Onestep, Pigpen, Gamehiker and I approached these peaks from the North. Passing over Twin Bridges in the metropolis of Ketchum, we continued straight ahead where the road for the Wright Trail turns Right. After a few miles, a deteriorated bridge forced us to abandon Onestep's trusty Ford Taurus, and continue on foot. ( The Taurus passed 200,000 miles on this trip, and reportedly it attributes it's long life and good health to frequent trips to out-of-the way places on back roads and rough logging roads)
We reached the summit ridge somewhat South of the high point; each new "false" summit was searched for a cannister until 4-5 humps later we reached the end of the ridge with its surprisingly open summit and nearly 360 degree vistas. With the clear skies and low humidity, visibilty was excellent: Sugarloaf/Crockers, Elephant/ Old Blue, Percys/Longs, Cabot/Weeks/Waumbek, Presidentials/Carters, and the whole Mahoosuc range were spectacular. "Bigger" isn't always better as this terrific, infrequently visited summit proved.
Not having found the summit register, we re-seached the leading candidates for the highpoint. Onestep found a broken jar at the base of one such knob, but it was clearly 10+ feet shorter than the far northern end of the ridge. The new jar is now at the SW edge of the summit clearing (one may savor the view as they sign in).
Retracing our steps South along the ridge, we turned East toward White's Notch in the col with the 3183' peak. The ascent of the East Peak's ridge was the thickest going of the day, but nothing too terrible. The summit of this peak, however, is one of those broad flat dense summits where the jar location is often far from obvious. Partially hidden by blowdown, the register was finally located on the western edge of a large sloping rocky outcropping.
The descent northwest was slow for 10-15 minutes until the conifirs gave way to hardwoods. Soon we found ourselves in a parklike stand of mature beeches where it was truly easy traveling. Behind us the summit ridge of East Bear was highlighted by bright sun and ahead of us Gooseeye and the Mahoosucs were starkly beautiful with sun and shadow dramatizing their contours.
Quite an amazing late November hike with temps in the 40's and virtually no snow! Great mountain views from this lovely spot in Western Maine! Hiking 3000 fters has led us to many such less-travelled places that in many ways are more enjoyable than their higher siblings.
We reached the summit ridge somewhat South of the high point; each new "false" summit was searched for a cannister until 4-5 humps later we reached the end of the ridge with its surprisingly open summit and nearly 360 degree vistas. With the clear skies and low humidity, visibilty was excellent: Sugarloaf/Crockers, Elephant/ Old Blue, Percys/Longs, Cabot/Weeks/Waumbek, Presidentials/Carters, and the whole Mahoosuc range were spectacular. "Bigger" isn't always better as this terrific, infrequently visited summit proved.
Not having found the summit register, we re-seached the leading candidates for the highpoint. Onestep found a broken jar at the base of one such knob, but it was clearly 10+ feet shorter than the far northern end of the ridge. The new jar is now at the SW edge of the summit clearing (one may savor the view as they sign in).
Retracing our steps South along the ridge, we turned East toward White's Notch in the col with the 3183' peak. The ascent of the East Peak's ridge was the thickest going of the day, but nothing too terrible. The summit of this peak, however, is one of those broad flat dense summits where the jar location is often far from obvious. Partially hidden by blowdown, the register was finally located on the western edge of a large sloping rocky outcropping.
The descent northwest was slow for 10-15 minutes until the conifirs gave way to hardwoods. Soon we found ourselves in a parklike stand of mature beeches where it was truly easy traveling. Behind us the summit ridge of East Bear was highlighted by bright sun and ahead of us Gooseeye and the Mahoosucs were starkly beautiful with sun and shadow dramatizing their contours.
Quite an amazing late November hike with temps in the 40's and virtually no snow! Great mountain views from this lovely spot in Western Maine! Hiking 3000 fters has led us to many such less-travelled places that in many ways are more enjoyable than their higher siblings.
