ctsparrow
New member
8/27 - 8/28
Got two more of my NEHH, 8 left to go!
See trail report about SNOW COP, the Penobscot are doing trail work at the wet area just past the Snow Mtn trail junction on the ATV road into Snow Pond. A representative of the Penobscot-Mitchell- stopped to talk with my son and I as we were walking out from our day. On the way in it was obvious some major heavy equipment was using the hiking ATV road. Mitchell said the Penobscot rec'd a grant to fix the wet area and once it is done the trail will be restored as the equipment works it way out. The ATV trail will then only be open to members on the Penobscot nation for ATV use and not the general public. We thanked him and his nation for allowing hikers onto their property in order to get up to Snow. We talked in general about the old tower up there and that the ladder is still intact for a view. I mentioned that the trail sign for Snow Mtn, which had been on a leaning birch that morning, was now on a knocked down birch, I asked if the sign would be remounted and he indicated it would. So the sign may or may not be present for awhile. The road in to the sign I would have to guess with the rains of the past two + weeks would have to be quite muddy with the newly churned up dirt.
Mitchell also warned us of the heavy equipment coming up the path at us hauling large concrete supports for their project. Sure enough, we could hear it before we could see it, but fortunately, the driver had stopped just before a bridge crossing to re-secure his load, although one barrier was already on the ground..and we quickly waved and moved by the equipment. Quite a site to see a bulldozer in the woods hauling a flatbead trailer with concrete supports and chains. Many small trees along the sides of the trail have been trampled over! I am confident, that after the equipment leaves, they will re-seed/plant, etc, to minimize the trauma.
East Kennebago, was my next 'bushwhack'. The roads in were the greatest challenge. Woods roads are always changing I imagine. The first turn off 16 did not seem to match any of the mileage published reports that I had, perhaps my car odometer is off, as SNOW COP numbers seemed a bit off as well.The road is just north of the big Gravel Pit and its road - signed at roadside. The road seems alittle more obvious on the way out..go figure!! I used my hiking GPS along with GPS tracks of other members drive in..nod to Bob and Geri-I use your reports for many researched hikes...and nod toTEO-I have to agree that you cross atleast two dozen culverts....thats how i knew i wasn't there yet!!!
I drove my Subaru Outback and negotiated the culverts just fine until about three from the 'parking area'. I heard a scrape...backed up gently and parked by the side of the road, we were only a tenth or two from the parking area. Followed the herd path straight ahead on the old logging road, dont pick any to the left. After awhile the path gets narrower with nice pines/spruce on each side. there is a small wind through blowdown on the path just before the yellow boundary post on the right and the turn into the woods on the left. Now my son leads on these hikes....thanks for eating all the cobwebs for your mom
....he hasn't quite developed that observation sense, so he would've missed the yellow markers....what can I say!! Walk along the forest boundary path very comfortable and easy to follow, love the soft pine forest. To be honest, at first I didn't even notice when we 'began' the herd path to the top until I noticed a small rock cairn arrangement, then stopped looking at the ground and looked around and said "Hey, we heading up to the top now!" I did use several occasions to 'educate' my son on the signs in the woods around him, so he could work on developing his observational skills. We used the herd path to the left up and down, easy to follow. At the top, the two paths rejoin...another observation teaching moment for my son, the path continues straight or to the left, we went left and came up to the canister tree from behind. As we tried to quickly eat, storms were expected for the afternoon, and sign the register, several bugs released from the canister and decided our packs and lunch looked very interesting and appealing, so we signed the register and decided to eat as we hiked out. GOOD DECISION. As we arrived at the logging road leaving the woods it began to pour, about half way down the overgrown high grass part we noticed the black skiies sinking down at us from behind the hills....OK now we began to run...I took both METAL hiking sticks so I could move faster....bad knees and bad back....and assigned Nate to watch for flashes of lightening and start counting seconds to determine potential distance away. FORTUNATELY, the lightening never came overhead, but as they say, if you can hear thunder, you can get hit, so I dont take storms lightly whatsoever. We made it to the car in the rain, but got into the car and were driving out the roads once it REALLY started to rain and hammer us. Then of course, as we were driving back to Cathedral Pines Campground, the roads were dry here and there!! BTW love Cathedral Pines Campground, but boy did we hit it at a time the daddy long legs were out of control. Spiders dont get to me, but I reached my tolerance point during our four days of camping...when we lit a fire in the firepit, DOZENS came out of the concrete bricks...it was GROSS. But enough about that. overall a good trip, got rained out of our target on thursday 8/29, but spent half the day trying and getting wet...any day in the woods is better than a day working at the "Evil Empire"...my employer, large imaging group in Connecticut!!
Ate dinner that night..thanks to more storms..at the White Wolf Inn in Stratton...TEO's prior posts i believe....lots of thru hikers taking a break from the rain as well..Georgia to Maine...wished them well and enjoyed the eats, shared our table with a couple from Boston at the campground with a canoeing group, shared awesome stories of their travels and adventures....overall a great trip, dropped off the 'boy' at college in Presque Isle Labor Day weekend and drove home alone...8 hours....bittersweet....but always more sweet than bitter!!
