Trending into Maine: Some Aroostook & Washington Co. Peaks

Last week I spent 5 days in Northern and Eastern Maine. When I returned my rental car, I had driven over 1200 miles in 5 days. Boy that country is big.

Sunday Aug. 2nd - Peaked Mountain (Aroostook Co.)

The peak is the high point of "The County" and so perhaps attracts a little more traffic than is deserved. It's far off the beaten path and although it's a nice climb, it has no special views. It's somewhere between "Just another viewless bushwhack" and "Not too bad".

Here's a Google Map Topo I put together: Map

The County High Pointer organization has a few trip reports Here, and my route was similar to but not quite the same as several recent climbs.

One thing in common in several reports is that no one had found the "Benchmark", a C&GS Triangulation Station set in 1960 which is supposed to be "On the highest point of the mountain". It was just the extra challenge I needed to get to the peak and find that survey marker.

I took I-95 and Route 11 to Ashland and then 3 major logging roads: American Realty Road, Pinkham Road and Jake Mountain Road, for a total of about 25 miles (and a $10 day use fee) to get to the mountain. There is a relatively new logging road that goes north from Jake Mt. Rd just east of the mountain. This is actually totally drivable, by I was cautious and walked it since we had had so much recent rain and a small section near the turn off was flooded (only a few inches of water). I turned out this was the only bad spot, but what the hey, I didn't feeling like getting back in the car after I had started my hike. The "trailhead" is about .4 miles up this road, a short distance past a clear cut on the left (west) side of the road.

The peak across the clear cut from the logging road


And here was a little extra treat


There's a road shown on the topo which goes up to the col, but it starts from another road a bit closer to the mountain which has been pretty much obliterated by logging. If you look at the topo, note the road going west from the point marked "1209T". In several reports from a few years back (2005 and 2006) the climber had found some flagging that went west from the new road over to that old road. Well, the flagging is long gone and the area is now covered by recent skid roads with lots of slash. I had put a GPS waypoint on the point where the road headed west towards the col, and I was able to find it without too much trouble.

If you switch the map in the link above to "Sat" (use the selector in the upper right), you will see the new logging road, the clear cut and the skid roads that lead across to the old road. If you zoom in a little, you can actually see the faint trace of the old road leading to the col.

The old road to the col - not too bad


My original plan was to try and follow some of the roads shown on the topo which go up on the west side of the peak, so I had set various waypoints to mark these roads. But there was either too many roads, or too few, and so I gave up and just whacked from where I was to the top. It was honestly not too bad. If not for the heat and humidity, it would have been rather easy.

Too many woods roads? Or too few?


Once at the top, I set about digging for the marker. I had brought a metal detector since I knew it must be below the surface, and that helped. But it was a long process and I ultimately spent about two hours on the summit. Not all was doing work, I had to eat and rest some too, but clearly more time than your average bushwhacker would like to spend on such a peak. But of course I'm not your average bushwhacker - and come to think of it, I've never met your average bushwhacker .

Here's my report on the Benchmark hunting site for those interested in the gory details: Survey Marker report

The top - before I started digging


Left: the marker, about 6 inches down in a cleft in the bedrock
Right: I built a little cairn over the marker before leaving, a few feet from the existing cairn


On the way down I decided 1) to forget about trying to find the county corner monument shown on the Topo near the peak, and 2) just to whack to the col and forget about those other woods roads. I managed to get down easier than up (which is usually the case as long as you head down the right side of the peak ), and my old road was also easier to follow. I got back to the car by about 2:20 and was done for the day, except for the minor detail of heading up to Hamlin Maine to look for some boundary monuments . If you want to learn about that, read my report Here

Next Page: Some lesser peaks in Aroostook and Washington Counties

Monday August 3rd - Pole Hill - Amity, Maine (Aroostook Co.)

Pole Hill is in Amity Maine near the south end of the "North Line". What's that? Look at a map of Maine. The east border with Canada (the right hand side, for the directionally challenged) starts in Lubec on Passamaquoddy Bay, and then follows the Saint Croix River up past Calais, wiggles around and passes through a series of lakes, and finally wiggles it's way up to Aroostook County where it stops wiggling. Then the boundary line heads straight north to the Saint John River. That part of the border is called the "North Line". Where the wiggly line (the St. Croix) meets the straight line (the North Line) is what they determined in 1798 to be the source of the St. Croix, and they marked it with a cedar post. Then in 1843 they went high tech and put in a cast iron post. That's where I was floundering around in the bog on Monday.

