buckyball1
New member
...after 10 days in the Azores, i was jet lagged and generally out of synch... figured i'd try an "easy" one...wrong again
Big Boardman-2175'-North on Rt 95, off at Exit 199, thru Lagrange, Milo and Brownville to the Jo-Mary gate of KI land (similar to North Maine Woods land i often hike). I drove in dirt roads (good condition with the obligatory 3-4 moose on the road) about 15 miles past the gate to where the AT crosses the Johnson Mt Road and parked. I planned to hike the AT over Little Boardman, past Mt View Pond and bushwhack from the flank of Big Boardman.
The AT was unremarkable and boring for the roughly 3.5-3.6? miles to my jump-off point. There were a few views from ledges on Little Boardman and some nice scenery around the pond. The trail is in need of some work. Footing is fine, but the brush has grown almost across the trail in many places and there are a ton of blowdowns that need to see a chainsaw (sorry to "complain", but this somewhat isolated section of the Trail is in need of attention-i'd be really unhappy hiking it with a full pack).
As i neared my bushwhack point, i saw a drainage which appeared to be a good place to head into the woods (fairly open). However i continued on another 0.2 miles to my planned start and was almost immediately sorry. It was about 0.8 crow flies miles to the summit and after a few tenths of easy woods, the terrain turned ugly-what would be called "crappy plus" on the OneStep (remember him?
) scale. The evergreens were extremely tight with dead lower branches that provided puncture wounds and lovely Brillo like scouring effect to any exposed flesh-lots of 25' of traverse/slabbing to find an alley to make 10-15 ' of upward progress--just hard work and no fun at all.
I was able to find a few thinner stretches near the summit and topped out on a fairly flat area that was semi-open underneath the big trees; absolutely no hint of views. What i perceive to be the "top" was in a very thick stand of evergreens/blowdowns which i dutifully waded through. Descent was a bit better than going up as i took what the mountain gave me even if it meant going way off direttissima line; i knew i'd hit the AT somewhere.
The endless blowdowns on the trail would have been fine practice for 400m hurdles, but were hard on my cramping inner thighs (electrolyte issue? old age?). I ran into 3 south bound "thrus" on my return over Little Boardman and we had a fun chat which was pretty much the bright spot of an otherwise tiring, low reward day
I had considered trying to come in from Kokadjo on the Frenchtown Road and using old log roads to approach a cut over section on the west/southwest side of the peak-think i'd try this were i to do it again (no chance)
12 left
jim
Big Boardman-2175'-North on Rt 95, off at Exit 199, thru Lagrange, Milo and Brownville to the Jo-Mary gate of KI land (similar to North Maine Woods land i often hike). I drove in dirt roads (good condition with the obligatory 3-4 moose on the road) about 15 miles past the gate to where the AT crosses the Johnson Mt Road and parked. I planned to hike the AT over Little Boardman, past Mt View Pond and bushwhack from the flank of Big Boardman.
The AT was unremarkable and boring for the roughly 3.5-3.6? miles to my jump-off point. There were a few views from ledges on Little Boardman and some nice scenery around the pond. The trail is in need of some work. Footing is fine, but the brush has grown almost across the trail in many places and there are a ton of blowdowns that need to see a chainsaw (sorry to "complain", but this somewhat isolated section of the Trail is in need of attention-i'd be really unhappy hiking it with a full pack).
As i neared my bushwhack point, i saw a drainage which appeared to be a good place to head into the woods (fairly open). However i continued on another 0.2 miles to my planned start and was almost immediately sorry. It was about 0.8 crow flies miles to the summit and after a few tenths of easy woods, the terrain turned ugly-what would be called "crappy plus" on the OneStep (remember him?
) scale. The evergreens were extremely tight with dead lower branches that provided puncture wounds and lovely Brillo like scouring effect to any exposed flesh-lots of 25' of traverse/slabbing to find an alley to make 10-15 ' of upward progress--just hard work and no fun at all.I was able to find a few thinner stretches near the summit and topped out on a fairly flat area that was semi-open underneath the big trees; absolutely no hint of views. What i perceive to be the "top" was in a very thick stand of evergreens/blowdowns which i dutifully waded through. Descent was a bit better than going up as i took what the mountain gave me even if it meant going way off direttissima line; i knew i'd hit the AT somewhere.
The endless blowdowns on the trail would have been fine practice for 400m hurdles, but were hard on my cramping inner thighs (electrolyte issue? old age?). I ran into 3 south bound "thrus" on my return over Little Boardman and we had a fun chat which was pretty much the bright spot of an otherwise tiring, low reward day
I had considered trying to come in from Kokadjo on the Frenchtown Road and using old log roads to approach a cut over section on the west/southwest side of the peak-think i'd try this were i to do it again (no chance
)12 left
jim
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