Boundary Peak - 6/29/12

[Damselfly]

Boundary Peak - from the Canadian side

I rented a lovely cabin (Breezy Acres Cabins) in Eustis from which to hike some of the NEHH. Boundary Peak was my first adventure.


Road Directions:

-Rt. 27 from Stratton to the border; about 28 miles, or a half hour
-reset odometer at the border
0.0 border / proceed along Rt. 161 towards Woburn
2.7 in Woburn, turn left onto Rt. 212 Ouest
4.7 turn left into Mt. Gosford Park entrance onto Rang Tout-de-Joie; large yellow sign

8.5 park gate house is on left; stop and pay entrance fee

$8.00 for entrance; $2.25 for a nice map; credit cards accepted

-reset odometer
0.0 at gate house, turn left onto Chemin Gosford
0.7 go straight at stop sign / intersection
3.7 Mt. Gosford trailhead
6.1 road forks left onto Chemin Clearwater (the right is gated and overgrown... Can't go wrong)
7.4 leave the main park loop and turn right onto Chemin de la Grive (signed) the dirt road gets rockier; I was glad to be riding in my Honda CRV
8.2 arrive at a large gravel pit with. Park here.


Stratton to the border:about a half hour
Border to gravel pit: about 16.5+ miles / about 1 hour


Trail Directions:

The ATV trail / woods road proceeds straight, but immediately splits. Take the right fork and immediately cross a brook (just suck it up and get your feet wet). The ATV trail starts to climb steeply... Footing is on loose rock. The stiff climb only lasts about 15 minutes, and then the grade eases off. The hike to the boundary swarth is only about a half hour. Turn left, or north, and start hiking. Within minutes you'll see Boundary Peak, about a mile away. The swarth rolls up and down past hunting blinds, salt licks and other small trails into the woods. Once on the peak, you'll find a sign (Mt. Panther), can and log on a tree just off the swarth on the US side. Total time, car to summit: One hour.



Beth Zimmer
Btzimr at gmail dot com

 

[una_dogger]

Hey Beth
Did you happen to notice the date the last time someone signed the register?

I often found it fun to see how long ago it had been since a far off peak was visited

 

[Damselfly]

Didn't write it down... but the most recent hiker was a week or so before me.

 

[una_dogger]

When MichaelJ and I completed the Maine Bushwacks, we really enjoyed reading the registers, and noticing how many names we recognized from VfTT. Good times.

Congrats to you. Getting Boundary out of the way is a good feeling!

 

[MichaelJ]

I wonder if anyone attempts the Boundary approach from White Cap any more? We managed the bushwhack to the swath, and walked the swath as far as where the Gosford route comes in, then being precipitously low on water on a very hot day had to turn back (I had leg cramps) so as to have time to get NKD before dark. That 'whack was a challenge, and so damned rewarding, too.

 

[Mike and Ellen]

Hi Beth, Thanks for the great trip report. We hope to hike this one in September along with some of the other NEHH
in the area. We tried Boundary last year and got turned back because of Irene damage. Was the road to the trailhead new? Mike

 

[Damselfly]

The roads to the trailhead are well established. Again, you're in Mt. Gosford Park. The park loop road around Mt. Gosford is a fine dirt road. Again, the last 1/2 mile, when you turn onto Chemin de la Grive (signed), is really rocky. Not bumpy rocky, but the road is made of loose, shale-like rock. As I was driving it, my mind was having a conversation about how to change a flat. Ha!

 

[Daniel Eagan]

Did you have trouble crossing the border? When we did it a couple of years ago it was easy to get into Canada but took a lot more time getting back into the US.

 

[Damselfly]

Easy squeezy. A passport. A smile. A backpack. No beer. And the US border agent like the place I was staying at