An 1908 photo show the monuments at the source of the Saint Croix


Pole Hill rises just to the west (the US side) of the North Line about 1/2 mile north of the monument. It rises to 630+ feet (with a prominence of 80+ feet) so it's no Mount Everest (no, it's not even even a Great Blue Hill). But it was there (to quote someone famous) and it had a historic 1889 survey marker, so up I went (with ice ax, pitons, carabiners - no wait, that was Great Blue Hill ). The marker is actually a first order NGS station and historically it served to link the boundary line to the survey of the state of Maine and ultimately to the entire network of markers in the US in the late 19th century. Besides it's 120 years old this year so that's pretty cool.

Here's a map: Pole Hill Map

I took Monument Road in from Route 1 and walked through some very wet and boggy terrain (as in a foot of standing water and who knows how deep the mud went). I walked up the swath and whacked up the side of the hill and after a few minutes walk along an old track road, Voila! there it was on a big boulder. Well now, I must say, that was pretty easy.

Here's the Benchmark report: Pole Hill report

And here's a few pictures:

Left: Up along the boundary swath
Right: the boulder next to the track road


And here's my marker, inside a chiseled triangle on the boulder



Monday August 3rd - Rye Hill - Baileyville Maine (Washington Co.)

Rye Hill is about 10 miles west of Calais in Baileyville Maine. I guess you could say it's a Pole Hill kind of mountain. It rises 590+ feet and I have no idea of its prominence. But it was actually a tougher bushwhack than Pole Hill, maybe 10 minutes instead of 5 minutes.

Edit: I think I found Rye Hill's Saddle - it's a gravel pit west of Meddybemps Lake, elevation 190+. Prominence is therefore 400+ feet, the champ for today.

Here's the map: Rye Hill map

If you switch to "Sat" mode, you'll see the logging roads that got me to within about .1 miles. That was a big help.

I was doing this to "avenge" my failed 2007 attempt at finding the survey marker on the summit. It's from 1867 and it was one of the primary 19th century stations in the state of Maine. And it's just a copper bolt in the bedrock.

When I got to the summit, I was in a field of rocks and heavy brush. The description said the marker was under a "rock pile" but this site was like one big rock pile (where rock pile = any 2 or more rocks on top of or next to one another). But luck would have it the first spot I tried set my metal detector to beeping, and after a few minutes of digging through dirt, roots, needles and assorted vegetation, BINGO, a genuine 1867 copper bolt. Revenge is sweet, I tell you.

My benchmark report: Rye 1867 report

A few photos:

Left: the summit area before searching
Right: The copper bolt is uncovered


I built a small cairn to mark the spot -
Now that's a rock pile



Continued on next page

Tuesday August 4th - Maguerrewok Mountain, Calais Maine (Washington Co.)

Maguerrewok Mountain has the distinction of being the only one of these 3 lesser peaks ever known to have been climbed by any person now alive besides myself. And rising to all of 380+ feet with prominence (I think) of 220+ feet, it's the baby brother by far of these 3 peaks. But I would say it's actually the nicest.

It's in the Moosehorn National Wildlife Sanctuary in Calais, about 5 miles west of town. Just before the bridge over the marsh stream as you drive west on Route 1, park at the gate on the left of the road signed Ice House Road. A 1/2 mile walk get's you to Dan's Road, a shady grassy gem, and 1/2 mile on this gets you to the top.

Here's the map: Maguerrewok Map

There are actual views to the west, and for those interested in survey markers, no digging or metal detecting are required. Just a few dozen feet north of the small communications ssshed is and exposed ledge with an iron bolt sticking about an inch or two with a chiseled triangle around it.

And here's the Benchmark report: Maurerrewok report

And some pictures:

Left: Ice House Road
Right: Dan's Road


Left: The summit
Right: Some views


And of course, the marker


Well, th.th.that's all folks

But wait, how many of you peak baggers have bagged Pole Hill? Rye Hill? Maguerrewok?

Anyone?

Hah!

very interesting and different TR...thanks for posting

I second that. I always enjoy Papa Bear's detailed TRs. Can't say I have done any of those peaks. The closest was Bald Mountain in the Moosehorn (Baring) a few years back. It's just a hair south of Maguerrewok Mountain.

Bill

Cool report! Its like a great big treasure hunt.
Have you ever thought of doing work on the Appalachian Trail Boundary?
You'd be perfect for it!