BIGEarl
Well-known member
August 26, 2012: Snow Mountain (Chain of Ponds) and East Kennebago
Trails: Logging Road, Herd Paths, and Bushwhacks
Summits: Snow Mountain, East Kennebago
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me
Directions: Snow Mountain – Chain of Ponds
Starting at Cathedral Pines Campground –
Follow Rte. 27 north 10 miles
Turn left on North Road (Google Maps shows it as Round Mt. Pond Road to start)
Drive to the end of the road at ~5 miles you’ll find the parking area.
Directions: East Kennebago
From Chain of Ponds - Snow Mountain, head back out to Rte. 27, and go south (turn right). At Route 16 in Stratton, bear right (Rte 16 west, toward Rangeley).
Be prepared to repeatedly set the odometer to zero
From Rte 27 & Rte. 16 in Stratton
Follow Rte 16 for 8.7 miles west
Turn right on Langtown Main Road (I could find no road sign identifying this road), cross the bridge and go right at the “T”
odometer to zero
In 0.9 miles, bear right at the fork
Bear left at the next fork
odometer to zero
In 1.4 miles bear left on a rocky road
odometer to zero
in 0.8 miles turn left onto another rocky road
Drive as high as you can. From the final turn, we drove ~3.1 miles to an elevation of 2600 feet.
Hike #1: Snow Mountain, Chain of Ponds
Our day started on Snow Mountain. We arrived to the parking area to find it empty. We grabbed our things and set off for Snow. Reports I read indicated we would hike a combination of ATV trails leading to Snow Mountain Pond, and then the Fire Warden’s Trail to the summit. It looked like the ATV trail was an old woods road corridor. For most of the distance to the pond it was wide and clear. There were areas of erosion but it was clearly a road corridor. Along the way we gained roughly 800 feet in elevation over the estimated 2 miles. It was a nice warm-up to the hike.
As we approached the pond the general condition of the trail deteriorated. We found a number of blow-downs on the trail and there were areas of mud and standing water. Overall, this was a short section of trail and the majority of the hike in was on very pleasant trail. At the pond we noticed a couple boats lying on shore. One appeared to have a bunch of holes similar to those that would be left by a shotgun. Beer and duck hunting don’t always mix well. We didn’t move in for a closer check but the holes appeared to have some sort of patching material over them; perhaps fiberglass cloth and resin. We found the trail split and started the climb. The Fire Warden’s Trail is unmarked but someone has left yellow flagging along its route. The trail is actually very obvious and no flagging is required, but it’s there.
The trail to the summit is in pretty good condition as well. There were a few blow-downs to get past but nearly all were simple step-overs. Before leaving the area of the pond the heat and humidity of the day were very obvious. We were both pretty wet with perspiration. The climb to the summit took some work, at least for me. We made quite a few stops along the way, but that’s not unusual. Eventually, we could see the summit was close up ahead.
In a short distance we learned it was really a false summit and there was more work to do. We continued on and there was the summit. A short final climb and we were again clearing a false summit. Gee, this is real fun! At least from this one we could see the summit tower and were pretty sure there were no more false summits in our morning climb.
A few weeks ago we were climbing Dorset in Vermont on a sunny, hot, humid day and the place was loaded with flies. At the time I was sure the total fly population of New England was living in Vermont. I was wrong. There are a bunch of them living on Snow Mountain in Maine. We met more on each and every stop. But, I digress…..
We made our way up this final pitch and were standing at the bottom of the Snow Mountain summit tower. Sue was first up to climb for the views and I soon followed. That’s a very nice windmill farm off in the distance and it stretches a long way. We left a comment in the summit register, made our u-turn, and headed back out.
The exit hike went with only a few stops along the way. When we passed the pond we noticed one of the boats (the one that appeared to have been shot) was missing. Whoever took the boat might have been trying to get away from the flies.
Between the pond and the trailhead we met a couple other hikers and a golden retriever. Soon we were back to the truck and preparing to head to our afternoon entertainment. Sue grabbed a couple cold ones for the road from the cooler and we were off.