Best of trail karma
CTSPARROW and Not So Short Stride
Got two more of my NEHH, 8 left to go!
See trail report about SNOW COP, the Penobscot are doing trail work at the wet area just past the Snow Mtn trail junction on the ATV road into Snow Pond. A representative of the Penobscot-Mitchell- stopped to talk with my son and I as we were walking out from our day. On the way in it was obvious some major heavy equipment was using the hiking ATV road. Mitchell said the Penobscot rec'd a grant to fix the wet area and once it is done the trail will be restored as the equipment works it way out. The ATV trail will then only be open to members on the Penobscot nation for ATV use and not the general public. We thanked him and his nation for allowing hikers onto their property in order to get up to Snow. We talked in general about the old tower up there and that the ladder is still intact for a view. I mentioned that the trail sign for Snow Mtn, which had been on a leaning birch that morning, was now on a knocked down birch, I asked if the sign would be remounted and he indicated it would. So the sign may or may not be present for awhile. The road in to the sign I would have to guess with the rains of the past two + weeks would have to be quite muddy with the newly churned up dirt.
Mitchell also warned us of the heavy equipment coming up the path at us hauling large concrete supports for their project. Sure enough, we could hear it before we could see it, but fortunately, the driver had stopped just before a bridge crossing to re-secure his load, although one barrier was already on the ground..and we quickly waved and moved by the equipment. Quite a site to see a bulldozer in the woods hauling a flatbead trailer with concrete supports and chains. Many small trees along the sides of the trail have been trampled over! I am confident, that after the equipment leaves, they will re-seed/plant, etc, to minimize the trauma.
East Kennebago, was my next 'bushwhack'. The roads in were the greatest challenge. Woods roads are always changing I imagine. The first turn off 16 did not seem to match any of the mileage published reports that I had, perhaps my car odometer is off, as SNOW COP numbers seemed a bit off as well.The road is just north of the big Gravel Pit and its road - signed at roadside. The road seems alittle more obvious on the way out..go figure!! I used my hiking GPS along with GPS tracks of other members drive in..nod to Bob and Geri-I use your reports for many researched hikes...and nod toTEO-I have to agree that you cross atleast two dozen culverts....thats how i knew i wasn't there yet!!!
I drove my Subaru Outback and negotiated the culverts just fine until about three from the 'parking area'. I heard a scrape...backed up gently and parked by the side of the road, we were only a tenth or two from the parking area. Followed the herd path straight ahead on the old logging road, dont pick any to the left. After awhile the path gets narrower with nice pines/spruce on each side. there is a small wind through blowdown on the path just before the yellow boundary post on the right and the turn into the woods on the left. Now my son leads on these hikes....thanks for eating all the cobwebs for your mom
....he hasn't quite developed that observation sense, so he would've missed the yellow markers....what can I say!! Walk along the forest boundary path very comfortable and easy to follow, love the soft pine forest. To be honest, at first I didn't even notice when we 'began' the herd path to the top until I noticed a small rock cairn arrangement, then stopped looking at the ground and looked around and said "Hey, we heading up to the top now!" I did use several occasions to 'educate' my son on the signs in the woods around him, so he could work on developing his observational skills. We used the herd path to the left up and down, easy to follow. At the top, the two paths rejoin...another observation teaching moment for my son, the path continues straight or to the left, we went left and came up to the canister tree from behind. As we tried to quickly eat, storms were expected for the afternoon, and sign the register, several bugs released from the canister and decided our packs and lunch looked very interesting and appealing, so we signed the register and decided to eat as we hiked out. GOOD DECISION. As we arrived at the logging road leaving the woods it began to pour, about half way down the overgrown high grass part we noticed the black skiies sinking down at us from behind the hills....OK now we began to run...I took both METAL hiking sticks so I could move faster....bad knees and bad back....and assigned Nate to watch for flashes of lightening and start counting seconds to determine potential distance away. FORTUNATELY, the lightening never came overhead, but as they say, if you can hear thunder, you can get hit, so I dont take storms lightly whatsoever. We made it to the car in the rain, but got into the car and were driving out the roads once it REALLY started to rain and hammer us. Then of course, as we were driving back to Cathedral Pines Campground, the roads were dry here and there!! BTW love Cathedral Pines Campground, but boy did we hit it at a time the daddy long legs were out of control. Spiders dont get to me, but I reached my tolerance point during our four days of camping...when we lit a fire in the firepit, DOZENS came out of the concrete bricks...it was GROSS. But enough about that. overall a good trip, got rained out of our target on thursday 8/29, but spent half the day trying and getting wet...any day in the woods is better than a day working at the "Evil Empire"...my employer, large imaging group in Connecticut!! Ate dinner that night..thanks to more storms..at the White Wolf Inn in Stratton...TEO's prior posts i believe....lots of thru hikers taking a break from the rain as well..Georgia to Maine...wished them well and enjoyed the eats, shared our table with a couple from Boston at the campground with a canoeing group, shared awesome stories of their travels and adventures....overall a great trip, dropped off the 'boy' at college in Presque Isle Labor Day weekend and drove home alone...8 hours....bittersweet....but always more sweet than bitter!!
Best of trail karma
CTSPARROW and Not So Short Stride
