buddy
Member
My friends and I just spent 4 days camping and bushwhacking near and around Merrium swamp in the Jay Wilderness area. We hiked in from the trail head on Jay Mountain road. We followed the trail for about .5 miles to the base of the last pitch up to the pine knoll. From there we headed south about .75 miles through somewhat challenging wetland and blow down to a EW shoulder that climbed up to the knoll that guards the E end of Merrium swamp. We were so happy to get out of the tangled woodland and up onto the open woods shoulder that we allowed ourselves to be pushed to the south side of the knoll, in the direction of the old trail, in a failed attempt to stay in open woods. The north side of the knoll is definitely the way to go as we discovered on our way out. The north side is thick and tight but relative to the tangled mess of layered blow down we encountered on the south side, it was truly a pleasure. It took us about 3 hours to go the last mile to the outlet of Merrium swamp. The views of the Jay mountain ridgeline from Merrium swamp make it a stellar place to visit. We set up camp in some hemlocks near the E end of the swamp. Alot of work to get there without going over private land, but once camp was set the painful memories of the hike in quickly faded replaced by the wilderness feel and wonderful natural beauty of the place. The next day we whacked to the top of Jay but with low clouds and no views to be had we decided to go back to the swamp and spend some time finding a better route back around the dreaded knoll. With day packs the task was quite easy and we tracked a good N side route back to the open shoulder. What a relief to know that we did not have to repeat the misery of the hike in to get out. The next day had a much higher overcast so we climbed to the top of Jay again and the next bump to the W. We did not travel the ridge line to much because it was mostly dry rock with 3 inches of powder on top hiding the occasional ice patches and loose rocks. It was not good for snowshoes, crampons or bare boots. We the went back down to the swamp and headed up the north south shoulder of Saddleback mountain. This was the highlight of the trip for me. Open birch glades, 2 ft of snow, and everyhting coated in snow and ice from 3000' up. We went as far as the first open, ledge guarded knob and after a short scramble were treaed to some of the best views and terrain of the trip. We stayed till dark then heade back to camp. The last morning we slept late, packed up camp then hiked packless to the knob we were at the day before. We were treat to crystal clear skies giving us great views of the high peaks and the surrounding areas. We drank it in for a few minutes then headed back down to the swamp, resumed our roles as pack mules and headed out. 3 hours later we were at the cars and fully satisfied with our adventure. We will return to Jay mountain in dry or snowier conditions to do the whole ridge. It's a lesser used jewel of an area that we plan on fully exploring. The north side of the ridge looks particularly rugged and fun to whack around in and the Slip mountain area looks nice as well. Buddy
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