peakbagger
In Rembrance , July 2024
I made my annual trip over to western maine to pick blueberries and incidentally climb a real nice mountain on Sunday. Andover White Cap is long granite ridge with open slabs on the west side and a large open summit. Over the last few years, a large portion of the mountain has been purchased by a local land trust and the access has been improved significantly. Prior to the purchase there was a lot of ATV use of the area which now appears to be under control. The main trail up the mountain from the south was relocated last year from a steep washed out old logging road to a new set of long switchbacks with some rock steps in places.
The top of the mountain also has a good view of the Roxberry Wind Farm project. The roads are in and back in Gilead Maine, turbine towers are being unloaded along RT 2. I expect by next year the turbines will be up so for some folks this may be their last chance to see the area without turbines.
White Cap has always had a bumper crop of blueberries, for most folks going up there the first time, they have to reset their expectations of what a "loaded" blueberry patch is. Its usually an effort to get them to skip the marginal patches which elsewhere would be considered a bumper crop and get to the "real patches". Last year there was a late season frost in the spring that really made a dent in the plants and the available berries , but this year the crop was a good as it gets. For folks who have visited a commercial blueberry barrren in eastern maine, there are many spots on white cap that would compare favorably. One of the group picked about a gallon of berries without moving out of a 50' radius. The other nice part of white cap is that there are at least four distinct varieties of "blue" berries, blue, silver, black and alpine. All the varieties are present this year but the conventional blue variety were probably the most prolific with the silver berries the least. The berries are a week or two early and although slightly ahead of the "peak" I expect this week or next weekend to be the best picking, although there are usually some pockets of berries that hag on for a week or so after.
The weather was just about perfect, with some clouds in the AM changing to clear skies and a good breeze in the afternoon. After picking and eating for a couple of hours we headed back down the mountain to the truck. To top off the day, we stopped by at Sunday River Brewing (having resisted the temptation to stop by the Pie Lady).
For those who want a break from the whites, a visit to Andover is a nice way to spend a day and the view from White Cap make a nice to plan for future Maine AT hikes.
The top of the mountain also has a good view of the Roxberry Wind Farm project. The roads are in and back in Gilead Maine, turbine towers are being unloaded along RT 2. I expect by next year the turbines will be up so for some folks this may be their last chance to see the area without turbines.
White Cap has always had a bumper crop of blueberries, for most folks going up there the first time, they have to reset their expectations of what a "loaded" blueberry patch is. Its usually an effort to get them to skip the marginal patches which elsewhere would be considered a bumper crop and get to the "real patches". Last year there was a late season frost in the spring that really made a dent in the plants and the available berries , but this year the crop was a good as it gets. For folks who have visited a commercial blueberry barrren in eastern maine, there are many spots on white cap that would compare favorably. One of the group picked about a gallon of berries without moving out of a 50' radius. The other nice part of white cap is that there are at least four distinct varieties of "blue" berries, blue, silver, black and alpine. All the varieties are present this year but the conventional blue variety were probably the most prolific with the silver berries the least. The berries are a week or two early and although slightly ahead of the "peak" I expect this week or next weekend to be the best picking, although there are usually some pockets of berries that hag on for a week or so after.
The weather was just about perfect, with some clouds in the AM changing to clear skies and a good breeze in the afternoon. After picking and eating for a couple of hours we headed back down the mountain to the truck. To top off the day, we stopped by at Sunday River Brewing (having resisted the temptation to stop by the Pie Lady).
For those who want a break from the whites, a visit to Andover is a nice way to spend a day and the view from White Cap make a nice to plan for future Maine AT hikes.
