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

New England 67 In One Year

Background: While hiking my first round of the 48, I thought "it could be fun to do all 48 in one year at some point." Well, nearing completion of that list in just under 3 years, it dawned on me I would do 39 of the peaks in the last 12 months of it. 48 wouldn't be much more of a challenge. So after giving up on that idea for a while, I came up with the idea of doing all of the New England 4Ks in one year. I wanted to hike the ones in Vermont and Maine anyways. After flying the idea by my wife, she was foolish enough to let me attempt it. Even during a year where we would be having our first child.

So after my first hike on January 25, 2014, I started counting the days. During the start, I spent more time snowmobiling than hiking, which used up some of my weekends. Having my own snowmobile for the first time interrupted my plans of trying to get a bunch of peaks done in winter. Then I took off the month of May from hiking since my wife and I became parents of a beautiful daughter at the end of April. After that though, I started hiking almost every weekend and some weekdays. Throwing in family functions when needed. And after taking 3 weeks to get the motivation to do Owl's Head in winter again, I finished my quest two days later on the last possible day on Mt. Mansfield. Completing both my first full round of the 67 and my 67 in one year at the same time.

Some of the numbers from the year:
9,871 miles of driving (luckily my car gets 35+ mpg)
394 miles of hiking
131,776 feet of elevation gain
38 days hiking which was 34 hikes having both a 3 day pemi-loop and 3 day extended presi traverse
I also hiked on over 120 miles of new trails this year

Lessons learned:
1. Try to get more hikes done early. The end of the year gets very busy otherwise.
2. Doing this in a year where you have a new child, you'll loose a big chunk of time there. One month for me.
3. Get Owl's Head done early. It took me two attempts to get this peak, both near the end. By the second attempt, I was lacking the motivation to do it some weekends.
4. Plan an extra day when travelling to do multiple hikes in one trip. I needed two trips to Baxter State Park due to unplanned changes in my hikes and not having an extra day. I also needed another trip to the Rangeley area due to weather effects on my hikes.
5. When hiking a wooded summit for the first time in a new area, try to get GPS coordinates of the peak ahead of time. I turned around too early hiking Mt. Abraham and Mt. Ellen in VT because I thought the high point I hit was the summit. This created an extra hike in VT.
6. Do what you can to make it fun. Hike the peaks you want when you want and try to get out on nice weather days when ever you can. As the list of remaining peaks dwindle, you might not look forward to a hike as much since you don't have as many choices to pick from.

List of the peaks in order
1-25-14 Tecumseh
3-2-14 Hale
3-9-14 Cabot
3-18-14 Cannon
4-6-14 Camel's Hump (VT)
4-24-14 Moosilauke
6-1-14 Abraham (VT)
6-14-14 Bigelow West Peak, Bigelow Avery Peak (ME)
6-16-14 Saddleback Mtn, Saddleback Horn (ME)
6-22-14 North Kinsman, South Kinsman
6-28-14 North Crocker, South Crocker, Redington (ME)
6-29-14 Spaulding, Sugarloaf (ME)
7-17-14 Flume, Liberty, Lincoln, Lafayette
7-18-14 Garfield, Galehead
7-19-14 South Twin, North Twin, West Bond, Bond, Bondcliff
7-26-14 Mt. Ellen (VT)
8-9-14 Mt. Abraham (ME)
8-10-14 Old Speck Mtn (ME)
8-21-14 Jackson, Pierce, Eisenhower
8-22-14 Isolation, Monroe
8-23-14 Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Madison
9-8-2014 Baxter Peak (ME)
9-9-2014 North Brother (ME)
9-13-2014 Moriah
9-27-2014 Tom, Field, Willey
10-4-2014 Hamlin Peak (ME)
10-11-2014 Zealand
10-19-2014 Whiteface, Passaconaway
10-28-2014 Carter Dome, South Carter, Middle Carter
11-02-2014 Waumbek
11-08-2014 Carrigain
11-15-2014 Killington (VT)
11-22-2014 South Hancock, North Hancock
12-21-14 East Osceola, Osceola
12-27-14 North Tripyramid, Middle Tripyramid
1-2-15 Wildcat D, Wildcat A
1-22-14 Owl's Head
1-24-15 Mt. Mansfield (VT)

Photo galleries from all of the hikes can be found HERE