Salty
Active member
I wouldn't really bother with the report were it not for the pond, which was a last minute decision I made. I'm sure others have tossed up photos here or elsewhere (Steve seeming to be a certainty!).
Last Thursday I went out on a (finally) nice day. LW parking lot nearly 1/3rd full. At 6 AM. Two groups were heading out. I wanted to continue a previous trip of following some logging roads in the Birch Island Brook area, as they seemed to reach high up towards the ridge (sadly, my legs won't seem to reach as high yet...), and do some other reconnaissance (called recon in the military, but since the military wouldn't take me due to one eye beyond their -8 limit, that's why I used the long word). On the way I noted some further details of the EB&L around the Black Pond trail area, and was soon following the road me and my buddy went up a few months ago, which was fairly easy to follow, but being over 100 years old, not exactly screaming at you either.
As always on a whack, coming to something especially nice looking without another soul anywhere near you (presumably...) is such a bonus.
Then a plane flew overhead. My solitude was ruined. Until it was gone. As Dr. Smith would say, "ohhh, the painnn, the painnnn!"
Not sure why, but I've been having issues with elevation gain lately (age? not hiking much? somehow picking up 30 pounds of weight? --- or d) all of the above). I made it up to around 2200' before deciding to cross over to the southern side of the brook. Open hardwoods changed to a more sapling like forest, with copious softwoods and hobblebush (most used quote of the day: "f***** hobblebush" --- then again, that was used on many, many days previously, hmmmm). I finally managed to find the road that I was looking for, but it was far more difficult to stay on, but I did manage to find a pile of rocks on the left side of the road. Nothing major, just neat.
Once getting down low, it was still early in the day, so I decided to whack towards Black Pond and see if I could make my way around it, fairly certain more mountain views were in store. That and seeing if there were good woods where I could set up camp and do some float tube fishing sometime
). Coming to the trail, and it's end, I took the obligatory Bondcliff shot, but couldn't resist the 50X optical zoom on my Powershot 50.
Deciding to circle clockwise, I ran into the "bushwhack" which I knew was no longer even close to such a thing. The start of it is a giant widening mud hole. Ah yes, that's minimizing environmental damage.
And, surprise, surprise, there was a hardened herd path leaving to the right to go around the pond, which I avoided immediately, staying closer to the pond, which showed signs of tramping here and there, but nothing major. As you go around, the views change quite a bit.
Whaleback and Flume:
Owl's Head:
Oh, and a snack.
Remaining photos here.
Last Thursday I went out on a (finally) nice day. LW parking lot nearly 1/3rd full. At 6 AM. Two groups were heading out. I wanted to continue a previous trip of following some logging roads in the Birch Island Brook area, as they seemed to reach high up towards the ridge (sadly, my legs won't seem to reach as high yet...), and do some other reconnaissance (called recon in the military, but since the military wouldn't take me due to one eye beyond their -8 limit, that's why I used the long word). On the way I noted some further details of the EB&L around the Black Pond trail area, and was soon following the road me and my buddy went up a few months ago, which was fairly easy to follow, but being over 100 years old, not exactly screaming at you either.
As always on a whack, coming to something especially nice looking without another soul anywhere near you (presumably...) is such a bonus.
Then a plane flew overhead. My solitude was ruined. Until it was gone. As Dr. Smith would say, "ohhh, the painnn, the painnnn!"
Not sure why, but I've been having issues with elevation gain lately (age? not hiking much? somehow picking up 30 pounds of weight? --- or d) all of the above). I made it up to around 2200' before deciding to cross over to the southern side of the brook. Open hardwoods changed to a more sapling like forest, with copious softwoods and hobblebush (most used quote of the day: "f***** hobblebush" --- then again, that was used on many, many days previously, hmmmm). I finally managed to find the road that I was looking for, but it was far more difficult to stay on, but I did manage to find a pile of rocks on the left side of the road. Nothing major, just neat.
Once getting down low, it was still early in the day, so I decided to whack towards Black Pond and see if I could make my way around it, fairly certain more mountain views were in store. That and seeing if there were good woods where I could set up camp and do some float tube fishing sometime
). Coming to the trail, and it's end, I took the obligatory Bondcliff shot, but couldn't resist the 50X optical zoom on my Powershot 50.
Deciding to circle clockwise, I ran into the "bushwhack" which I knew was no longer even close to such a thing. The start of it is a giant widening mud hole. Ah yes, that's minimizing environmental damage.
And, surprise, surprise, there was a hardened herd path leaving to the right to go around the pond, which I avoided immediately, staying closer to the pond, which showed signs of tramping here and there, but nothing major. As you go around, the views change quite a bit.
Whaleback and Flume:
Owl's Head:
Oh, and a snack.
Remaining photos here.
