New area to explore - information needed

[Hillwalker]

I'm just getting settled in to my new ridgetop cottage in East Dixfield Maine after arriving back from my month in Scotland upon which I immediately jumped in my camper and headed West for the rest of the summer. I got back in August and immediately bought a pretty little place on 25 acres. Looking out of my living room window I see a mountain which is identified as Saddleback, but only 2572'. Not the big one (sigh). I have so far,done two hikes in this area; Tumbledown, and Bald Mountain in Washington/Perkins Townships. I know about Mt Blue, Blueberry, and Little Jackson, but there have to be more.......

One can see this little Saddleback from the summit of Bald, and it is loaded with ledges and one huge bald face that looks a lot like the bald face on the side of Baldface in Chatham.

I can find no local information as yet about a trail up this intriguing little peak. On my 1956 USGS map, the summit is marked with the word "wind". Wonder what that's about?

My new cottage: http://www.belangerrealty.com/ListingDetails.aspx?ListID=562326

Anyone have knowledge about this little corner of Maine?

tnx, tom

 

[buckyball1]

it has a very nice top--from my hike in early 2009?
jim
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Saddleback 2590 is NW of Wilton, ME and sits "behind" (S of) a much more popular climb, one of the many "Balds". After some thought, I decided to approach it from the west using the Cherry Hill Rd, then some old logging activity/wack to reach the Bald/Saddleback col and then wack straight up the ridge to the summit. You might also approach from the NE via Andersen Brook (thanks One Step) and from Rt 2/17 using recent road activity to study wind farm feasibility.

As I neared Cherry Hill Rd, I stopped on Rt 156 to "consult" a guy walking his dog. Yes, I love local input. He confirmed my thoughts on road/gates and I left him with a sense of deja vu. You can drive in Cherry Hill Rd about a mile to a gate and easily pick up some old logging activity which will take you close to the col between Bald and Saddleback. From there it's a pretty straightforward wack up the ridge with moderate thickness and a few rocks to skirt here and there-no big issues. It was 75, black flies are out and no sign of snow anywhere even on sheltered N slope.

The summit is easily spotted once high on the ridge and is at the SW corner of a fairly large "summit area", on the "back" bump across a col from the bump you reach on the approach ridge. The summit is totally open 360 rock with superb views-love the prominence peaks, so many unexpected gems.There's a small cairn and a "generic" USGS benchmark (no name, no altitude). After a quick look, I was happy to find a Jon Person jar, the usual glass hung with that thin, tough string I've seen on so many of his jars. Always pleased to see Jon's jars just about every peak I visit on this list.

Just then a "head" popped up from the ridge to the south and it was a woman settling in for her 8 hour bird watch survey for the week; works for a company out of Portland. If you look south, you can see a wind measurement tower down that ridge (I thought it was another cell tower) and a slowly rotating device which turns out to be an avian (yes bird) radar setup.

As I was headed up from the col, I realized I'd climbed Bald some years ago (the mind is a sieve) and feel now as then that a good approach would be up Bald and traverse across the col-lots of open rock.

 

[audrey]

Sure enough, there is (or was) a beautiful herd path from the summit of Bald. Just follow that narrow ridge down and then up. Bald was closed for a few years and later reopened. It's a premier blueberry hill.

The first time we climbed Saddleback Wind, though, we approached from a set of driveways from the northeast. There were some private signs but since it was still described in the AMC mountain guide we thought it would be OK. The bushwhack was excellent and we gained the bare ridge as soon as we could, following it up and down though some heavily wooded and wet clefts. On our return, we were approached by a woman who told us it was now off limits and she'd asked the AMC to remove the description. She was worried only about liability and was very nice to me and Pat.

We were privileged to be able to do that route but the one from Bald is a keeper.

 

[RoySwkr]

This peak is in at least one edition of the AMC Maine Mtn Guide, if you have moved to ME you should check out old editions at libraries as well as the current one

There are a lot of bootleg trails in the area, but you might do better asking locals than here

 

[Hillwalker]

Many thanks

Thank you all. Audrey, I was up on Bald late in the day, but did see and follow the herd path leading down the ridge toward Saddleback for a short distance. Thought that it would lead down to a logging road I could see down below.

The Bald Mt trail was hit very hard by Emily. Very deep erosion.

Tumbledown was a really interesting hike. What an intriguing geological area to explore after spending so much of my life hiking across humdrum rocks and ledges without such character.