Goose Eye Ridge Sat 9/17/05

[arghman]

Goose Eye Ridge Sat 9/24/05

Right. Take two. (see http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=8747)

This is a New England Hundred Highest in the Mahoosucs, just east of the NH-ME border. West Peak is 3850' or so.

Contact me if interested.

[quote edited slightly for rain dates]

Below is a link to a picture I took in August 2001 from the main (west) summit of Goose Eye, looking toward the north and east.



I have wanted to hike this ridge for a number of years and would really like to do it this year. Pending good weather, I will be doing it with some friends on Saturday morning. (As this has a lot of areas exposed to the weather, the hike will be canceled if there is a risk of thunderstorms -- rain dates possible... Sunday 9/18?)

Plan is to go up the Notch Trail (but not into Mahoosuc Notch), to the AT, and over the Goose Eye ridge, including the south peak of Fulling Mill Mountain, and the three peaks of Goose Eye. Down the Goose Eye Trail to Success Pond Rd. I had figured this as 9.5mi, 3000ft el gain. There are some interesting botanical features here which I can point out; I've already got pictures of all the plant species I expect to see, though, so the only thing that would cause a slowdown would be general enjoyment of the scenery, and of course the blueberries if there are any left.

This hike requires a car spot on Success Pond Rd.

Company welcome, advice welcome also (e.g. anything special about finding the Notch Trail trailhead? would the other direction of traverse be easier?)

 

[arghman]

@@$#%! That's what I get for not reading the threads on the Gathering which is the same wkend.

Q: anyone interested that could do this hike on the wkend of 9/24 or 9/25 ?

 

[MEB]

Yes, I'm interested! I hiked Goose Eye back in July but the day I went it was really hot, humid and hazy so I did not really get the views I was hoping for. If the forecast looks good for that weekend I'm a go!

-MEB

 

[arghman]

let's plan on Sat 9/24 (weather permitting... hopefully) ... start time preferences? I can do early stuff.

(arm: I would wait for october but have been trying to coordinate a trip on this ridge since early August and ice-free time is running out... sweet pictures! thanks for posting them! I am so looking forward to doing this one.)

 

[marty]

Hope you have good weather for this awesome hike. You might want to reconsider if you have torrential rains - see my trip report: http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=7630

Marty

 

[arghman]

marty -- any particular areas that were bad? I remember the Goose Eye Trail being steep near the top of the main (west) peak.

re: meeting place
map of downtown Berlin -- there is a park somewhere on the Unity St which is on the east side of the river, just north of the southern bridge. (See the purple line in the SW corner of the map on the above web link). It's got nice landscaping and is right near the Androscoggin River. Just south of the logyard/mills and not far from Success Pond Rd.

map of hike area

 

[marty]

Arghman - my bad. I was thinking Wright Trail coming from the south.

As it appears you are coming via Success Pond Road, my recollection is that you don't run into any problems, but it has been several years.

For what it is worth, during high water, the Wright Trail has a couple of tough crossings up to where the loop begins and then several more on the North Fork.

Hope you have a fabulous hike!
Marty

 

[arghman]

any other takers besides MEB and Stevehiker? It might even be sunny on Saturday.

 

[dr_wu002]

Time?

What time on Saturday?

-Dr. WU

 

[Little Sister]

I'll be there too!!

 

[dr_wu002]

re: meeting place
map of downtown Berlin -- there is a park somewhere on the Unity St which is on the east side of the river, just north of the southern bridge. (See the purple line in the SW corner of the map on the above web link). It's got nice landscaping and is right near the Androscoggin River. Just south of the logyard/mills and not far from Success Pond Rd.

So, we're meeting at this park at 9am??

 

[MichaelJ]

Hey - tell me more. I might be up for this trip if I can convince myself to get up at 4am on Saturday.

 

[MEB]

Yes, it's worth getting up at 4 a.m. and it looks like it's going to be really nice out this weekend! Plus, I owe you a big hug for finishing your NE67!

-MEB

 

[MichaelJ]

Plus, I owe you a big hug for finishing your NE67!

Clearly I need to finish more lists!

 

[arghman]

Right. OK, let me clarify some things in the interest of getting more people on board this hike, which should be a fun one. I'm a bit new to arranging logistics for hikes with N people where N > 2. Some of the discussion has been on PM/email which is why this thread is perhaps odd to read.

Meeting time/place: 9am at the Unity St. Park as described in earlier posts.

Terrain:
The Mahoosuc Range from Mt Success to Fulling Mill Mtn consists of a number of above-treeline summits and ridges which are relatively flat and poorly drained. This forms natural communities known as "heath balds" and "subalpine bogs". The closest analog on more commonly-traversed trails is perhaps the stretch of AT between Mt Eisenhower and Mt Jackson, though that section is not quite as Mahoosuc-y.

The portions which are not flat and poorly drained tend to be somewhat steep jumbles of rock (not sure which variety... gneiss?). This and the bogs and heath balds tend to give the Mahoosucs their particular character. In Maine this area forms a designated Ecological Reserve.

Options: The circuit I described above (Notch Trail -> AT -> Goose Eye Trail) is roughly 9.5 mi. Another option is to go further to Mt Carlo and down to the same trailhead as Goose Eye. This appears to add about a mile and 400' elevation gain. The section between Goose Eye and Carlo is rather steep (including a ladder) but the Carlo Col trail down to the trailhead is a breeze and it goes quickly. I'd tentatively be up for either, though if I had my druthers I'd skip Carlo (only because I've been there before) and spend more time looking at the plant life on the Goose Eye ridge.

I have redlined the AT so far from Gentian Pond to Goose Eye, have not hiked from there to the Notch trail yet, but have done enough research to really really really want to go on this hike, and I don't quite understand why, except for the need for a car spot, it doesn't show up more (or ever!) on "official" trips (e.g. AMC); the two common Goose Eye loops are Goose Eye + Carlo, and Goose Eye from the Wright Trail.

More logistics:
In the unlikely event that I am misremembering that a park exists on Unity St proceed to the beginning of Success Pond Rd and we'll meet there instead. From there, the best plan is probably to drop off car(s) at the Goose Eye/Carlo trailhead and proceed to the Notch Trailhead. As of 7/31/05 there were mileage markers on Success Pond Rd, and an easily-visible sign by the Goose Eye trailhead, so it was really easy to find. I have not been to the Notch trailhead before; it appears to be about 2.5mi past the Goose Eye trailhead (check the WM Guide for mileage). My guess is we'll be at the Notch trailhead ready to go between 9:20am and 9:40am. If you happen to get there late & we've left already, and you are a fast hiker, just go to the Notch Trail trailhead and catch up to us.

Is it usual to exchange (via PM or email or whatever) car descriptions / license plate info? (I'm riding w/ SteveHiker)

 

[king tut]

I'm a definite maybe. I've been looking at doing this area for a while. I'm going to wait and see how bad my knees hurt tomorrow morning from my hike today.

 

[MichaelJ]

Looks like I'm going to ditch my original Guyot plans and come along. It's been a few years since I've been up to the Mahoosucs and I think this will be a fine time for a return to the ridge!

 

[MichaelJ]

Anybody bringing a water filter? No sense in everybody having one, but refilling at Full Goose Shelter sounds like a fine idea, especially since my memory is that it's right on the trail, not down a side path.

 

[MEB]

Good Idea!

I'll plan on bringing my filter in the event we need it.

-MEB

 

[king tut]

my knees are in pain this morning, i'm gonna bail.