poison ivy
Well-known member
Frosty and I decided to take advantage of the nice weather on Friday and head out for a two-night AT section hike (which turned out to be a day & 13 miles shorter than expected.) We got a late start as our car spot took forever to set up, so we didn’t start hiking up from Old Blue until 11 a.m. With some concern about his knees, we parked Frosty’s car on South Arm Road so he could turn back if he needed to and I could continue on the trip. We carried all our own gear, as on a past trip, so we hiked at our own pace and agreed to meet up at the shelter.
The trail up from Black Brook Notch was fairly steep, gaining about 900 feet in a little over a half-mile. I stopped about a million times — mainly to take pictures of all the amazing wildflowers on the trail. The three-miles up Old Blue, which is just 3,600 feet, made for a grand hike.
Upon reaching the summit of Old Blue, where I passed Frosty, the trip changed dramatically. The north side of the mountain was covered in snow — up to two feet in places and filled with tons of blowdowns. There was one where I actually had to climb up a nearby tree in order to haul myself over. Several blowdowns over bog bridges also proved to be a challenge to negotiate and I ended up getting my boots filled with water.
When I reached the sign for the halfway point, I stopped to wring out my socks and wait for Frosty to catch up. After a half-hour, I decided he must of turned back due to the conditions, being much smarter than I am.
The difficult conditions continued all the way up and over Bemis Mt. After way more ups and downs than it seemed like there should have been, I finally reached the third peak of Bemis and had just a half-mile or so to the shelter. Fortunately, the snow started to abate and it was easy walking to the Bemis Mt. Lean-to.
I arrived at the shelter at 7 p.m. and found the last entry in the register was from November. I was getting ready for bed at 9:30 when I heard Frosty calling down from third peak… he hadn’t turned back after all.
I’m afraid Frosty had a worse day than I did — he punched through the snow a lot more often than me and he lost his jetboil stove, which was hanging off his pack. Our first day of the trip was definitely a tough one.
Saturday, we were on the trail by 6:45 a.m., thinking of doing a 13-mile day. Both of us were tired and achy from yesterday’s hike, however. Frosty said he definitely was too tired for a 13-mile hike, so he planned to hike 4.6 miles to Route 17 and hitch back to his car. Although I was feeling a little sore and tired too, I decided to wait until reaching Route 17 before deciding whether to go on or not. Frosty said he would assume if I was heading on if I wasn’t at Route 17 when he arrived.
Almost immediately we had great views from the ledges of Bemis’s third peak — it’s a really pretty mountain. Fortunately for us, the snow was gone so today was just a nice walk in the woods, even though spring hasn’t reached this side of the mountain yet.
I was somewhat worried about the ford across Bemis Stream. However, it was only about ankle deep and my boots and socks were still wet from yesterday’s adventure so I just walked on through. Curiously, there were three or four dried up stream beds in the area… I wouldn’t think they’d be dry at this time of year.
From there, it was just a mile to Route 17, which I reached at 10 a.m. I briefly entertained the idea of hiking 18 miles to my car or the planned 13 miles to the campsite, but doubted I could do it because my legs were already aching. So, I left Frosty a note on the guardrail saying I was ready to quit hiking for the day too.
I immediately got a ride from a nice foursome who were stopped at the overlook with a great view of Mooselookmeguntic Lake. My trail angels went way out of their way to bring me back to my car (and we saw a moose on the way) and wouldn’t accept any money.
I drove back to the AT crossing in the hopes of giving Frosty a ride to his car. I drove up and down the road a few times near the crossing and saw two more moose grazing along the side of the road. I was running low on gas so I decided to wait by the crossing until noon. Frosty didn’t turn up so I decided he must have gotten a ride while I was on my way to my car.
Frosty actually got off the trail before Route 17 — he managed to get a hitch a mile beforehand on an old railroad bed that goes to Mooselookmeguntic Lake. While he was standing there, a car drove by so he flagged it down and got a ride back to his car with three hitches.
It was a tiring trip but we still had fun (now that it's done of course.) Pictures from the hike (including two of the moose) are here.
- Ivy
The trail up from Black Brook Notch was fairly steep, gaining about 900 feet in a little over a half-mile. I stopped about a million times — mainly to take pictures of all the amazing wildflowers on the trail. The three-miles up Old Blue, which is just 3,600 feet, made for a grand hike.
Upon reaching the summit of Old Blue, where I passed Frosty, the trip changed dramatically. The north side of the mountain was covered in snow — up to two feet in places and filled with tons of blowdowns. There was one where I actually had to climb up a nearby tree in order to haul myself over. Several blowdowns over bog bridges also proved to be a challenge to negotiate and I ended up getting my boots filled with water.
When I reached the sign for the halfway point, I stopped to wring out my socks and wait for Frosty to catch up. After a half-hour, I decided he must of turned back due to the conditions, being much smarter than I am.
The difficult conditions continued all the way up and over Bemis Mt. After way more ups and downs than it seemed like there should have been, I finally reached the third peak of Bemis and had just a half-mile or so to the shelter. Fortunately, the snow started to abate and it was easy walking to the Bemis Mt. Lean-to.
I arrived at the shelter at 7 p.m. and found the last entry in the register was from November. I was getting ready for bed at 9:30 when I heard Frosty calling down from third peak… he hadn’t turned back after all.
I’m afraid Frosty had a worse day than I did — he punched through the snow a lot more often than me and he lost his jetboil stove, which was hanging off his pack. Our first day of the trip was definitely a tough one.
Saturday, we were on the trail by 6:45 a.m., thinking of doing a 13-mile day. Both of us were tired and achy from yesterday’s hike, however. Frosty said he definitely was too tired for a 13-mile hike, so he planned to hike 4.6 miles to Route 17 and hitch back to his car. Although I was feeling a little sore and tired too, I decided to wait until reaching Route 17 before deciding whether to go on or not. Frosty said he would assume if I was heading on if I wasn’t at Route 17 when he arrived.
Almost immediately we had great views from the ledges of Bemis’s third peak — it’s a really pretty mountain. Fortunately for us, the snow was gone so today was just a nice walk in the woods, even though spring hasn’t reached this side of the mountain yet.
I was somewhat worried about the ford across Bemis Stream. However, it was only about ankle deep and my boots and socks were still wet from yesterday’s adventure so I just walked on through. Curiously, there were three or four dried up stream beds in the area… I wouldn’t think they’d be dry at this time of year.
From there, it was just a mile to Route 17, which I reached at 10 a.m. I briefly entertained the idea of hiking 18 miles to my car or the planned 13 miles to the campsite, but doubted I could do it because my legs were already aching. So, I left Frosty a note on the guardrail saying I was ready to quit hiking for the day too.
I immediately got a ride from a nice foursome who were stopped at the overlook with a great view of Mooselookmeguntic Lake. My trail angels went way out of their way to bring me back to my car (and we saw a moose on the way) and wouldn’t accept any money.
I drove back to the AT crossing in the hopes of giving Frosty a ride to his car. I drove up and down the road a few times near the crossing and saw two more moose grazing along the side of the road. I was running low on gas so I decided to wait by the crossing until noon. Frosty didn’t turn up so I decided he must have gotten a ride while I was on my way to my car.
Frosty actually got off the trail before Route 17 — he managed to get a hitch a mile beforehand on an old railroad bed that goes to Mooselookmeguntic Lake. While he was standing there, a car drove by so he flagged it down and got a ride back to his car with three hitches.
It was a tiring trip but we still had fun (now that it's done of course.) Pictures from the hike (including two of the moose) are here.
- Ivy
