michael
New member
COP Mt Pisgah
This 'whack took me totally by surprise. I had been contemplating this peak for a couple years
now, that and the Sisks. Nothing particularly attractive about them other than mystique and that
only by my own imagination. Border peaks have some sort of allure to them. To me anyway. Must
be that inner longing for my Canadian heritage? I was going to plan an ambitious day out with
an O'dark-thirty start and moonlit return. maybe a 12 miler or so. The terrain looked
accessible and not too complicated. Anyway, my plans were only tentative so I inquired to Dave
about his plans for Saturday and whether he could extricate himself from his gentrified habits
for a day and join me in a 'whack. Grab a couple beers for summit celebratory activities etc
etc...so I know Dave is always 50-50 these days as concerns his availability and these peaks
were not so high profile, as to warrant his attention - I knew he could be a tough sell.
And yes so, Dave has his fancy GPS NGS software and had secretly coveted these summits as well. So it was with great effort that I agreed to utilize his thoroughly detailed dossier on the Mt Pisgah/Sisk range. I mean he had totally geeked out on these peaks. As I mentioned, lately, getting
him outta has been tough enough so I knew he needed buy-in.
I kid him unmercifully sometimes about his passion for details. I walk in the direction of summits, using general 'handrails' as guides. He plots a path by the yard using pinpoint guidance, I rely on savantish instinct, he calculation and precision. Its a battle of Luddites vs the techno savvy, some days
anyway, but not this day. We hit the slope at 9:30 crossing the highway and immediately entered an open hardwood, spruce, cedar mix and proceeded towards what we knew was a ledge and perhaps
some good views. We topped out and walked up on a ridge that started at rt27 and went up steeply. There was a deep notch between us and a parallel ridge beyond. This cliff went on for
about a 1/4 mile and rose up several hundred feet or so from the level of the highway. We figured a drop of 150 - 200 feet or so. The ridge was lined with cedars and red pines - perhaps Jack pine? I forgot to actually look closely so taken by the view and the precipitous topography.
We proceeded up this rocky ridge until it topped out and melted into the woods of the lower SE portion of the Pisgah ridge. We dropped to the east of a slope that tended from the west to get out of a surprisingly sharp breeze - temp was about 35F, catching views at various points along
the way. We were obviously moving some critters ahead of us, Moose and deer dookey everywhere and fresh tracks all around. The terrain steeped up a bit for the push the summit ridge and the snow was starting to soften in the mid day sun. Still we kept our snowshoes on the pack as post-holing was not yet an issue. There was about 2 feet of snow in most places but plenty of bare patches intermixed.
Finally gaining the summit ridge, we came upon a fantastic opening the afforded us 180 vfft towards the north east and to the south. Natanis pond, Bag Pond, Bag pd Mt, The Sisks, Bigelows, Kibbys, Crockers Black Nubble and Snow. We could see north easily and the boundary
swath was evident far in the distance. Moving to the west side of the ridge we were able to see Megantic lake and mountain and Orford mts into Quebec. We sauntered up to the summit, with snowshoes deployed 'cuz the snow was now quite soft. We climbed the last
hump to the summit looking for the jar. But the register had departed. In its stead an International Survey Marker sign hung from some twine beneath the empty remnants of the summit jar twine, the oxidized residue of a erstwhile jelly jar register still in evidence.vWe headed back to the lookout for a beer and some snacks - it was probably 3:00 - we had been up there for almost 2 hours. Sunblock would not have been wasted - it was a warm sun on a bright southerly snowfield. Perfect! After another extended pause at the lookoff, our conversation centered around future trips to tackle some of the other summits in this area, wandered to future trips on the AT, the Long Trail, trips to Labrador, lists, long lost girlfriends,old Jeeps... Reluctantly we agreed that it was probably time to be headed down - no idea what time it was, it didn't matter, we had all day. But we wanted to get back to the ledge we came up on and were hoping to follow our tracks back. A variation of a couple degrees would put us too far left or right from
our desired path. Our tracks were faint or otherwise gone due to the sun and we meandered occasionally but managed to stay on course. We found our ledge bathed in late afternoon sunlight and lingered for a while longer taking in the view anew as the sun's angle had shifted and altered the patterns in the distance. Dropping back to the highway steeply and rapidly we arrived back at the car at 5:45pm. We headed to the border for some refreshments and a last look at the Chain of Ponds and surrounding summits. A fine day in the sticks and another view not to be missed on a trailless Maine peak.
