jrbren
New member
I have sort of made an annual long weekend outing out of the Sugarloaf Marathon (run on a Sunday (I think the 3rd Sunday) in mid-May) and doing a hike the following Monday. In mid May I look for south facing slopes to minimize the likely hood of encountering snow. I have hiked the Bigelow loop where I ascend the Fire Warden trail, hit Avery peak, then loop over the ridge to Horns pond via the AT and return via Horn's Pond Trail. Given the poor weather, this year I was going to either just hit West peak or just go to Horns pond and skip the summits, there were not going to be views in any case. After the hike I make the 5-6 hour drive back home to Vermont.
About 10 minutes into the hike you come to a small brook crossing which is the outlet of a large pond. On all 4 previous hikes this was some easy rock hopping and on you go. Yesterday (5/16/2011), the pond was extremely high such that there was no way to get across without submerging my legs up to my knees (estimated, I could not see the bottom). The current was swift, a game of poo sticks would be very short. I did not feel comfortable crossing so I went to plan B. Could possibly be done with waders or removing your footwear you need to be reasonably dry (bring sandals or water shoes of some sort ?). It was not worth it to me.
Plan B: TH is just 0.6 miles up the road from plan A TH. Hike to Horns pond via AT. Got to river crossing on AT 5 minutes into the hike, bridge is gone. Current looked dangerous to cross, could not see bottom of brook. Aborted plan B. I would not advise crossing here period.
Plan C: The map shows a road the AT crossed in plan B also crosses the brook. I would bush wack back to AT. I looked to see if there was a bridge on this road, there was not. Aborted plan C.
Plan D: Hike Sugarloaf from Caribou Pond Road. North slope in a ravine made this less desirable. On the drive to that trail head, I encountered a spot on the road where the road had washed away down to the metal pipe that normally lets water flow under the road. It was probably 50-50 that my Subaru could make it across and back without bottoming out, but I feared getting on the other side, going on my hike, and returning to find the road washout had worsened to the point my car would be stuck on the wrong side of the washout to get home. It was still several miles from this point to the TH. Abort plan D.
Plan E: I would be driving by the Whites on my way home. Waumbek would be a great choice for a relatively short hike on a south facing slope. Given the cloudy day forecast there would be no views no matter what summit I attempted, so that was my choice for the day. It went well on Waumbek, many wildflowers in the hard wood sections of that hike. I had hiked Waumbek once before 15+ years ago during winter.
About 10 minutes into the hike you come to a small brook crossing which is the outlet of a large pond. On all 4 previous hikes this was some easy rock hopping and on you go. Yesterday (5/16/2011), the pond was extremely high such that there was no way to get across without submerging my legs up to my knees (estimated, I could not see the bottom). The current was swift, a game of poo sticks would be very short. I did not feel comfortable crossing so I went to plan B. Could possibly be done with waders or removing your footwear you need to be reasonably dry (bring sandals or water shoes of some sort ?). It was not worth it to me.
Plan B: TH is just 0.6 miles up the road from plan A TH. Hike to Horns pond via AT. Got to river crossing on AT 5 minutes into the hike, bridge is gone. Current looked dangerous to cross, could not see bottom of brook. Aborted plan B. I would not advise crossing here period.
Plan C: The map shows a road the AT crossed in plan B also crosses the brook. I would bush wack back to AT. I looked to see if there was a bridge on this road, there was not. Aborted plan C.
Plan D: Hike Sugarloaf from Caribou Pond Road. North slope in a ravine made this less desirable. On the drive to that trail head, I encountered a spot on the road where the road had washed away down to the metal pipe that normally lets water flow under the road. It was probably 50-50 that my Subaru could make it across and back without bottoming out, but I feared getting on the other side, going on my hike, and returning to find the road washout had worsened to the point my car would be stuck on the wrong side of the washout to get home. It was still several miles from this point to the TH. Abort plan D.
Plan E: I would be driving by the Whites on my way home. Waumbek would be a great choice for a relatively short hike on a south facing slope. Given the cloudy day forecast there would be no views no matter what summit I attempted, so that was my choice for the day. It went well on Waumbek, many wildflowers in the hard wood sections of that hike. I had hiked Waumbek once before 15+ years ago during winter.
