spencer
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- Sep 4, 2003
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Well, I got home a little while ago from a very interesting day in BSP.
I left the house at 3:45am and began hiking the North Slide Trail on OJI at 6:15. It was drizzling on and off, but mostly dry. The trail is not maintained anymore (it looks like it hasn't been for quite some time). In fact, there is a sign at the fork of the two Slide trails saying that the N. Slide Tr. is officially closed and is now a bushwhack. It was certainly that in parts and there is no shortage of small blowdowns along the way. I lost the trail several times around the lower portion of the slide itself, but it was always easy to get back on track after circumnavigating enormous slabs and whatnot. The trail was pretty wet after all the rain we've had.
Got to the summit way above the cloud ceiling, so despite the rain stopping, I was drenched as I pushed through the narrow ridge trail. Without any views, I didn't take the time to go .8 (RT) to Old Jay Eye Rock. I found the old "Kidney Pond Viewpoint" sign lying on the ground with part of a dead tree attached, so I lugged it down with me to give to a ranger so someone else didn't claim it as a souvenir.
the South Slide Trail was pretty easy going and very fast on the way down. I was eating in the truck by 9:15. the day was just beginning.
I had planned to throw in Doubletop if the morning hike went well, but there was no sign of clearing, so I looked for alternatives. Since I'm aiming to summit everthing with a name at some point or another, I looked to Center and Strickland Mtns.
Clark's map is very detailed and shows some old jeep trails winding their way around Center and some on Strickland. I couldn't find the beginning of anything for Strickland, so I decided I'd go for Center.
The beginning of the double-dashed road that heads between S. and C. was easy to find. I left the truck at about 11am. It was pretty easy going, especially since someone had been in there clipping the branches where it was the narrowest (it was pretty recent as the needles were all still lush). the old road more and more resembles a beaver swamp as it heads through the valley between S. and C. A bit after leaving the narrowest part of the valley, it apparently ends in a huge beaver pond.
So, that is where I began. I headed up the contour, pretty much south.
Not too long afterward, I came upon most of a moose carcass with an intact skull. I strapped it on my pack and headed uphill through fairly open beech maple stands. Every once in a while I came upon faint remnants of a double track, but I could follow them for no more than 50 yards at a time. I pretty much gave up on Clark's delineations after that.
I aimed for the northwesterly ridge and made it after fighting VERY THICK spruce/fir. It was the worst I have experienced. The ridge is fairly narrow and was easy to stay on, but it fluctuated between thickets and rock ledges (more like boulders that had to be hiked around). It was very slow going and I was beginning to get a bit nervous as a solo bushwhacker is wont to do from time to time. But things went okay and I made it to the very small summit outcrop. I left a relic at the summit for the next Center bushwhacker to admire.
It was 1:35 (25 minutes before my turn around time). The problem was that since I found not jeep trails, my entrance route now seemed like a foolish plan to get out of there, so I aimed right for the truck, heading down the same ridge I had come up, but not traversing around to the north this time. It was pretty quick going down with no signs of the alleged jeep trails. things got hairy for a while down in the flats when I wasn't paying close enough attention to the compass, but I made it out with only a few bouts of "Oh sh_t!"
I didn't quite hit the truck, but I came out on the double-dashed road/trail about 3 minutes from the truck, so everything was okay and I refueled before heading out around 3:30. It was a difficult 4.5 hour bushwhack for me.
On the way out, I stopped at Katahdin Stream and gave the "Kidney Pond Lookout" sign to the ranger and asked if he knew if anyone had been up to Center recently. He didn't seem to be aware that people bushwhack in the park, but my hunch is that Center doesn't see a lot of traffic.
If others reading this have been up there, would you share your routes with me? Maybe I just missed the jeep trails.
All in all it was a good day, but I was glad to get home.
I didn't take many pictures today, but here are a few.
spencer
I left the house at 3:45am and began hiking the North Slide Trail on OJI at 6:15. It was drizzling on and off, but mostly dry. The trail is not maintained anymore (it looks like it hasn't been for quite some time). In fact, there is a sign at the fork of the two Slide trails saying that the N. Slide Tr. is officially closed and is now a bushwhack. It was certainly that in parts and there is no shortage of small blowdowns along the way. I lost the trail several times around the lower portion of the slide itself, but it was always easy to get back on track after circumnavigating enormous slabs and whatnot. The trail was pretty wet after all the rain we've had.
Got to the summit way above the cloud ceiling, so despite the rain stopping, I was drenched as I pushed through the narrow ridge trail. Without any views, I didn't take the time to go .8 (RT) to Old Jay Eye Rock. I found the old "Kidney Pond Viewpoint" sign lying on the ground with part of a dead tree attached, so I lugged it down with me to give to a ranger so someone else didn't claim it as a souvenir.
the South Slide Trail was pretty easy going and very fast on the way down. I was eating in the truck by 9:15. the day was just beginning.
I had planned to throw in Doubletop if the morning hike went well, but there was no sign of clearing, so I looked for alternatives. Since I'm aiming to summit everthing with a name at some point or another, I looked to Center and Strickland Mtns.
Clark's map is very detailed and shows some old jeep trails winding their way around Center and some on Strickland. I couldn't find the beginning of anything for Strickland, so I decided I'd go for Center.
The beginning of the double-dashed road that heads between S. and C. was easy to find. I left the truck at about 11am. It was pretty easy going, especially since someone had been in there clipping the branches where it was the narrowest (it was pretty recent as the needles were all still lush). the old road more and more resembles a beaver swamp as it heads through the valley between S. and C. A bit after leaving the narrowest part of the valley, it apparently ends in a huge beaver pond.
So, that is where I began. I headed up the contour, pretty much south.
Not too long afterward, I came upon most of a moose carcass with an intact skull. I strapped it on my pack and headed uphill through fairly open beech maple stands. Every once in a while I came upon faint remnants of a double track, but I could follow them for no more than 50 yards at a time. I pretty much gave up on Clark's delineations after that.
I aimed for the northwesterly ridge and made it after fighting VERY THICK spruce/fir. It was the worst I have experienced. The ridge is fairly narrow and was easy to stay on, but it fluctuated between thickets and rock ledges (more like boulders that had to be hiked around). It was very slow going and I was beginning to get a bit nervous as a solo bushwhacker is wont to do from time to time. But things went okay and I made it to the very small summit outcrop. I left a relic at the summit for the next Center bushwhacker to admire.
It was 1:35 (25 minutes before my turn around time). The problem was that since I found not jeep trails, my entrance route now seemed like a foolish plan to get out of there, so I aimed right for the truck, heading down the same ridge I had come up, but not traversing around to the north this time. It was pretty quick going down with no signs of the alleged jeep trails. things got hairy for a while down in the flats when I wasn't paying close enough attention to the compass, but I made it out with only a few bouts of "Oh sh_t!"
I didn't quite hit the truck, but I came out on the double-dashed road/trail about 3 minutes from the truck, so everything was okay and I refueled before heading out around 3:30. It was a difficult 4.5 hour bushwhack for me.
On the way out, I stopped at Katahdin Stream and gave the "Kidney Pond Lookout" sign to the ranger and asked if he knew if anyone had been up to Center recently. He didn't seem to be aware that people bushwhack in the park, but my hunch is that Center doesn't see a lot of traffic.
If others reading this have been up there, would you share your routes with me? Maybe I just missed the jeep trails.
All in all it was a good day, but I was glad to get home.
I didn't take many pictures today, but here are a few.
spencer
