With one map showing still 0.3 miles (0.6 total), I decided to save the effort and come back later to get that section. In the end I should have just done it because it was actually closer to 0.1 miles. I just wanted to be back in the shade, so I started up the Haystack Notch Trail which follows along the side of the logged off area. The trail was pretty straight forward through here though, and it was easy to follow and get back into the woods and out of the sun.

Through the open, the "trail" was chest deep bushes following the logging path

A couple signs indicating Miles Notch and Haystack Notch Trails

The trail follows the edge of the logged area

Once back into the woods, I felt a little better being in the shade. Knowing this trail follows near the river and also crosses it, I started looking for a good spot to rest next to the water and filter some water as well for the rest of the hike. So at an easy crossing, I setup for lunch on the other side and took a nice long break here. I cooled off with splashing water on myself and just had a nice rest. The trail would be pretty gentle from here on out back to route 113, but it is still about 5 more miles to go.

This brook made for a great rest area in the shade near cool water

After leaving my rest spot on the rivebank, I kept heading west on the Haystack Notch Trail. Luckily the trail isn't steep, but even the small incline of it was more than I wanted to deal with right now. The trail stays pretty gentle until after it enters into the Caribou-Speckled Mountain Wilderness, where it gradually gets a little steeper as it heads up to the height of land in Haystack Notch. Being in a wildnerness area, the trail also becomes less used and less well marked. I was still able to follow it at all times, but it was a bit tricky at times to make sure I was staying on it and not missing and turns or curves in the trail.

Entering back into the wilderness zone heading into Haystack Notch

The wilderness section of Haystack Notch is lightly traveled in sections

As I was climbing up to the height of land in the notch, the heat of the day and the lack of wind were really getting to me. I was slowing right down, and finally decided I needed a nice break. I found a rock that was comfortable to sit and lean against, hoping it might somehow have a little bit cooler temperature than the air around it. I also made use of a small squirt bottle that I brought with me today and had filled with water. I kept spraying my head, face, arms, and legs so that they could slowly cool down and make me feel better. I did this for probably a good 20 minutes before I was finally feeling better.

My rest spot wasn't far from the height of land, so pretty soon after starting back up, I was headed downhill all the way back to the road. I was able to pick up the pace again through here. The trail was easier to follow on this side of the notch, and after coming back out of the wilderness area, it got even easier. I took advantage of every time the trail was near or crossed any sort of brook and splashed water all over my face and head each time. It was still warm, but this was helping me feel better.

The trail going next to a brook as I get closer to the road

As I neared the road, I really wasn't looking forward to the gradual uphill walk back to my truck. I had thought about stashing a bike here, but I knew that I wouldn't really want to pedal uphill either, and might end up just walking with a bike as well. As I got within sight of the road, I saw there was a pickup pulled over on the side of the road and I started thinking maybe I could get a ride. So I walked fast enough that I could get there before they drove off, only to find that there was no one in the truck. So I just started walking up the road hoping maybe I could hitch a ride. The first vehicle I head was a motorcycle, so that wasn't even worth trying. Next a car went by, but didn't stop, and I thought to myself "darn it" and kept walking. A couple minutes later though, as my legs were cramping up, the car came back from the other direction. They had been in their own little world when driving by, then thought to themselves that "only someone redlining would be walking through here", so as a fellow redliner, they turned around to see if they could help. I couldn't be happier to have a ride back to my truck as this point, and thanked them very much for helping me at the end of my hike. I had probably only walked about .25 of the roughly 1.6 miles back to my truck when I was able to get into their car.

I wasn't liking the idea of the long uphill road walk at this point

All things considered, this hike ended up going ok. I could have used some cooler temperatures or a little bit of wind, but I made it all work with some discomfort and tired legs. Had I known it was going to end up being as warm as it was though, I probably would have changed things up a little bit. I was camping up in the area for the whole weekend trying to get other trails done as well (which I didn't due to rain and being tired), so I would have turned this into a two day hike. I would have driven to the parking area near the junction of the Miles Notch Trail and Haystack Notch Trail, and stashed my tent, sleeping pad, and quilt there. I would have started in the same spot, then hiked to my stashed gear and setup camp for the evening in the opening of the logged off area (water was nearby). I could have hiked slower in the warm temps and taken more breaks. Then the next morning, I would have hiked out through Haystack Notch with all of my gear and done the walk back up the road to my truck. Carrying the extra gear through the second day wouldn't have been too bad with rested legs and would have saved me the time of needing to drive back to the parking area near where I would have spent the night.

