buckyball1
New member
...the joy of a day when everything goes as planned.....
The night was clear, but the moon wasn't yellow nor did the leaves come tumbling down as i headed toward Stratton and the Beaudry, home of ME 3Ks and the Kibby Wind Project Part A & B and
Antler Hill-2650'-With no beta, i planned two possible approaches; from the south off Rt27 and the King and Bartlett Rd, or from the north off Rt 27 and the Beaudry Rd. As i passed thru Stratton i was again treated to one of my favorite views, the sun coming up over Flagstaff Lake covered in mist and surrounded by mountains--if you've not had the privilege, try.
I swung in the Beaudry Rd and noted that most of the army of personnel and equipment used to build the wind turbine farm is gone--some remains. The relatively heavy security seems a thing of the past-no guards, no physical checkpoints, no posting of certain roads. The wind turbines and the transmission lines remain, majestic and controversial (i like them). The Beaudry Rd itself is in the best shape it's been in many years, at least to the 6 mile point and the Wahl Rd (Kibby Stream Rd) where i turned south.
I had been unable to find anyone who'd been in this way recently and hoped it was passable for at least 6 more miles. In the usual mode of " there's a huge washout just around every turn", i was surprised to find the road in generally great shape. There's a new electrical substation about 1.5 miles back in and great views of both part A&B wind towers. Apart from a failing culvert (passable) about 4.75 miles in, i had no problem and reached the point where the transmission line (not visible on older sat pics) crosses the road between the south end of the Kibby Range (slightly different spot than Kibby Mt) and Antler-3 turbines are prominent and make low frequency "whooshing" sounds.
On the way in, i had the fairly common experience of following a cow/bull pair of moose trotting down the middle of the road. I always hate to get to close, but after awhile the dance becomes frustrating and fortunately they bolted into the brush after 1/2 mile. I decided to park at the transmission line and walked it for about 0.5 miles before intersecting my planned approach from NE of the peak. I hoped to use some old skid roads which showed up on sat pics like "claw marks" reaching half way up Antler.
The cutting was old enough that the skid trails were badly overgrown and pretty much useless; going was easier in the woods. The woods were moderately thick (nothing terrible), initially softwoods with undergrowth, giving way to mixed forest as one neared the peak-sunny, 60s, pretty dry, some blowdown. The last 0.3 had a steep stretch with more blowdown- honest work.
The summit is fairly large and flat making finding the highpoint a tad iffy. I hoped it was on one of the several south faces bumps which had partial views on a mostly heavily wooded, viewless top-not to be. There's a small ridge pretty much in the center of the summit contour which looks like, has the right elevation of and whose waypoint matches the summit. I crisscrossed this numerous times in heavy blowdown looking for the JP jar, but for naught. It's "open enough" to make the usually well placed jar visible (i checked from multiple angles) so i'm pretty sure it's gone and or buried in debris.
Easy descent and drive out to Rt 27. Normally i'd have done another peak-had Pt 2900 on the swath in Parc Gosford ready to go, but right now i'm trying not to beat myself up every day out..so back to Stratton and home thru Kingfield, N New Portland, Madison, Skowhegan, Rt 95, the usual stuff
The only disappointment of the day other than not finding the JP jar was the disappearance of my thick PBJ sandwich which i inadvertently placed on the roof of my car as i left Orrington and is now fodder for a critter along the highway.
-21-
jim
The night was clear, but the moon wasn't yellow nor did the leaves come tumbling down as i headed toward Stratton and the Beaudry, home of ME 3Ks and the Kibby Wind Project Part A & B and
Antler Hill-2650'-With no beta, i planned two possible approaches; from the south off Rt27 and the King and Bartlett Rd, or from the north off Rt 27 and the Beaudry Rd. As i passed thru Stratton i was again treated to one of my favorite views, the sun coming up over Flagstaff Lake covered in mist and surrounded by mountains--if you've not had the privilege, try.
I swung in the Beaudry Rd and noted that most of the army of personnel and equipment used to build the wind turbine farm is gone--some remains. The relatively heavy security seems a thing of the past-no guards, no physical checkpoints, no posting of certain roads. The wind turbines and the transmission lines remain, majestic and controversial (i like them). The Beaudry Rd itself is in the best shape it's been in many years, at least to the 6 mile point and the Wahl Rd (Kibby Stream Rd) where i turned south.
I had been unable to find anyone who'd been in this way recently and hoped it was passable for at least 6 more miles. In the usual mode of " there's a huge washout just around every turn", i was surprised to find the road in generally great shape. There's a new electrical substation about 1.5 miles back in and great views of both part A&B wind towers. Apart from a failing culvert (passable) about 4.75 miles in, i had no problem and reached the point where the transmission line (not visible on older sat pics) crosses the road between the south end of the Kibby Range (slightly different spot than Kibby Mt) and Antler-3 turbines are prominent and make low frequency "whooshing" sounds.
On the way in, i had the fairly common experience of following a cow/bull pair of moose trotting down the middle of the road. I always hate to get to close, but after awhile the dance becomes frustrating and fortunately they bolted into the brush after 1/2 mile. I decided to park at the transmission line and walked it for about 0.5 miles before intersecting my planned approach from NE of the peak. I hoped to use some old skid roads which showed up on sat pics like "claw marks" reaching half way up Antler.
The cutting was old enough that the skid trails were badly overgrown and pretty much useless; going was easier in the woods. The woods were moderately thick (nothing terrible), initially softwoods with undergrowth, giving way to mixed forest as one neared the peak-sunny, 60s, pretty dry, some blowdown. The last 0.3 had a steep stretch with more blowdown- honest work.
The summit is fairly large and flat making finding the highpoint a tad iffy. I hoped it was on one of the several south faces bumps which had partial views on a mostly heavily wooded, viewless top-not to be. There's a small ridge pretty much in the center of the summit contour which looks like, has the right elevation of and whose waypoint matches the summit. I crisscrossed this numerous times in heavy blowdown looking for the JP jar, but for naught. It's "open enough" to make the usually well placed jar visible (i checked from multiple angles) so i'm pretty sure it's gone and or buried in debris.
Easy descent and drive out to Rt 27. Normally i'd have done another peak-had Pt 2900 on the swath in Parc Gosford ready to go, but right now i'm trying not to beat myself up every day out..so back to Stratton and home thru Kingfield, N New Portland, Madison, Skowhegan, Rt 95, the usual stuff
The only disappointment of the day other than not finding the JP jar was the disappearance of my thick PBJ sandwich which i inadvertently placed on the roof of my car as i left Orrington and is now fodder for a critter along the highway.
-21-
jim
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