Boundary Peak and re-entering US

[ctsparrow]

I have recently been researching Boundary Peak on the Maine/Canada border...i was totally loving Bob & Geri's pics. I shared the image of this peak with my son, who is a hockey and thus..in a 10yr olds logic..a Canada fan.

Recently, i was around people with Canadian relatives and they were saying that as soon as next year a passport will be needed to enter the US from Canada...I'm not sure if this was specifically for Canadian born or if this will include over and back for US Citizens. I do not want to go through the hassle of passports for myself and son for a simple hiking trip...it would see little use otherwise. Does anyone have reliable info on this or a good link? (Obviously, US Customs would be a good place to start, however, i'm basically being lazy here ) I will move this hike up to this fall, if need be.

Also, on Boundary Peak...does anyone have driving directions from the 91 corridor of VT/NH...i really don't want to drive way over to Maine and then in to Canada....thanks, ctsparrow

 

[Waumbek]

As of May, 2006, there will be a 17-month delay before any further steps are taken:

From the Caledonia Record, May 23, 2006
[start quote]The U.S. Senate recently adopted an amendment to delay for 17 months a requirement that Americans show a passport or high-tech ID card when reentering the United States after a brief visit to Canada. The measure was co-sponsored by Vermont Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy and Republican Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska.

According to Vermont's senior senator, the state and homeland security departments haven't gotten together yet on what kind of new IDs to require. In Sen. Leahy's words: "We want to buy enough time to fix these problems beforehand instead of having to fix the mess it will cause afterward."

Yes, it would be a mess if you need a passport just to sit in a different row at the Haskell Opera House in Derby Line. Thank you Senators Leahy and Stevens for adding some sanity to these border deliberations. [end quote]

 

[Kevin Rooney]

If you approach it from the Maine side and bushwhack to Monument, you are in a bit of a dilemna, at least from my point of view. Unless one of the governments puts up some type of fence, it's nearly impossible to hike along the boundary swath and NOT cross back and forth, dozens of times, 5, 10 or even 20 feet in and out of each country. There's a fairly worn foot path, and it just chooses the best/most direct route along the boundary. On this route you're mostly in the US with short/brief forays into Canada.

OTH - there are at least two other approaches. One is drive into Canada and around the regular/secondary roads to the Game Club which owns some land nearby. PM Papa Bear - IIRC correctly, he did this route somewhat recently. The other approach I'm aware of is from the US side - drive as far as you can/dare past the jumping off point for Monument. The locals drive out to pond on the left, so the road is usually passable to this point. Then, park and walk approx another mile to a beat-up gate - it's the border, but the last time I was there there were no markings/signs of any kind. A few hundred yards later you'll come to the same road I mention at the beginning of the paragraph.

Given the security hysteria surrounding border security at the moment, I probably would be a bit reluctant to use this second option, as you do have to rather deliberately go a short distance into Canada - it's not quite the same as wandering back and forth over an imaginary line in the brush along the boundary swath. OTH - if you had a passport, and there were no signs at that old gate, then ... just make sure the cat at home has an extra helping of food and water, just in case!

 

[dms]

I've done all the NH and ME 3k peaks along the boundary swath and I have never ever had a problem. If there are security devices in these areas I have never seen them, nor have I ever seen evidence of border patrols being conducted.

 

[spongebob]

You only have to worry about all those Canadian hunting shacks with the salt licks luring our poor Maine moose to be shot. There is NAFTA in action for you.

I think the hike along the border swath is really cool with the monuments and the hunting do-hickeys.

 

[Sheomet]

Technically it is illegal to cross into canada at all, I have snowmobiled in that area and know some people that ride the border over boundary peak, and they have had the border patrol following them watching for them to cross the boundary, and they have even seen helicopters patrolling the border cut. If you are caught crossing the border illegally it is a big fine, something like $5000. This time of year though I think it's unlikely they will be out there, I think they are looking for drug dealers using snowmobilies to cross the border.

 

[poison ivy]

Has anyone been up to Boundary recently and can confirm that the gated road is open to cars? (I'm speaking of the dirt road that runs past the Gosford trailhead.) I am worried about driving all the way up there again and finding out they won't let me drive down the road.

- Ivy

 

[Waumbek]

P.S. Even if passports are not yet required of US citizens returning to the US from Canada, border crossings are slow.

 

[Mac]

Passports

Right now, the US Govt plan is to implement passport requirements on January 1, 2007 for air and sea travel and January 1, 2008 for land travel

This will be for everyone (American, Canadian, etc.)