Hike #2: East Kennebago
Our next stop was East Kennebago. It took a while to get there since a very large amount of the trip (in time) was on dirt roads. We headed to Stratton on Route 27, took Route 16 toward Rangeley, and in 8.7 miles we were making a right hand turn onto an unmarked road. It was the right road. Eventually, we had gone as far as we could go with the truck (2600 feet). We grabbed our things and started hiking.
East Kennebago is a very simple hike; follow the road corridor to the yellow boundary markers, turn left and follow the boundary cut which is blazed in yellow, at the height-of-land turn uphill and find the canister.
The first leg went very well. There were a few blow-downs along the way with one requiring an off-trail bypass. After a short initial climb the road corridor generally levels off and it’s a mild hike to the boundary markers. We reached the boundary markers in 20 minutes and made the turn to hike along the boundary line.
We needed to follow the boundary line to the height-of-land and then turn uphill. There is an open and well-worn path along the boundary, and there are a couple areas of blow-downs to work around. There were no significant obstacles. This early section of generally clear hiking gains a nice amount of elevation. I was pretty happy with this because that meant there would be less to bushwhack through. Soon, we reached the height-of-land, and a cairn, and a very obvious herd path heading straight up the slope. We’re having fun now!
We made the turn and did the climb. There were a couple places where more blow-downs interrupted things but getting around these areas didn’t cost much in lost time. There were multiple herd paths in some areas and we managed to stay with the more obvious routes. We made our way to the summit ridge and the herd path just came to an end. For a few minutes Sue and I simply stood there and studied the surrounding trees trying to locate the canister or some traces of it having been mounted on one of the trees.
Sue started wandering the area and I did as well. I started to head back out the way we arrived and found another herd path leaving to the left (approaching) a short distance from the end. Sue was close behind. We wandered a short distance out this side path and there was the canister and sign. That was an easy bushwhack!
We got our summit pictures and took off. We had a five-hour drive back to Nashua, Sue had one more hour home, and not long after it would be time to go to work. Sorry for the late day and short night, Sue.
More fun hiking in Western Maine, tough but fun.
Thanks Sue.
Pictures will follow
Trails: Logging Road, Herd Paths, and Bushwhacks
Summits: Snow Mountain, East Kennebago
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me
Directions: Snow Mountain – Chain of Ponds
Starting at Cathedral Pines Campground –
Follow Rte. 27 north 10 miles
Turn left on North Road (Google Maps shows it as Round Mt. Pond Road to start)
Drive to the end of the road at ~5 miles you’ll find the parking area.
Directions: East Kennebago
From Chain of Ponds - Snow Mountain, head back out to Rte. 27, and go south (turn right). At Route 16 in Stratton, bear right (Rte 16 west, toward Rangeley).
Be prepared to repeatedly set the odometer to zero
From Rte 27 & Rte. 16 in Stratton
Follow Rte 16 for 8.7 miles west
Turn right on Langtown Main Road (I could find no road sign identifying this road), cross the bridge and go right at the “T”
odometer to zero
In 0.9 miles, bear right at the fork
Bear left at the next fork
odometer to zero
In 1.4 miles bear left on a rocky road
odometer to zero
in 0.8 miles turn left onto another rocky road
Drive as high as you can. From the final turn, we drove ~3.1 miles to an elevation of 2600 feet.
Hike #1: Snow Mountain, Chain of Ponds
Our day started on Snow Mountain. We arrived to the parking area to find it empty. We grabbed our things and set off for Snow. Reports I read indicated we would hike a combination of ATV trails leading to Snow Mountain Pond, and then the Fire Warden’s Trail to the summit. It looked like the ATV trail was an old woods road corridor. For most of the distance to the pond it was wide and clear. There were areas of erosion but it was clearly a road corridor. Along the way we gained roughly 800 feet in elevation over the estimated 2 miles. It was a nice warm-up to the hike.