Google Earth represetation of the hike (clockwise loop)

Google Earth represetation of the hike (clockwise loop... with elevation profile)

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

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Baldpate Mtn (3,780 ft) 9-29-19

Distance: 8.76 mi.
Elevation: 2,357 ft (overall) 3,579 ft (total)
Time: 1:56 (West Peak) 2:28 (Summit) 3:13 (West Peak) 4:45 (Total)
Trails: Appalachian Trail

New England Hundred Highest Finish!!!

A day after re-hiking Elephant Mountain I was back into Maine to hike my last peak in my quest for the New England Hundred Highest. I picked Baldpate Mountain as a finial peak after talking with other hikers in my travels when discussing what peaks I had left. Multiple other hikers suggested this peak. It would be a nice hike plus would have some of the best views of my final peaks. I'm glad I listened to the other hikers and finished on this peak as I was a great hike. I didn't want to finish when there weren't any leaves left on the trees, so trying to finish before foliage was done was a priority for me. I ended up hiking this peak just before peak foliage I think, but it wound up being a great day for foliage anyways.

Like most people, I hiked this peak using the Appalachian Trail from the parking lot in Grafton Notch. This is the same parking lot used for Old Speck as well. You just cross the street near the entrance to the parking lot. The trail starts off nice and gentle after using some elevated foot bridges over a brook. Being the Appalachian Trail, it's in great shape and clearly marked. Pretty quickly the trail starts to climb out of the notch, but there isn't really anything steep for quite a while. The trail is a gentle grade for quite a while until it levels out after passing Hedgehog Hill just north of the trail. Here the trail stays mostly level until the spur to the Baldpate Shelter.

An early section of trail

After the shelter spur the trail does get significantly steeper. While steeper, it still has some small switchbacks and is manageable without being to tiring for most hikers. And since this is the Appalachian Trail, there are also a number is good stone steps that are nice and stable to help you gain this elevation quicker. It felt like this climb up to the West Peak went by pretty quickly to me. Once you reach the West Peak, there is a nice view with a small open area just past this summit. This afforded some good views over to the main peak. Here I took a nice little break and had a conversation with an older couple who was just out for a hike to somewhere nice instead of to any particular peak.

Creative stone steps

From the West Peak I looked at the ledges heading up the main peak wondering where the trail went. I expected that at least some of the trail must go around that is it looked pretty steep. It turns out that the trail goes pretty much right up it on the left side of the open area as you are looking at it.

Dropping down off the West Peak is probably the steepest part of the hike. It even includes a ladder down over one steep, smooth, tall section of rock. There are also some other rocky scrambles on the way down into the col between the peaks. Once down into the col you will come out of the trees to cross a small bog on some foot bridges. This then leads you onto mostly open exposed rock until the main peak. Down in the col there were a few wet or muddy areas to navigate as well. This was probably partly due to yesterday's rain, but based on the tracks leading through the surrounding bushes they are frequently there. While I admit there could be some more bog bridges or stepping stones through here, please try to stay as close to the middle of the trail as possible so that you don't trample the vegetation through here like others have.

View from the west peak

Ladder along the trail

Climbing up to the main peak means starting up the open slabs. There was just a bit of water running down them in places today, but they seemed to have plenty of grip. I imagine that during more heavy rain or in winter this area could get slick though. While this section is very open, there were plenty of routes up the rocks that didn't require any scrambles or overly difficult spots. It's a pretty fun and quick climb up to the summit plateau. After the climb up the rocks the summit mostly levels off. This makes for a nice easy walk to the true high point. There are some small stone walls built along the sides of the trail to help keep people off the fragile vegetation through here.

Climbing the exposed rock of the main peak

Interesting layers of rock on the ascent

I'm not much for celebrations, so when I reached the summit, I didn't really have anything planned nor did I come up with anything special to do to celebrate. It was nice however to have the summit all to myself while I was there. After a nice break and plenty of pictures, I headed back down to the large cairn just before the climb down into the col. I think the views are better here so I took another long break and more pictures. I'm not really one for selfies, but I decided I should probably have at least one picture of myself on on peak number 100.

Baldpate summit

View from the summit

View west near the summit

On the summit of #100

I still had plenty of time so the hike back down was fun and casual. It was a great day and I was in a good mood. I made the short side trip to the Baldpate Shelter, but decided not to do the loop over Table Rock. Unfortunately though, near the upper junction with the Table Rock Trail my foot got snagged on a broken root and I fell to the ground. I tried to catch myself with my trekking poles, but one of them went into a small hole and bent. When I straightened it back out, it broke just as I expected. It was a bit of a bummer to break my pole since I think I have used the same ones for almost all of my hundred highest peaks as well as multiple other 4Ks, but they have had a lot of miles put on them and I think I got my monies worth.

