Rumford Whitecap - Good Hike not so good Blueberries

[peakbagger]

I did my annual trip to Rumford Whitecap. The new red trail relocations are wearing in well. The views were great as usual for a one hour hike up. It hasn't been a great year for blueberries. I ran into a few other long term pickers who agreed that the blueberries were quite sparse. I checked the traditional spots and its not that they were picked over its just its hard year. My guess is lack of rain but it could have been a bad winter. I managed to get 2 quarts compared to my normal 2 plus gallons.

While roaming around, I found a couple of patches of pitcher plants. There used to be larger wetland patch with a large number of pitcher plants but sadly folks on ATVs damaged it by running a trail through it prior to protection of the summit. i had looked for this patch in recent years and could not find them but while looking for berries I thought the terrain looked right and when I looked down I saw a small healthy clump. A little more looking found a few others but it wasnt the patch I remembered.

 

[Lost Dad]

We were up on Rumford Whitecap a few weeks back when the blueberries were just starting to ripen. They did not seem sparse at that time....just not quite ready to pick. We did find enough ripe berries to get a couple of quarts. I am afraid that the word is out; this peak has seen an exceptional amount of traffic this year. I felt that there was a surprising amount of newer wear and tear on the trails this year. We hiked Rumford Whitecap each month from June 2019 thru March 2020...then took a Covid break until we cleared quarantine in the early part of July...the trail, particularly the middle single track section, seemed much wider than it had ever been in the past.
Blueberries were good on Pleasant Mt in Denmark/Bridgton, ME

 

[SpencerVT]

I climbed Miles Mountain in Vermont this weekend and then Caribou Mountain in Maine. There are tons of wild blackberries and raspberries out. I probably could've shaved an hour off my hike time had I not been stopping every few minutes to pick berries. I must've eaten a pint, so good! The black bears are pissed at me though for gobbling up all their food.

 

[peakbagger]

I saw a wild blackberry patch in Milan last weekend that was loaded and several patches that were a week or so before they were ripe. I could have easily picked a few quarts.