As we approached the pond the general condition of the trail deteriorated. We found a number of blow-downs on the trail and there were areas of mud and standing water. Overall, this was a short section of trail and the majority of the hike in was on very pleasant trail. At the pond we noticed a couple boats lying on shore. One appeared to have a bunch of holes similar to those that would be left by a shotgun. Beer and duck hunting don’t always mix well. We didn’t move in for a closer check but the holes appeared to have some sort of patching material over them; perhaps fiberglass cloth and resin. We found the trail split and started the climb. The Fire Warden’s Trail is unmarked but someone has left yellow flagging along its route. The trail is actually very obvious and no flagging is required, but it’s there.
The trail to the summit is in pretty good condition as well. There were a few blow-downs to get past but nearly all were simple step-overs. Before leaving the area of the pond the heat and humidity of the day were very obvious. We were both pretty wet with perspiration. The climb to the summit took some work, at least for me. We made quite a few stops along the way, but that’s not unusual. Eventually, we could see the summit was close up ahead.
In a short distance we learned it was really a false summit and there was more work to do. We continued on and there was the summit. A short final climb and we were again clearing a false summit. Gee, this is real fun! At least from this one we could see the summit tower and were pretty sure there were no more false summits in our morning climb.
A few weeks ago we were climbing Dorset in Vermont on a sunny, hot, humid day and the place was loaded with flies. At the time I was sure the total fly population of New England was living in Vermont. I was wrong. There are a bunch of them living on Snow Mountain in Maine. We met more on each and every stop. But, I digress…..
We made our way up this final pitch and were standing at the bottom of the Snow Mountain summit tower. Sue was first up to climb for the views and I soon followed. That’s a very nice windmill farm off in the distance and it stretches a long way. We left a comment in the summit register, made our u-turn, and headed back out.
The exit hike went with only a few stops along the way. When we passed the pond we noticed one of the boats (the one that appeared to have been shot) was missing. Whoever took the boat might have been trying to get away from the flies.
Between the pond and the trailhead we met a couple other hikers and a golden retriever. Soon we were back to the truck and preparing to head to our afternoon entertainment. Sue grabbed a couple cold ones for the road from the cooler and we were off.
Hike #2: East Kennebago
Our next stop was East Kennebago. It took a while to get there since a very large amount of the trip (in time) was on dirt roads. We headed to Stratton on Route 27, took Route 16 toward Rangeley, and in 8.7 miles we were making a right hand turn onto an unmarked road. It was the right road. Eventually, we had gone as far as we could go with the truck (2600 feet). We grabbed our things and started hiking.
East Kennebago is a very simple hike; follow the road corridor to the yellow boundary markers, turn left and follow the boundary cut which is blazed in yellow, at the height-of-land turn uphill and find the canister.
The first leg went very well. There were a few blow-downs along the way with one requiring an off-trail bypass. After a short initial climb the road corridor generally levels off and it’s a mild hike to the boundary markers. We reached the boundary markers in 20 minutes and made the turn to hike along the boundary line.
We needed to follow the boundary line to the height-of-land and then turn uphill. There is an open and well-worn path along the boundary, and there are a couple areas of blow-downs to work around. There were no significant obstacles. This early section of generally clear hiking gains a nice amount of elevation. I was pretty happy with this because that meant there would be less to bushwhack through. Soon, we reached the height-of-land, and a cairn, and a very obvious herd path heading straight up the slope. We’re having fun now!
We made the turn and did the climb. There were a couple places where more blow-downs interrupted things but getting around these areas didn’t cost much in lost time. There were multiple herd paths in some areas and we managed to stay with the more obvious routes. We made our way to the summit ridge and the herd path just came to an end. For a few minutes Sue and I simply stood there and studied the surrounding trees trying to locate the canister or some traces of it having been mounted on one of the trees.
Sue started wandering the area and I did as well. I started to head back out the way we arrived and found another herd path leaving to the left (approaching) a short distance from the end. Sue was close behind. We wandered a short distance out this side path and there was the canister and sign. That was an easy bushwhack!
We got our summit pictures and took off. We had a five-hour drive back to Nashua, Sue had one more hour home, and not long after it would be time to go to work. Sorry for the late day and short night, Sue.
More fun hiking in Western Maine, tough but fun.
Thanks Sue.
Pictures will follow