Baldpate from the col between the peaks

Baldpate shelter

My broken trekking pole

Foot bridges just before reaching the road again

Once back to my truck I set down my gear and changed into some dry comfy clothes. The one thing I did have ready as a way to celebrate my finish though was a giant brownie that I bought before making the trip to Maine for the weekend. I didn't plan to eat the whole thing as it was pretty big, but I did make sure to eat a pretty good portion though. Before too long I put everything into the truck and started the drive home. It was still another 4 hours or more until I would be home.

A giant brownie to celebrate my finish

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go to my gallery on SmugMug

Elephant Mtn (3,772 ft) 9-28-19

Distance: 3.54 mi.
Elevation: 1,012 ft (overall) 1,103 ft (total)
Time: 1:30 (Summit) 2:52 (Total)
Trails: Bushwhack

Four years ago I tried to hike this mountain, but due to a lack of time to properly research it and looking at one incorrect map I made it to the wrong peak. I found out about a week after that hike that I went to the wrong peak and would have to come back. This peak isn't really near much else so I haven't had a chance to get back to the area to hike it yet. And since I didn't want to finish here, I needed to make it #99 on the New England Hundred Highest list.

Recent reports have said that the road leading into the start of the traditional bushwhack has gotten pretty washed out, but it sounds like some people have been able to make it through. Having a full-size pickup and a sense of adventure I was willing to try making it up the road. I didn't find it too bad, but there was one spot that I got out to make sure where I needed to go in order to avoid any potential sharp edges on the culvert I would be driving over. I would think at this time most any suv should be able to make it through with care, but I wouldn't try going all the way with a car.

Worst section of the road leading to the bushwhack.
The picture doesn't do it justice

Trip reports from this year also talked about the lower part of the bushwhack having been heavily cut with the trees left on the ground. This basically wiped out the old route. A few recent reports though mention a new route some have taken that follows a drainage for while before coming out near the top of the slash/cut. This route turns off the old logging road at the start of the bushwhack earlier and at the time was marked by a small cairn that was built.

The start of the new route I used on the way up

This route proved to be pretty easy to follow early on and is already showing signs of being a path. Although it does currently lead to one thick section of trees that was harder to push through before reaching the slash. Crossing the slash here was pretty short and I found it pretty easy. I found this route came out just below where I came to a brook that I crossed the last time here. This time I saw a more defined path that didn't cross the brook and I stayed on that.

Getting ready to cross the top of the slash

The path was easy to follow except for a couple marshy areas that were basically wet grassy areas. The path kind of disappears in these spots and you have to guess a little bit and pay close attention to where you are going to get back onto the path. Continuing up the path gets to a thicker patch of woods where care is needed just before coming to the high swampy area. I was expecting something like the marshy areas the path had already gone through, but it had more short trees, debris, and running water and mud than I thought. Following what looked like a bit of a path from logging though lead me to the herd path where it enters back into the trees.

The boggy area high up

From here to the summit the path was easy to follow and it didn't take too long to make it to the summit. I spent some time at the summit, but with no views and the chance of a late day shower I didn't stay too long. On the way down I saw what looked like another herd path turning off to the right. I didn't explore this, but I wonder if it is something of a more direct route or if maybe it could be used to avoid the slash all together or the high level swampy area at least. I'd like to go back and explore more, but it isn't likely to happen soon.

The summit with canister and sign on the right

A marshy area along the route

On the way down I followed the path back to the brook near where I crossed the slash. I decided that I wanted to see how bad the slash was to see if other hikers might have been exaggerating. They haven't been. I followed the old path until it reached the slash where it was apparent a straight route wouldn't be easy. I decided to explore some and see if by following the edge I might be able to find better walking and possibly an easier route for others. While I was able to go easily to start, it didn't stay that way. Following the edge came to thick enough trees that you still had to walk over the slash because you couldn't go around it. I then tried to pick easier routes or head for thinner areas of the slash, this helped some but also angled me so that I would spend more time in the slash which wouldn't really save much effort. Finally I decided to just straight line it to the old logging road/path that the traditional route followed. Once on that I made the easy walk back to the truck.

I wonder if with the new changes a more direct route might emerge that would avoid the wet areas and the slash altogether, possibly linking up with whatever that herd path I saw was. I'd like to do more research and looking to see if this might be a new option. This hike is relatively short in distance and time, but the route might still be able to be improved.

