Vose Spur and Peak Above the Nubble
Since my last posting, I have climbed both these peaks. For Vose Spur, I started my bushwhack around the corner from the four foot high boulder. What I thought was the herd path quickly died out, leaving me to bushwhack for the next twenty minutes through semi-dense stuff, heading up toward what I thought was the summit. I then thankfully found the next herd path (at a point that turned out to be relatively low in its climb), which led me up to the summit. I found the path to not be too difficult to follow in most places, but there were a few spots where it would grow indistinct and thus I'd miss a turn here or there, but I was always able to find it again. I never did find the talus slope that other people have written about, but then again, on the day I did this it was overcast enough that I could have passed near to it and not noticed. On the way down, I followed the herd path until it petered out on the southern slopes of the peak. By that point I had overshot where I had joined the path, and continuing forward, in about five minutes I came out at the brook south/southeast of Vose. From there, a twenty minute walk (which was slow going because it was along the brook) brought me back to the Carrigain Ridge Trail, about a mile from where it splits from the Signal Ridge Trail. But basically, long story short, there is no one herd path that connects the Carrigain Notch Path to the summit of Vose Spur, but if you're lucky enough, you'll find the path to the canister early on enough that the amount of bushwhacking you do is minimal.
As for the Peak Above the Nubble, I found Papa Bear's trip report to be very useful. I would just note that the sand pit near the beginning of the hike is more of a large sand wall than an actual sand pit, since it's only on one side of the trail. Plus, it's closer to a quarter mile from Haystack Road rather than a half mile. At that point (where the sand wall is), the logging road initially seems to split, but the left branch ends at the far edge of the clearing, while the right branch continues onward. The skidder road Papa Bear mentioned is the first one the logging road encounters, and it is the only one to intersect the logging road in that area. As for the illegal trail to PatN, it actually doesn't go this way, and I think it actually heads up from the North Twin Trail (but this is only an assumption). I didn't see this illegitimate path at all on the way up, and it's only on my descent that I inadvertantly found it. I was following the herd path down from PatN, and once I had passed over Nubble Peak, the trail proceeded to drop steeply off the mountain. Immediately recognizing it for what it was, I then backtracked a little to the outlook on Nubble to re-orient myself. Once I had, I bushwhacked off the ridge the way I had ascended, but avoiding the Peak below the Nubble, since it was far too dense for me to want to tangle with it again. Overall, this wasn't a bad hike, thanks to Papa Bear's quality directions, and the fact this route doesn't pass through many dense areas.
