GOING for 4/6 pack Maine NEHH next week

[ctsparrow]

Heading back to the Eustis area for four days of camping before delivering my son to college...yes the former 'short stride' of NH48 before age 13 and NE67 before age 15...4 week conservation/leadership crew 2013 and 10 day Maine teen wilderness crew 2012, ..is heading off to college waaaaaaay north in Maine! So I have enlisted him to be my co pilot on some of the 6 pack....just looking for any recent beta on road issues, logging affecting established approaches and whacks. Looking forward to posting after the fact.
I have been away from the woods and mountains far too long, and this is a new re-dedication to getting out and about.
Now that my trail partner of the last decade is off to begin his own adventures, I'm going to have to get back in shape to keep with some of y'all, although keepin' up with a 17 year old hockey playing rock hopping awesome kid is an enjoyable challenge!
Thanks in advance for any help...lookin at the two snows, east kennebago, prob will opt for south horn in bigelows rather than white cap/nkd, but ya nevah know!!
ct sparrow
sue

 

[bikehikeskifish]

I went about this time last year. TEO posts there in mid-July that all was good.

Tim

 

[TEO]

Itinerary is everything for efficiently downing the Six Pack. Well, perhaps that's a tad hyperbolic, but there's a bunch of driving involved, getting from hike to hike, so it helps to group them geographically.

When I did them in July, I started my first day with Cupsuptic Snow, in the afternoon I did White Cap & North Kennebago Divide, and with those two done by mid-afternoon and feeling good, I headed over to East Kennebago for a late-afternoon/early-evening hike. I started hiking Cup Snow at about 9 a.m. & was at the White Wolf Inn (Stratton, ME) ready for a Wolf Burger by 7 or 7:30 p.m. The next day I did Snow Chain of Ponds in the morning & Boundary in the afternoon. The down side to this itinerary is that they were not languorous hikes. It was a full weekend, but not Herculean.

Cup Snow & WC/NKD are a natural and very manageable day. If you're going to pair something with Boundary--which given the ease of the Gosford Parc approach makes sense--Snow COP is the most logical.

If you do South Horn, do not forget to do North Horn, too. The views are much better & it's a quick and easy trip between the two.

Yes, as Tim mentioned, I found the roads to be in excellent shape for a low-clearance, front-wheel-drive sedan. On the drive to the uppermost East Kennebago parking area/landing, going slowly and carefully will get you safely over all of the waterbars, if with an occasional, but harmless scraping of the underbody.

I can PM you the location of two good dispersed camping sites if you'd like, too.

 

[ctsparrow]

Thanks guys, actually have boundary from several years ago, so i guess i have 1/6. WC/NKD seems the most intimidating, i am very green at bushwacking and still wrestle with that 'oh sh..' gut feeling when wandering about. yes i know compass skills and have GPS and my handy DeLormes...just have to push past the mental games at the onset. Hoping for some decent days...i always feel better using a sight line for setting a bearing in addition to all the other stuff.
Yes, i am planning on north horn, prob will spend a whole day on top of the bigelows...even though we've gotten West and Avery, i am hoping for a specatcular day to spend ridge walking!
Snow chain of ponds seems like a no brainer, then east kennebago, throw in Bigelows in the middle and hopefully tackle Cup Snow and consider WC/KND.
I have thought about a future long weekend to hit WC/KND one day, and Fort on another, so if i dont complete the 6 pack I do have Plan B!
Ctsparrow...sue and nate

 

[ctsparrow]

Actually another question for the knowledgable, Bob & Geri and some others have done CUPSnow from the south west side, has anyone done both with input for comparison and reccommend one over the other. It seems the most recent posts have all been from the North access points. thanks, ctsparrow

 

[TEO]

The path logging road>herd path to the summit of White Cap is the easiest non-signed hike you may ever do. Getting over from the saddle to NKD is comparable to or easier than CupSnow. There is an obvious herd path from the WC/NKD saddle, it's just picking up the start of it that's the trick. If you find it right away, it is smooth sailing.

Conquering the oh sh*t feeling of bush whacking is empowering & in the end rewarding. And if you start your weekend with Cup Snow & WC/NKD, you'll be relieved & extra confident for the rest of the weekend.

Your idea of Snow COP in the morning & East Kennebago in the afternoon is good--that's a very reasonable day.

Whatever you do, you'll have a great weekend. That's a cool area to spend time in.

 

[Daniel Eagan]

My wife and I found WC/NKD not too troubling, the initial route was very easy, we missed the small cairn but it was obvious when to start heading to the WC summit through open woods. From the summit down we had a good herd path. I wouldn't say NKD was a piece of cake but there was never any doubt which direction to take. We retraced our steps rather than use the second herd path down.

Cupsuptic Snow is so, I don't want to say easy but maybe obvious from the north. You drive up to an obvious parking area, hike to an obvious staging area, take an obvious route to the summit through pretty consistently open woods.

That said, I managed to screw up East Kennebago terribly, so my advice would be to take each summit seriously. I share your anxiety about bushwhacking but without a GPS it's part of the process, actually part of the fun. You seem to have the right attitude and expectations and if you stay focused you are going to have a great time.