I crossed this brook the last time here, you shouldn't

Coming down through the slash near the old route

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go to my gallery on SmugMug

Old Speck Mtn (4,170 ft) 2-11-19

Distance: 7.13 mi.
Elevation: 2,773 ft (overall) 3,502 ft (total)
Time: 2:40 (Summit) 4:36 (Total)
Trails: Old Speck Trail

With a weekend in northern NH and Mondays off from work right now, it seemed like a great time to bag a winter peak. The closest 4K peak to where I was staying was Old Speck Mountain, so I decided to bring my gear with me and hike up. The last forecast I saw before heading up north was for temps on the summit around 0, but not a lot of wind and only some clouds. That turned out to be partly correct in the end.

I got to the trail head around 9am and found it plowed well, but narrower than in summer. Still room for a number of cars, but not as many as normal. There were also a couple other vehicles with hikers, but they all hiked across the street as I didn't see anyone else after leaving the parking lot. So after picking out my gear and putting it all together I headed up the trail.

The trail was smooth and hard at the start which also made it easy to follow. I started off with my microspikes and ended up leaving them on until I got back to my truck. After a short flat section, the trail starts the steady climb to the summit. The lower section includes one well frozen over brook crossing followed by a series of switchbacks before leaving the lower hardwoods near the upper junction of the Eyebrow Trail.

The only real water crossing, frozen over

Around this same part of the trail you will also come past your first view point with has a nice view down through Grafton Notch. You can also see up towards the summit as well. After this the trail stayed mostly in the spruce which was a bit thicker, but had some more open sections of forest. These open sections could be tricky to navigate after a fresh snow as I didn't notice lots of blazes and they are also getting closer to knee and hip level instead of head height. During the summer there are also some nice sections of exposed ledge that they trail follows through here. I love sections like that, but today the rocks was deeply covered in snow. There still were some views from these sections of trail though.

From the first view point

A brief open section of trail

As the trail got closer to the summit, it also got a bit rougher and was no longer the smooth trench in the snow. The trail at times turned into some spots of less consolidated snowshoe prints/holes. It also appeared to deviate from the summer route as there was at least one feature I remember from the summer that the trail didn't go by today. At a couple points the tracks in the snow would split as previous hikers appeared unsure about the trail. The tracks either stopped quickly, or shortly met back up with the main path. In all instances today, the path to the left was the correct one to follow.

Those blazes are getting a bit low

Where the AT turns off and the trail continues to the summit it was easy to follow through the trees. The snow wasn't deep enough that branches were in your face and this section doesn't gain much elevation so it was pretty easy going. There was only one fallen tree that was easy to walk right around. Once at the summit I added on my outer layer now that I wasn't hiking. I then headed up the tower with my camera and weather meter. At the top I first checked out the 360 degrees views, then checked the wind speeds and temperature. While I knew it was supposed to be cold today, I was surprised when my weather meter claimed it was -17 degrees. I checked the other temperature reading and saw the same thing, guess it was right. No wonder I didn't stop as much to take pictures, I needed to stay warm. The wind was also blowing pretty well which made it feel like a balmy -34 degrees. My coldest summit yet, beating Mt. Hale 7 years ago which was -13.

I stayed up on the tower as long as I could taking pictures and enjoying the views, but dang it was cold and I eventually needed to head back down the tower so I at least had the trees to block the wind. So after a bit longer at the summit, I grabbed my gear and headed back down. I could feel my feet getting a bit cold and thought it best to get moving and warm them back up. Had I known it was going to be this cold, I would have had on a different pair of socks.

The tower at the summit

View northeast over the notch

Looking southwest over the Mahoosuc Notch

Summit view to the southeast

Gray Jay waiting for a snack

The hike back down went smoothly. I knew which tracks to follow and knew that the trail would be in good shape. I moved quick enough to stay warm and only stopped a few more times for pictures or to adjust my gear. The hardest part of the trail today was one ice flow over some exposed rock which had a nice path around it just into the trees. In what seemed like little time, I was back to the parking lot and my truck. I took off my spikes and got my gear ready to go into the truck. Normally I would change some of my layers into dry clothing, but today I wanted to just get in the truck and run the heater. I'd change into another set of clothes later after I was warm.

The trickiest part of the trail today

All in all the hike went very well today with making good time and having great views. It was a bit colder and windier than expected, but I had limited access to forecasts leading up to the hike, which is why I brought lots of options to put into my pack. It was nice to get back to this peak and also check off another 4K in the winter.

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go to my gallery on SmugMug