BillDC
New member
Big Spencer, T2 R13
Set out from Greenville and headed north on the Lily Bay road through Kokajo (population "Not Many") and over Sias Hill toward Big Spencer. We reached the approach road and made our left turn and drove toward the north east end of Big Spencer. The approach road to the Public Lands parking area was in good condition, mostly dry with just a few wet spots. All bridges were in good shape. When we arrived at the parking area, it was a 36 degrees and bright and sunny.
We set out on the lower trail which is a nice woods road that makes its way up to the watchman's cabin. The road itself is fairly clear and is ok shape but did have 7 or 8 new blowdowns that were not there last year. The road continues up and bears right. This is a re-location that occured in the late 80s. The original trail goes straight and is flagged. It's a short whack and shaves a hair of the total distance if taken, but is wet at the top. We continued on the more obvious woods road.
The trail eventually arrives at the clearing where there is an old watchman's cabin. The cabin is still standing and is in fair shape, though is deteriorating more every year. Parks and Lands are actively discussing plans to demolish the whole site, though nothing is set in stone yet. The woodshed, toolshed, and outhouse are still standing as well. The cabin is open where we signed the guest book. We got some chuckles reading through some of the older entries!
The upper half of the trail heads out by the left side of the woodshed and rises slightly as you go by the site where some of the early cabins were on the right. You cross a brook which was also the water source for the watchman. The old piping is still visible along the trail. The trail then goes to a boggy area with some rotten bog bridges. There is a relocation to the left that goes around them if it's real wet.
From this spot, the trail climbs steeply along the ridge edge where there are some views. There were a few minor blowdowns, though the whole way seemed clear of large blowdowns. Most of these looked to have been cleared in the recent past. The trail continues up steeply through a series of around 7 wooden ladders. Most of these were in good shape, a few showed some rot. Immediately prior to the spot where there is a double ladder, there was a pile of snow and ice. After the last ladder, an old rusted steel support screwed into a large rock marks the location of the previous wooden tower.
At the summit, the fire tower is still standing as well as the myriad of communications facilities. I was suprised that they have installed a large microwave dish and antenna on the fire tower. These were not there last August. The dish is attached to the steelwork, but the antenna is mounted on a mast that they screwed to the floor of the fire tower and pushed a mast up through the roof hatch. The cab portion of the tower is so rotten that it's likely to blow off at anytime, taking the antenna and perhaps the dish with it!
We took in some spectacular views in all directions for a while and then headed back down. There was nearly no wind at the top and since it was cool, there were nearly no bugs! It was early enough for another hike, so we headed north to Soubunge Mountain.
Soubunge Mountain, T4 R11
This odd-ball mountain stands alone on the west side of Baxter State Park. There was an active firetower here that closed around 1969 and some other artiacts that were of interest. Since most trail guides show that the original trail was reclaimed by nature years ago, we decided to whack up the approximate route of the old trail which approached from the south and made a direct shot north to the summit.
We took the Telos road up from the Golden road to the top of Harrington Lake. On the left, there is a major logging road that comes in from the left. We took the left, but immediately took a spur road that was immediately on the right. It was much narrower, but passable. Took this road to a fork and went left. Went a little ways and parked in a clearing just before a slash field.
Thinking that this was approximately the direction of the original trail, we started the whack up through the slash pile and into the woods. The slash was bad, but when we entered the woods, the blowdowns were even worse. The bugs were pretty bad as well. Needed lots of bug dope and head nets. We made our way a bit in and found what looked like a herd path going in the right direction. We followed it a while and it was becoming evident that we had likely found the old trail. We confirmed it shortly after when we found portions of the old tower phone line and insulators. We continued on and found more insulators in the trees. The trail was faint, but it was fairly clear of large objects. About 3/4 of the way up, the trail dissapeared in blowdowns and we had to resort to compass. We did pick up the old trail again just before the summit.
Arriving at the summit, the old firetower steel was still there but no longer has a cab. The remains of the old cab are still there just a bit down the NE side. There were some good views into parts of Baxter and to the north from the tower with some larger spruce that had grown up obscuring some directions a bit. One of the former watchman must have had a dog as there was an old doghouse up there that was badly deteriorated. There is also a geocache up there as well. It was an ammo box at the foot of one of the tower legs. Signed the book in the cache and wandered back to the truck.
An overall good day. No other humans were seen all day.....
