MEB
New member
East & West Royce, Mt. Meader, N & S Baldface
I was so excited when I heard the forecast for this weekend….LOW humidity and lots of sunshine! I’ve had my fair share of hiking the heat so far this summer and I was so glad to be out hiking in weather that would not due me in right away! It has also been quite a while since I’ve hiked in the Evans Notch area and I was really looking forward to this trip and the group I’d be hiking with!
Just a little after 8:30 or so Mad Townie and I arrived at the Baldface Circle trailhead where we met up with SherpaK. We left a car hear and then headed on down the road a bit to the East Royce Trailhead. Along the way we passed JohnS who would be joining us as well.
It was just before 9:00 that we started heading up the East Royce Trail. I was nominated to go first because they said I’m faster but I thinking maybe it was so I could de-web the trail for everyone! It started off pretty steep right away but in no time we found ourselves on the first of our five summits that we would hit that day, East Royce. The open ledges on the summit offered us great views all around from Caribou and Speckled Mountains all the way over to the Baldfaces where we would eventually end up….they sure looked far away!
Continuing on we headed off towards West Royce our second summit of the day. The trail meandered through the woods, gradually going down and then up again, somewhat steeply, until we reached the top where once again we were rewarded with some fine views! After taking a nice break we then started to make our way down West Royce towards the Rim Basin Trail. This section of trail did not seem to get much use as there were many sections that were quite overgrown….I think some of the herd paths I’ve been on this year have been in a bit better shape. There were a couple of good out looks though towards the Carter-Moriah Range along the way.
After a while we finally reached some more open ledges where we stopped to have some lunch and once again we had some wonderful views down into The Basin and the ponds below. We stayed her for a while talking and watching the dragonfly’s dart around, picking off what few bugs that may have been out. Still having quite a bit of distance to cover we soon geared up and headed off once again.
The next section trail took us around Ragged Jacket and then up to Mt Meader. I really was enjoying the trail as we neared the top as there where lots of nice ripe blueberry’s, so of course that meant a lot of stopping and eating along the way! Yum Yum!
Making our way towards Eagle Crag the Meader Trail goes up and down in several spots none of which were really steep but enough to keep the trail interesting. The moss was thick and deep green and trail was perfect for moving along without too much thought about tripping over roots and rocks.
I hadn’t really thought about time at all during the day but I knew it was getting close to late afternoon and I began to wonder if we would make all the way over to the Baldfaces. But once we reached the open ridge of Eagle Crag all those thoughts went away….we finally reached what I had been looking forward to all day long! If you’ve never hiked the Baldfaces I would strongly recommend them as one to put on a list of must do’s. Once again we had sweeping views of the Carter-Moriah Range, North and South Baldface, and looking back we could see the Royce’s and beyond into Maine! The trail was peppered with mountain cranberries and JohnS even sampled a few!
I thought going up North Baldface would be more tiring than it was but the wind was keeping me cool and the views occupied so much of my time that we arrived sooner than I had expected. It was about 5:30 or so when we reached the summit and we took another well needed break here. The views are spectacular from up here….we could see Washington, Carrigain, Chocura, Passaconnaway and so much more! Knowing that we still had about 6 miles to go (I think) we soon headed off towards our final peak of the day, South Baldface. We took another quick break on this summit and then started down on our final leg of a long day.
I have only traveled up the open ledges to South Baldaface and I was a bit concerned what it would be like going down….In all honesty I found going down this section was far easier than going up and the rocks were nice and dry and the traveling was fast.
Soon we reached the Baldface shelter where we stopped and talked for a while to a group of kids and their leaders. They were in the works of preparing dinner and after looking at all their food the hunger pangs started to hit me! I was starved all of a sudden!
With the sun casting long shadows and evening coming on we made our way down the last couple of miles to the cars. This section of trail gets a lot of use so the going here was once again at a pretty good pace and just after 8:30 we finished our trip!
Overall our day entailed about 16 miles and 5500 feet of elevation. The weather could not have been better and what a treat it was to be out hiking with a great group of guys! SherpaK thanks so much for asking Mad Townie and I to join you! I can’t think of a better way to spend a nice summer day!!
