docross
In Memoriam to a Deceased Member
A group of 6 highly-motivated hikers bagged this peak after driving in 11 miles on the Canada Road from Coburn-Gore. GPS track can be viewed here, along with photos.
Al and I met Pete and Albee at exit 17 on I-93 and took two cars up to the Roadhouse in Stratton. Al and I arrived after dinner, and found the other two plus a large group including ARM and Frodo, MEB, Merry, Donna, and many others whose names I didn't catch. We slept in the bunkroom, marred only by a group coming in at 2 am who turned on the lights. We retaliated by getting up at 5:30 and clunking around while getting our gear together.
Pete found out pretty quickly that Mainely Yours does NOT open at 6 am; more like 7:30. Not for the hiker crowd.
We headed up 27 to Coburn-Gore, then drove down the Canada road, which was free of logging trucks on this Saturday. The road had a good base, and is accessible by any vehicle.
The Hike
The snow from 10 days previous had not consolidated, so the going was slow from the beginning, after an 8:30 start. We found the logging road that headed toward the swath, but had to rotate breakers after going 50 steps.
The logging road gave out and we pretty much navigated by GPS, heading for the swath, which we suspected had been snowmobiled out. (We were correct). From our initial bearing of approx. 300 M, we decided, once in the woods and approaching White Cap Pond, to head for the swath by the most direct route, over Dennison Bog. This gave us a bearing of approx. 270 M.
Somewhere north of White Cap Pond we came upon a woods road that took us in the correct direction. We speculated that the other way headed toward the peak. Short of the bog, the road disappeared, and it was bag to shoving through the trees, and falling into spruce traps. The snow in the woods was just as deep as in the open, and while Claudette could scamper across only sinking in a few inches, the rest of us made heavy going of it.
It was fairly easy walking across and along the frozen bog; Pete and Al each got a snowshoe wet near what appeared to be a beaver dam. Then we had to cross about a half-mile of unprotected bog in the face of a brisk wind, which caused most of us to don face masks and balaclavas. Fortunately the snow was packed by the wind, and made for easy going.
Back in the woods again, we relyed on the GPS to get to the swath, which we reached somewhere around 2 pm.
We had a lot of miles to cover, and a lot of steep elevation, up and down, along the swath. It was clear we would be coming out in the dark; the decision was made to go for the peak.
The Swath
We met 6 sled-riders as we were plodding up the very steep slope to MON 447; they were very cautious, but even so, one of the machines started to capsize as it was passing me on the steep slope, and I had to leap into waist-deep snow.
Albee and Pete surged far ahead of the rest of us, and we met them returning down the final grade. Albee was heading to tag Monument Peak. Neither of them could get the canister open, but Kevin had it open by the time Al and I made it to the summit. The canister is new since I was there in October 2005; it's a nice white PVC pipe, with a slide-off cap, and is located about 20 yards off the swath on the US side; there is a herd path to it.
None of us read through the entries in the log completely, so I don't know when the register was placed.
The return
The return trip was reasonably uneventful; by the time Al and I had returned to our entry point onto the swath, Albee had come down from Monument, so we were one happy group again. No trouble following our trail, and since Pete had found all the spruce traps on the way in, we didn't have to worry about those either.
We were back at the cars by 7:30; Claudette and Kevin took off for home, and the rest of us headed into Stratton to find something to eat. Luckily the Plaza was open, and very attractive young women were prancing about advertising Cuervo tequila. The band was cranking out oldies at high volume, but the food was filling; we staggered into the Mountain View somewhere around 10 pm, glad to get a bed and hot shower.
Stats: 15 miles round trip, 14 miles breaking trail through 12-18" snow. 11 hours total time, approx. 2300 feet elevation gain.
Thanks to Al, Pete, Albee, Claudette and Kevin for the epic adventure!
Al and I met Pete and Albee at exit 17 on I-93 and took two cars up to the Roadhouse in Stratton. Al and I arrived after dinner, and found the other two plus a large group including ARM and Frodo, MEB, Merry, Donna, and many others whose names I didn't catch. We slept in the bunkroom, marred only by a group coming in at 2 am who turned on the lights. We retaliated by getting up at 5:30 and clunking around while getting our gear together.
Pete found out pretty quickly that Mainely Yours does NOT open at 6 am; more like 7:30. Not for the hiker crowd.
We headed up 27 to Coburn-Gore, then drove down the Canada road, which was free of logging trucks on this Saturday. The road had a good base, and is accessible by any vehicle.
The Hike
The snow from 10 days previous had not consolidated, so the going was slow from the beginning, after an 8:30 start. We found the logging road that headed toward the swath, but had to rotate breakers after going 50 steps.
The logging road gave out and we pretty much navigated by GPS, heading for the swath, which we suspected had been snowmobiled out. (We were correct). From our initial bearing of approx. 300 M, we decided, once in the woods and approaching White Cap Pond, to head for the swath by the most direct route, over Dennison Bog. This gave us a bearing of approx. 270 M.
Somewhere north of White Cap Pond we came upon a woods road that took us in the correct direction. We speculated that the other way headed toward the peak. Short of the bog, the road disappeared, and it was bag to shoving through the trees, and falling into spruce traps. The snow in the woods was just as deep as in the open, and while Claudette could scamper across only sinking in a few inches, the rest of us made heavy going of it.
It was fairly easy walking across and along the frozen bog; Pete and Al each got a snowshoe wet near what appeared to be a beaver dam. Then we had to cross about a half-mile of unprotected bog in the face of a brisk wind, which caused most of us to don face masks and balaclavas. Fortunately the snow was packed by the wind, and made for easy going.
Back in the woods again, we relyed on the GPS to get to the swath, which we reached somewhere around 2 pm.
We had a lot of miles to cover, and a lot of steep elevation, up and down, along the swath. It was clear we would be coming out in the dark; the decision was made to go for the peak.
The Swath
We met 6 sled-riders as we were plodding up the very steep slope to MON 447; they were very cautious, but even so, one of the machines started to capsize as it was passing me on the steep slope, and I had to leap into waist-deep snow.
Albee and Pete surged far ahead of the rest of us, and we met them returning down the final grade. Albee was heading to tag Monument Peak. Neither of them could get the canister open, but Kevin had it open by the time Al and I made it to the summit. The canister is new since I was there in October 2005; it's a nice white PVC pipe, with a slide-off cap, and is located about 20 yards off the swath on the US side; there is a herd path to it.
None of us read through the entries in the log completely, so I don't know when the register was placed.
The return
The return trip was reasonably uneventful; by the time Al and I had returned to our entry point onto the swath, Albee had come down from Monument, so we were one happy group again. No trouble following our trail, and since Pete had found all the spruce traps on the way in, we didn't have to worry about those either.
We were back at the cars by 7:30; Claudette and Kevin took off for home, and the rest of us headed into Stratton to find something to eat. Luckily the Plaza was open, and very attractive young women were prancing about advertising Cuervo tequila. The band was cranking out oldies at high volume, but the food was filling; we staggered into the Mountain View somewhere around 10 pm, glad to get a bed and hot shower.
Stats: 15 miles round trip, 14 miles breaking trail through 12-18" snow. 11 hours total time, approx. 2300 feet elevation gain.
Thanks to Al, Pete, Albee, Claudette and Kevin for the epic adventure!