A few photos can be seen here -
http://picasaweb.google.com/BillDC3/BigSpencerAndSoubungeMountainsME?feat=directlink
Bill
Set out from Greenville and headed north on the Lily Bay road through Kokajo (population "Not Many") and over Sias Hill toward Big Spencer. We reached the approach road and made our left turn and drove toward the north east end of Big Spencer. The approach road to the Public Lands parking area was in good condition, mostly dry with just a few wet spots. All bridges were in good shape. When we arrived at the parking area, it was a 36 degrees and bright and sunny.
We set out on the lower trail which is a nice woods road that makes its way up to the watchman's cabin. The road itself is fairly clear and is ok shape but did have 7 or 8 new blowdowns that were not there last year. The road continues up and bears right. This is a re-location that occured in the late 80s. The original trail goes straight and is flagged. It's a short whack and shaves a hair of the total distance if taken, but is wet at the top. We continued on the more obvious woods road.
The trail eventually arrives at the clearing where there is an old watchman's cabin. The cabin is still standing and is in fair shape, though is deteriorating more every year. Parks and Lands are actively discussing plans to demolish the whole site, though nothing is set in stone yet. The woodshed, toolshed, and outhouse are still standing as well. The cabin is open where we signed the guest book. We got some chuckles reading through some of the older entries!
The upper half of the trail heads out by the left side of the woodshed and rises slightly as you go by the site where some of the early cabins were on the right. You cross a brook which was also the water source for the watchman. The old piping is still visible along the trail. The trail then goes to a boggy area with some rotten bog bridges. There is a relocation to the left that goes around them if it's real wet.
From this spot, the trail climbs steeply along the ridge edge where there are some views. There were a few minor blowdowns, though the whole way seemed clear of large blowdowns. Most of these looked to have been cleared in the recent past. The trail continues up steeply through a series of around 7 wooden ladders. Most of these were in good shape, a few showed some rot. Immediately prior to the spot where there is a double ladder, there was a pile of snow and ice. After the last ladder, an old rusted steel support screwed into a large rock marks the location of the previous wooden tower.
At the summit, the fire tower is still standing as well as the myriad of communications facilities. I was suprised that they have installed a large microwave dish and antenna on the fire tower. These were not there last August. The dish is attached to the steelwork, but the antenna is mounted on a mast that they screwed to the floor of the fire tower and pushed a mast up through the roof hatch. The cab portion of the tower is so rotten that it's likely to blow off at anytime, taking the antenna and perhaps the dish with it!
We took in some spectacular views in all directions for a while and then headed back down. There was nearly no wind at the top and since it was cool, there were nearly no bugs! It was early enough for another hike, so we headed north to Soubunge Mountain.
Soubunge Mountain, T4 R11
This odd-ball mountain stands alone on the west side of Baxter State Park. There was an active firetower here that closed around 1969 and some other artiacts that were of interest. Since most trail guides show that the original trail was reclaimed by nature years ago, we decided to whack up the approximate route of the old trail which approached from the south and made a direct shot north to the summit.
We took the Telos road up from the Golden road to the top of Harrington Lake. On the left, there is a major logging road that comes in from the left. We took the left, but immediately took a spur road that was immediately on the right. It was much narrower, but passable. Took this road to a fork and went left. Went a little ways and parked in a clearing just before a slash field.
Thinking that this was approximately the direction of the original trail, we started the whack up through the slash pile and into the woods. The slash was bad, but when we entered the woods, the blowdowns were even worse. The bugs were pretty bad as well. Needed lots of bug dope and head nets. We made our way a bit in and found what looked like a herd path going in the right direction. We followed it a while and it was becoming evident that we had likely found the old trail. We confirmed it shortly after when we found portions of the old tower phone line and insulators. We continued on and found more insulators in the trees. The trail was faint, but it was fairly clear of large objects. About 3/4 of the way up, the trail dissapeared in blowdowns and we had to resort to compass. We did pick up the old trail again just before the summit.
Arriving at the summit, the old firetower steel was still there but no longer has a cab. The remains of the old cab are still there just a bit down the NE side. There were some good views into parts of Baxter and to the north from the tower with some larger spruce that had grown up obscuring some directions a bit. One of the former watchman must have had a dog as there was an old doghouse up there that was badly deteriorated. There is also a geocache up there as well. It was an ammo box at the foot of one of the tower legs. Signed the book in the cache and wandered back to the truck.
An overall good day. No other humans were seen all day.....
A few photos can be seen here -
http://picasaweb.google.com/BillDC3/BigSpencerAndSoubungeMountainsME?feat=directlink
Bill
