onestep
New member
Saturday Pig Pen, mhrsebago, and I hiked into Russell Pond Campground in Baxter Park. First order of business after checking in with the Ranger was to find the beginning of the old Mullen Pond tote road. Our plan for the next day was to avoid several miles of bushwhacking by following the tote road up to Mullen Pond. We had several sets of "directions" to guide us so we where able to put the pieces of the puzzle together and find it. We built a small cairn to mark its beginning.
Sunday we bushwhacked Mullen Mtn – 3463’. It was easier than expected. We followed the tote road without difficulty up to the pond. From there was a half mile whack to the summit. Our route up cheated towards the right. It got thick at times but not too bad for too long. The highlight was finding a boulder cave to go through that bypassed a wall of rock that we faced! The summit jar was missing. The weather was cool but sunny with incredible views!! We lounged around on the summit for an hour or so.
The next day we ascended N Turner -3325’ via the eastern scree slope route that DMS went up. NICE route!! The morning was rainy drizzly cold. No views from the open top. We ascended mostly open woods till the scree slope. This led us up to a thin band of thick stuff that soon opened up to more open woods. We came across another scree slope that brought us up to the thick growth of the summit ridge. A short push through the thick stuff led us to a winding open rocky "heard path" through the scrub to the summit. No views except for wind driven cold drizzle and thick misty clouds. We descended the same route we took up. By the time we reached the bottom the weather improved. The drizzle stopped and the sun was trying to break through.
Given the opportunity, I'd do either of these peaks again in a heartbeat!
Onestep
Sunday we bushwhacked Mullen Mtn – 3463’. It was easier than expected. We followed the tote road without difficulty up to the pond. From there was a half mile whack to the summit. Our route up cheated towards the right. It got thick at times but not too bad for too long. The highlight was finding a boulder cave to go through that bypassed a wall of rock that we faced! The summit jar was missing. The weather was cool but sunny with incredible views!! We lounged around on the summit for an hour or so.
The next day we ascended N Turner -3325’ via the eastern scree slope route that DMS went up. NICE route!! The morning was rainy drizzly cold. No views from the open top. We ascended mostly open woods till the scree slope. This led us up to a thin band of thick stuff that soon opened up to more open woods. We came across another scree slope that brought us up to the thick growth of the summit ridge. A short push through the thick stuff led us to a winding open rocky "heard path" through the scrub to the summit. No views except for wind driven cold drizzle and thick misty clouds. We descended the same route we took up. By the time we reached the bottom the weather improved. The drizzle stopped and the sun was trying to break through.
Given the opportunity, I'd do either of these peaks again in a heartbeat!
Onestep
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