onestep
New member
Last weekend MJ, post'r boy and I 'whacked the 3510' unnamed peak up by Unknown Pond in NH... aka Unknown Pond Peak. Today I decided to 'whack another unnamed peak... aka Ledge Pond Peak - 3130', up in Maine.
I left my house at 7:05, stopped at DD's to tank up with coffee and off I went. It was 32 degrees as I passed through Farmington around 8AM. Cooler than I expected. I reached the A.T. crossing around 9:00. The parking area wasn't accessable with my Taurus so I parked 'just' off the road as best I could (hoping I could get back out as the snow was frozen and I was downhill from the road). It was definatly cold out! realitivly speaking.
I started hiking north on the A.T. The trail had several inched of rain soaked frozen snow on it. That was a good thing as I left my gaitors at home. I figured when I started to sink in deeper than the top of my boots the MSR's would come off the back of my pack and earn their keep.
Aside from moose tracks, it appeared no one had been over this section of trail in a while. I did not see any human prints till the junction with the old A.T. where it came up from Sandy Stream Pond. At that point I followed boot tracks all the way to where I cut off the A.T. at Eddy Pond.
I stopped by the Lean-to to read/sign the log. Not very busy this winter. I discovered the tracks I'd been following where set down 04-04-06 by Ian who did a round trip into the Poplar Ridge LT. I also found that a large spruce blew down and landed on the lean-to's roof. Kinda like the Pine that fell a few years back atop Rainbow Stream LT, only smaller. The ridge pole is cracked where it extends out past the wall.
As the trail gained elevation the snow was getting deeper. Still prety much frozen but occasionally I would post hole. North of Ethyl Pond I put the snow shoes on and kept them on the rest of the hike. The woods N of the pond where spruce & fir with lots of snow frozen on the branches. If it warms up this will be a wet hike.
My plan was to start my 'whack somewhere just N of the 2nd pond. This wasn't to be the case though as the woods where thick and holding lots of snow. I followed the white blazes untill I reached Eddy Pond. I walked down to it's S shore and followed it W untill all that was in front of me was an uphill hike to the summmit.
The woods for the most part where open. I zig and zagged my way up following the route of least resistance. Well up the slope I came across a yellow and blue blazed line. I followed that uphill till it turned 90 degrees and dropped back off the mountain. At that point I was very close to the summit and facing thick spruce & fir holding lots of snow. I put on my shell, put my head down and plowed my way thru. It didn't take long to come to the first summit bump but there was no jar in sight. I pushed on finding another jarless bump. I soon began to think I wouldn't find the "right" bump and even if I did I probably wouldn't spot the jar hiding under all that snow.
Never say die! At 11:40 there it was, right where it belonged! I had a hard time opening the jar. My hands frooze while trying, but I finally got the top off. The ziplock bag that held the log was brittle (I guess from UV exposure) and all but fell apart in my hands. I replaced the ziplock with a new one.
The last entry was 07-07-03, and previous to that there was one entry in 2002. I guess this peak doesn't get visited often... my kind of summit!!
I hung out for a while reading the flury of entries from the late 80's and early 90's. It must have been fun back then with so many seeking out the 3K's. I guess I shouldn't complain... there is something special about having a trailess peak all to myself.
Onestep
I left my house at 7:05, stopped at DD's to tank up with coffee and off I went. It was 32 degrees as I passed through Farmington around 8AM. Cooler than I expected. I reached the A.T. crossing around 9:00. The parking area wasn't accessable with my Taurus so I parked 'just' off the road as best I could (hoping I could get back out as the snow was frozen and I was downhill from the road). It was definatly cold out! realitivly speaking.
I started hiking north on the A.T. The trail had several inched of rain soaked frozen snow on it. That was a good thing as I left my gaitors at home. I figured when I started to sink in deeper than the top of my boots the MSR's would come off the back of my pack and earn their keep.
Aside from moose tracks, it appeared no one had been over this section of trail in a while. I did not see any human prints till the junction with the old A.T. where it came up from Sandy Stream Pond. At that point I followed boot tracks all the way to where I cut off the A.T. at Eddy Pond.
I stopped by the Lean-to to read/sign the log. Not very busy this winter. I discovered the tracks I'd been following where set down 04-04-06 by Ian who did a round trip into the Poplar Ridge LT. I also found that a large spruce blew down and landed on the lean-to's roof. Kinda like the Pine that fell a few years back atop Rainbow Stream LT, only smaller. The ridge pole is cracked where it extends out past the wall.
As the trail gained elevation the snow was getting deeper. Still prety much frozen but occasionally I would post hole. North of Ethyl Pond I put the snow shoes on and kept them on the rest of the hike. The woods N of the pond where spruce & fir with lots of snow frozen on the branches. If it warms up this will be a wet hike.
My plan was to start my 'whack somewhere just N of the 2nd pond. This wasn't to be the case though as the woods where thick and holding lots of snow. I followed the white blazes untill I reached Eddy Pond. I walked down to it's S shore and followed it W untill all that was in front of me was an uphill hike to the summmit.
The woods for the most part where open. I zig and zagged my way up following the route of least resistance. Well up the slope I came across a yellow and blue blazed line. I followed that uphill till it turned 90 degrees and dropped back off the mountain. At that point I was very close to the summit and facing thick spruce & fir holding lots of snow. I put on my shell, put my head down and plowed my way thru. It didn't take long to come to the first summit bump but there was no jar in sight. I pushed on finding another jarless bump. I soon began to think I wouldn't find the "right" bump and even if I did I probably wouldn't spot the jar hiding under all that snow.
Never say die! At 11:40 there it was, right where it belonged! I had a hard time opening the jar. My hands frooze while trying, but I finally got the top off. The ziplock bag that held the log was brittle (I guess from UV exposure) and all but fell apart in my hands. I replaced the ziplock with a new one.
The last entry was 07-07-03, and previous to that there was one entry in 2002. I guess this peak doesn't get visited often... my kind of summit!!
I hung out for a while reading the flury of entries from the late 80's and early 90's. It must have been fun back then with so many seeking out the 3K's. I guess I shouldn't complain... there is something special about having a trailess peak all to myself.
Onestep