Here are some pictures from our trip.
-MEB
I was so excited when I heard the forecast for this weekend….LOW humidity and lots of sunshine! I’ve had my fair share of hiking the heat so far this summer and I was so glad to be out hiking in weather that would not due me in right away! It has also been quite a while since I’ve hiked in the Evans Notch area and I was really looking forward to this trip and the group I’d be hiking with!
Just a little after 8:30 or so Mad Townie and I arrived at the Baldface Circle trailhead where we met up with SherpaK. We left a car hear and then headed on down the road a bit to the East Royce Trailhead. Along the way we passed JohnS who would be joining us as well.
It was just before 9:00 that we started heading up the East Royce Trail. I was nominated to go first because they said I’m faster but I thinking maybe it was so I could de-web the trail for everyone! It started off pretty steep right away but in no time we found ourselves on the first of our five summits that we would hit that day, East Royce. The open ledges on the summit offered us great views all around from Caribou and Speckled Mountains all the way over to the Baldfaces where we would eventually end up….they sure looked far away!
Continuing on we headed off towards West Royce our second summit of the day. The trail meandered through the woods, gradually going down and then up again, somewhat steeply, until we reached the top where once again we were rewarded with some fine views! After taking a nice break we then started to make our way down West Royce towards the Rim Basin Trail. This section of trail did not seem to get much use as there were many sections that were quite overgrown….I think some of the herd paths I’ve been on this year have been in a bit better shape. There were a couple of good out looks though towards the Carter-Moriah Range along the way.
After a while we finally reached some more open ledges where we stopped to have some lunch and once again we had some wonderful views down into The Basin and the ponds below. We stayed her for a while talking and watching the dragonfly’s dart around, picking off what few bugs that may have been out. Still having quite a bit of distance to cover we soon geared up and headed off once again.
The next section trail took us around Ragged Jacket and then up to Mt Meader. I really was enjoying the trail as we neared the top as there where lots of nice ripe blueberry’s, so of course that meant a lot of stopping and eating along the way! Yum Yum!
Making our way towards Eagle Crag the Meader Trail goes up and down in several spots none of which were really steep but enough to keep the trail interesting. The moss was thick and deep green and trail was perfect for moving along without too much thought about tripping over roots and rocks.
I hadn’t really thought about time at all during the day but I knew it was getting close to late afternoon and I began to wonder if we would make all the way over to the Baldfaces. But once we reached the open ridge of Eagle Crag all those thoughts went away….we finally reached what I had been looking forward to all day long! If you’ve never hiked the Baldfaces I would strongly recommend them as one to put on a list of must do’s. Once again we had sweeping views of the Carter-Moriah Range, North and South Baldface, and looking back we could see the Royce’s and beyond into Maine! The trail was peppered with mountain cranberries and JohnS even sampled a few!
I thought going up North Baldface would be more tiring than it was but the wind was keeping me cool and the views occupied so much of my time that we arrived sooner than I had expected. It was about 5:30 or so when we reached the summit and we took another well needed break here. The views are spectacular from up here….we could see Washington, Carrigain, Chocura, Passaconnaway and so much more! Knowing that we still had about 6 miles to go (I think) we soon headed off towards our final peak of the day, South Baldface. We took another quick break on this summit and then started down on our final leg of a long day.
I have only traveled up the open ledges to South Baldaface and I was a bit concerned what it would be like going down….In all honesty I found going down this section was far easier than going up and the rocks were nice and dry and the traveling was fast.
Soon we reached the Baldface shelter where we stopped and talked for a while to a group of kids and their leaders. They were in the works of preparing dinner and after looking at all their food the hunger pangs started to hit me! I was starved all of a sudden!
With the sun casting long shadows and evening coming on we made our way down the last couple of miles to the cars. This section of trail gets a lot of use so the going here was once again at a pretty good pace and just after 8:30 we finished our trip!
Overall our day entailed about 16 miles and 5500 feet of elevation. The weather could not have been better and what a treat it was to be out hiking with a great group of guys! SherpaK thanks so much for asking Mad Townie and I to join you! I can’t think of a better way to spend a nice summer day!!
Here are some pictures from our trip.
-MEB