The US Senate resolution delaying this implementation, as I understand it, can be overruled or vetoed at some point

So much for my annual trip to Someday Bigger & the Loaf

 

[poison ivy]

the "gate" (chain) at Zec Louise-Gosford should be open ... still $5 Canadian per car to enter the park

Could have sworn I saw a red gate... but perhaps I was just seeing red after driving all the way up there and not being able to hike the peak!

- Ivy

 

[Bob]

I won't even comment about getting hassled by THE MAN at the border...

 

[sli74]

I won't even comment about getting hassled by THE MAN at the border...

Yeah ! And ya'll thought my "mistaken for a terrorist face" was going to be the big problem . . . ahem . . . cough . . . Sean and BoB . . . wasn't me that was the problem even though I brought about 6 pieces of identification to prove my American citizenship

Do people find that just a driver's license is enough to get back across? We are thinking about driving to Michigan to explore Isle Royale before visiting Brian's family but going through Canada to get to Isle Royale . . . just don't want to have issues getting back into the country.

sli74

 

[Tom Rankin]

Yeah ! And ya'll thought my "mistaken for a terrorist face" was going to be the big problem . . . ahem . . . cough . . . Sean and BoB . . . wasn't me that was the problem even though I brought about 6 pieces of identification to prove my American citizenship

Do people find that just a driver's license is enough to get back across? We are thinking about driving to Michigan to explore Isle Royale before visiting Brian's family but going through Canada to get to Isle Royale . . . just don't want to have issues getting back into the country.

Well, like u said seema, it depends on what you look like, unfortunately!

But for me, I almost never have to show ID. They see a US license plate, and a clean shaven, handsome guy, and I'm good to go!

 

[sli74]

Well, like u said seema, it depends on what you look like, unfortunately!

But for me, I almost never have to show ID. They see a US license plate, and a clean shaven, handsome guy, and I'm good to go!

Yeah, I have had lots of issues in the past but there is never a consistent answer. I don't want to replace my passport, don't need it for much else at this point but in the past a driver's license has NOT been enough and that was prior to 9/11 . . . since 9/11, I have only been across the border with the VFTT group in 2004 to hike Boundry and Gosford and that time things went smoothly for me since there were others there to be hassled

Maybe, Tom, we need to bring you on our trip with us so you and Brian can get us back in with your handsome faces

Talking about crossing into Canada, it seemed like the proccess was easier in Maine than it ever is on my way to Montreal . . . is that just a population/crowd thing or do different states have different rules?

sli74

 

[Chip]

Do people find that just a driver's license is enough to get back across? We are thinking about driving to Michigan to explore Isle Royale before visiting Brian's family but going through Canada to get to Isle Royale . . . just don't want to have issues getting back into the country.
sli74

Seema, it would appear as if the advertised access is from the U.S. side. Traveling from Detroit to Windsor is like going from NY to NJ on the GWB, but they do have the right to stop anyone for anything. I'd carry more than a drivers license, and I look like Richie Cunningham .

If I was planning to hike the Canadian border, I'd contact Canada Border Services Agency and ask them what the deal is. I wouldn't be surprised if carrying pre-filled customs documents, or the like, is suggested. I have friends who hunt the border from ME and they have been stopped and reminded about where the border is, and they were still in the U.S.

 

[Chip]

They see a US license plate, and a clean shaven, handsome guy, and I'm good to go!

Who do you travel with ?

 

[Tuco]

On my regular excursions I am asked to produce a license and have also produced a birth certificate, so I always have one on hand to ease the process along. Don’t have a passport- yet.

 

[Kevin]

I am hiking the Chilkoot Trail in early August... The woman at Parks Canada where I had to secure my permit said to bring along my passport, without it I would not be able to do the whole hike. Apparently I need to show my passport when I go through Customs in Skagway, AK, then again at a Canadian border patrol station at the top of the Chilkoot Pass in the middle of no-where... Then once again when I get on the train to return to Skagway.

I am not sure if this is new, due to the latest regulations or just in a general post 9/11 world. I just thought it funny that I have to have a passport and show it when I go through the backcountry....

Kind of make me me worried is that really a bear over there or an undercover DEA or Border Patrol agent... LOL

Catch you later...
Kevin

 

[poison ivy]

I am hiking the Chilkoot Trail in early August...

I hope you will post a trip report when you return. Chilkoot is among the hikes on my to-do list.

- Ivy

 

[Nate]

I've visited Canada once a year since '04 (as recently as this past Memorial Day Weekend), and I have yet to be asked for more than a driver's license. Then again, I was driving over in 2000, and once they found out I was unemployed, they asked me a slew of other questions.

So, everyone should watch out for that.