Pisgah Pics
This 'whack took me totally by surprise. I had been contemplating this peak for a couple years
now, that and the Sisks. Nothing particularly attractive about them other than mystique and that
only by my own imagination. Border peaks have some sort of allure to them. To me anyway. Must
be that inner longing for my Canadian heritage? I was going to plan an ambitious day out with
an O'dark-thirty start and moonlit return. maybe a 12 miler or so. The terrain looked
accessible and not too complicated. Anyway, my plans were only tentative so I inquired to Dave
about his plans for Saturday and whether he could extricate himself from his gentrified habits
for a day and join me in a 'whack. Grab a couple beers for summit celebratory activities etc
etc...so I know Dave is always 50-50 these days as concerns his availability and these peaks
were not so high profile, as to warrant his attention - I knew he could be a tough sell.
And yes so, Dave has his fancy GPS NGS software and had secretly coveted these summits as well. So it was with great effort that I agreed to utilize his thoroughly detailed dossier on the Mt Pisgah/Sisk range. I mean he had totally geeked out on these peaks. As I mentioned, lately, getting
him outta has been tough enough so I knew he needed buy-in.
I kid him unmercifully sometimes about his passion for details. I walk in the direction of summits, using general 'handrails' as guides. He plots a path by the yard using pinpoint guidance, I rely on savantish instinct, he calculation and precision. Its a battle of Luddites vs the techno savvy, some days
anyway, but not this day. We hit the slope at 9:30 crossing the highway and immediately entered an open hardwood, spruce, cedar mix and proceeded towards what we knew was a ledge and perhaps
some good views. We topped out and walked up on a ridge that started at rt27 and went up steeply. There was a deep notch between us and a parallel ridge beyond. This cliff went on for
about a 1/4 mile and rose up several hundred feet or so from the level of the highway. We figured a drop of 150 - 200 feet or so. The ridge was lined with cedars and red pines - perhaps Jack pine? I forgot to actually look closely so taken by the view and the precipitous topography.
We proceeded up this rocky ridge until it topped out and melted into the woods of the lower SE portion of the Pisgah ridge. We dropped to the east of a slope that tended from the west to get out of a surprisingly sharp breeze - temp was about 35F, catching views at various points along
the way. We were obviously moving some critters ahead of us, Moose and deer dookey everywhere and fresh tracks all around. The terrain steeped up a bit for the push the summit ridge and the snow was starting to soften in the mid day sun. Still we kept our snowshoes on the pack as post-holing was not yet an issue. There was about 2 feet of snow in most places but plenty of bare patches intermixed.
Finally gaining the summit ridge, we came upon a fantastic opening the afforded us 180 vfft towards the north east and to the south. Natanis pond, Bag Pond, Bag pd Mt, The Sisks, Bigelows, Kibbys, Crockers Black Nubble and Snow. We could see north easily and the boundary
swath was evident far in the distance. Moving to the west side of the ridge we were able to see Megantic lake and mountain and Orford mts into Quebec. We sauntered up to the summit, with snowshoes deployed 'cuz the snow was now quite soft. We climbed the last
hump to the summit looking for the jar. But the register had departed. In its stead an International Survey Marker sign hung from some twine beneath the empty remnants of the summit jar twine, the oxidized residue of a erstwhile jelly jar register still in evidence.vWe headed back to the lookout for a beer and some snacks - it was probably 3:00 - we had been up there for almost 2 hours. Sunblock would not have been wasted - it was a warm sun on a bright southerly snowfield. Perfect! After another extended pause at the lookoff, our conversation centered around future trips to tackle some of the other summits in this area, wandered to future trips on the AT, the Long Trail, trips to Labrador, lists, long lost girlfriends,old Jeeps... Reluctantly we agreed that it was probably time to be headed down - no idea what time it was, it didn't matter, we had all day. But we wanted to get back to the ledge we came up on and were hoping to follow our tracks back. A variation of a couple degrees would put us too far left or right from
our desired path. Our tracks were faint or otherwise gone due to the sun and we meandered occasionally but managed to stay on course. We found our ledge bathed in late afternoon sunlight and lingered for a while longer taking in the view anew as the sun's angle had shifted and altered the patterns in the distance. Dropping back to the highway steeply and rapidly we arrived back at the car at 5:45pm. We headed to the border for some refreshments and a last look at the Chain of Ponds and surrounding summits. A fine day in the sticks and another view not to be missed on a trailless Maine peak.
Pisgah Pics
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