Raspberry Mountain

[forestgnome]

...actually....BeccaM and I hiked Sable Mtn. and Chandler Mtn. These are trailess mtns., just south of South Baldface.

We hiked Slippery Brook Trail to the point where the old trail bed meets up with the new one, which follows an old logging road.

Becca enjoying some yummy plump raspberries along the SBT....oh sure, they look freindly and taste yummy now, when you're not trying to hike uphill through thick, chest-high patches of them...

sights along the SBT...

It's nice to find someone to hike with who, like me, is willing to fly by the seat of the pants...no rigid plans, just wander and enjoy what we find, not caring about any destination. Of corse, Becca is a peakbagger, so we do "need" to get to a place. But we seem to strike a nice balance b/w goal and wander. So, we decided to continue on the old logging grade instead of following a compass point straight up toward the summit of Sable Mtn.

This turned out to be a great decision...we kept following this grade as it took us up most of the mountain before finally fading.

The wind was awesome...

we found a huge ant hill along the way, the whole thing was about 50 sqare feet...

thanks, Becca, for the patience while I take all those little detours looking for nature-geeky stuff...

continiued...

 

[forestgnome]

we had a nice encounter with a young cow moose....we saw her first but the wind shifted. a moment later she froze and looked in our direction...then she glided silently through the forest....it was a very nice encounter...

this mountain has lots of maples...the last few hundred feet has extremely dense patches of chest-deep raspberries and ferns...very slow going, but pretty...and tasty...Becca is 5'11"

fireweed...

finally made it to the top....whodat?

rose twisted stalk on the way over to Chandler Mtn.

unknown berries...

in the saddle b/w the peaks...

more raspberries near summit of Chandler Mtn...

nice day in the White Mountains...

happy trails

 

[Kevin Judy and Emma]

Outstanding!

As always, the pictures do the talking! Thanks for taking us along!

KDT

 

[audrey]

I'm glad you had some nice friendly ferns to wade through besides the prickly raspberries!

The unknown berries are red baneberry.

 

[Becca M]

a VERY fun day!!!!

Forestgnome, you managed to capture the fun, beauty, and adventure of the day - a wonderful time!!!!!!

 

[cooperhill]

Great pictures and report.

I believe the red unknown berries are Red Baneberry.

 

[JohnL]

Very well done! Nice shot of Becca among the ferns in the birch forest. Good diversion to a lesser known destination.

JohnL

 

[gooly]

Poop picture is my favorite!!! Such a great shi...ot , I mean shot!!!

 

[una_dogger]

Wow! I would be "drowning" in those ferns, incredible!

I don't think I have ever seen them so tall!

 

[Lefty E]

That wasn't a tick on your heel of your hand hopefully?? Almost looks like a plastic coyote version...Audrey, are red baneberry a useful berry???

 

[ksearl]

Incredible pictures again! You must be the moose-whisperer. I'm totally amazed at how you can not only find the moose, but find so many antlers, etc. It's seriously amazing!

Thanks for another great report. I'm enjoying the redlining adventures!

Karl

 

[audrey]

...Audrey, are red baneberry a useful berry???

Lefty,

Poisonous, no foraging for these!

 

[Becca M]

ksearl:

Too true - Patrick scans constantly while I am just looking for a safe place to put my foot!!!!!


una_dogger:

we joked that *some* specific people might completely disappear in those ferns

 

[forestgnome]

Audrey and Cooperhill, thanks for ID help on the red baneberry

Yep, we saw two moose and three shed antlers, but I think my report falls short of describing just how many raspberries thrive on this mountain. We felt like moose, just walking and grazing the whole time. Very few parts of the hike did not feature big plump raspberries. I've never seen nearly that many on one mountain...

happy trails

 

[1HappyHiker]

Patrick, as others have stated, your knack/skill for finding moose (not to mention moose antlers) is uncanny! I truly think there is a market for your skills, but I suspect that it's a market that you'd prefer not to explore (or is "exploit" the more correct term??).

Just as a very minor side-note, perhaps on the same day you guys were on Sable and Chandler, I was exploring one of the neighboring mountains (Black Mtn - Jackson).
And, just as you reported, the raspberries in that vicinity are plentiful!