Sawyer Notch ME - Recent Info ?

[peakbagger]

I picked up an Maine AT corridor boundry maintenance section starting at Hall MTN leanto heading north to South Arm Road. A big chunk of the area is accessed from Sawyer Notch between Hall and Moody Mtn. Does anyone have any recent info on access to AT in this area? The most recent Delorme guide shows a gate 1 mile or so south and a lot of gates from the north, but the guide hasnt been updated for a few years. The View from Google Earth doesnt look promising but heavy tree cover may be hiding the road.

MATC has some upcoming major repair work on Moody Mtn due to the slide last year so I am hoping access may be opened up, but if anyone has been in there of late, even information that the Delorme guide is still accurate would be appreciated.

Looks like the section has some steep topo, it going to be interesting trying to retrace the 20 plus year old survey. Bushwhacking, surveying with a bit of looking for buried "treasure" (AT boundary markers) how can I go wrong?

For those not familiar with the section of the AT east of Grafton Notch and west of Saddleback, its very rugged terrain similiar to the Mahoosucs. Lots of daily elevations gains and losses and very remote. With the exception of thruhiker traffic, you wont find many folks on the trail. The shelters tend to be up high and away from trailheads so they dont tend to get used or abused by the weekenders. There are some shuttles based out of Andover ME, so setting up a hike isnt super difficult.

 

[RoySwkr]

I hiked Moody & Sawyer Mtns from the N a couple years ago (and Wyman/Hall from the S maybe a decade ago) and that describes the trail well. If I remember correctly, the boundary hits some of the Wyman/Hall summits that the trail does not.

One of the hostels/shuttle services leaves cold drinks for hikers at Black Brook Notch, you could ask why they don't leave them at Sawyer Notch instead

 

[wardsgirl]

I hiked from South Arm Road to East B Hill Road on a dayhike last fall.

The hike up Moody Mountain was easy, but going down the backside was awful. There was a relocation in progress that had run out of funding and it was impossible to follow the route. There was a bad landslide. I had no idea where I was, on the trail, the relo, on a whack?

The brook crossing at the base is a sweet spot for a break and water. It's an easy haul from there to Hall Mountain Lean-to. Heading over the ridge to Wyman Mtn and beyond, there are some pretty good views. Surplus Pond looked like a nice place to camp.

Have fun looking for your witness trees!