PigPen and Neighbor Dave, hoping to be considered for honorary Maniac status, joined Onestep and I for another day in THE Beaudry.
Spencer Bale has always seemed mysterious - it's quite a bit off the main road, and none of us are quite sure what the "Bale" means. The long side road was in decent shape, and we soon came to a decision point south of the peak where one road led to the left flank and the other to the right. We opted to go right and had a steep but pleasant ascent from the SE, skirting bands of rocky outcroppings and encountering only a little blowdown at the summit. There is a sign and a jar on this peak; unfortunately the tree to which both are attached is partially uprooted. Comments in the register suggested that those hikers who chose the left fork were able to drive higher and closer, ascending from the NW in half the time it took us. There were partial views south to the Bigelows and west to Kibby.
Back on the Beaudry Rd heading north, we drove past the Kibby Mt access road and descended a few hundred feet to a new logging road, not shown by Delorme, which leaves west and climbs the north side of the unnamed peak across from Kibby. Taking the open skidder paths we roasted under the noon sun. Reentering the woods a few hundred vertical feet below the summit, it was pleasantly cool. Descending the heavily logged north slope provided wide angle panoramas of the Caribous, Smarts and Moose as well as nearby Kibby, more than compensating for the full sun exposure.
It seemed strange to hike on a trail after so much whacking on uneven ground, and we enjoyed the old warden's road up Kibby. It was quite gentle, as advertised, but surely must be shorter than the 2.3 miles estimated in the Maine Mountain Guide, as our ascent time was well short of an hour. From the summit platform the views were completely unobstructed - Boundary Balds, Big and Little Spencer, Coburn, Bigelows, Sugarloaf, Black Nubble, East Kennebago, Black, Boil, Snow and the entire Beaudry! We enjoyed a lengthy siesta on this summit savoring the extraordinarily beautiful afternoon and pondering life's profound questions: "Why are the deer flies only biting Pigpen?" and "Is there a summit from which more 3000 ft peaks are visible?"
Spencer Bale has always seemed mysterious - it's quite a bit off the main road, and none of us are quite sure what the "Bale" means. The long side road was in decent shape, and we soon came to a decision point south of the peak where one road led to the left flank and the other to the right. We opted to go right and had a steep but pleasant ascent from the SE, skirting bands of rocky outcroppings and encountering only a little blowdown at the summit. There is a sign and a jar on this peak; unfortunately the tree to which both are attached is partially uprooted. Comments in the register suggested that those hikers who chose the left fork were able to drive higher and closer, ascending from the NW in half the time it took us. There were partial views south to the Bigelows and west to Kibby.
Back on the Beaudry Rd heading north, we drove past the Kibby Mt access road and descended a few hundred feet to a new logging road, not shown by Delorme, which leaves west and climbs the north side of the unnamed peak across from Kibby. Taking the open skidder paths we roasted under the noon sun. Reentering the woods a few hundred vertical feet below the summit, it was pleasantly cool. Descending the heavily logged north slope provided wide angle panoramas of the Caribous, Smarts and Moose as well as nearby Kibby, more than compensating for the full sun exposure.
It seemed strange to hike on a trail after so much whacking on uneven ground, and we enjoyed the old warden's road up Kibby. It was quite gentle, as advertised, but surely must be shorter than the 2.3 miles estimated in the Maine Mountain Guide, as our ascent time was well short of an hour. From the summit platform the views were completely unobstructed - Boundary Balds, Big and Little Spencer, Coburn, Bigelows, Sugarloaf, Black Nubble, East Kennebago, Black, Boil, Snow and the entire Beaudry! We enjoyed a lengthy siesta on this summit savoring the extraordinarily beautiful afternoon and pondering life's profound questions: "Why are the deer flies only biting Pigpen?" and "Is there a summit from which more 3000 ft peaks are visible?"
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