Sunday River WhiteCap (Maine) Day Hike Route

[peakbagger]

Sunday River Whitecap (SRW)on the west side of Grafton Notch is a very prominent open summit with 360 degree views. There is a extensive alpine zone on the the Grafton loop trail side of the summit. The trailbuilders have built extensive scree walls to keep hikers from degrading the alpine zone and the route is well graded with planty of switchbacks. Despite sharing part of a name with a ski area, SRW is north of the ski area and has no development. It is not a 4000 footer and is overshadowed somewhat by its northerly neighbor Mt Speck. Despite Mt Speck being taller the summit cone of SRW is far more impressive than Mt Speck. In general SRW's location and elevation would make this a perfect fall foliage hike if a direct route could be found. I have seen a few reports over the years and talked to a couple of folks about dayhiking this mountain and generally they all lined up with taking a grown in logging path up from a major logging road that parallels Rt 26. Many of the reports indicate that the logging paths shown on the USGS quad are grown in with thick underbrush and it was easier to head through the woods.

Although SRW can be accessed via the new Grafton Loop trail, an out and back dayhike would be a long day with limited views along the way (although some nice woods). While doing the west side of the loop recently, I noticed a distinct herd path coming into the trail from the North in Miles Notch (trail north of SRW, but actually compass west). I had the Old Speck 7.5 topo with me and there were several older logging paths coming up from Rt 26 that looked like good options to be the other end of the herd path. While at the junction, I fired up the GPS and took a coordinate. This herd path is obvious, the loop trail widens out in a flat area and there is discreet piece of orange flagging on a tree.

I had a spare half day on Saturday so I drove over with my trusty USGS Old Speck topo, compass and GPS. Driving north on Rt 26, I drove past the Screw Auger Falls parking, then went over a bridge and took a left on an obvious dirt logging road. The road is gated a short way in but there is plenty of parking. My GPS showed 2 miles straightline distance to the expected spot where I would head into the woods. Taking the logging roads would add a bit of mileage but speed things up I parked the truck and headed up hill following the very well improved logging road up the slope heading roughly south. After some steady climbing, I came to a T in the road and took a left following a very well improved logging road.

After a mostly level walk along the road I passed a large grown in logging yard with potentially great views east. The USGS map shows one major stream coming North out of Miles Notch, in the field there were two bridges and two streams but based on topo I could see two of the logging paths both sustantially grown in with dense growth. My GPS indicated about 1 mile to the point on the loop trail I had recorded previously and almost due south. I headed into the woods sticking to the east of the main stream occasionally encountering various pieces of flagging some of which were marked wetlands exclusion zone. The stream bed was starting to get deep so I headed up slope and away from the stream. The going was good, mostly open woods. After 15 or 20 minutes, I saw a open area to my left and decide to check it out. It was the third logging path located east of the stream. The path was grown in from the edges with a wall of brush and blackberry bushes making it difficult going. After going through the dense stuff, I popped out on a very well used path heading up the center of the road. This path appears to be used frequently and by many. There is evidence of clipping and stomping of the underbrush to keep it open but in spots it looks to be a battle keeping it open. The path headed up hill taking a right at two intersections. The second right headed into the woods following a much older logging path. This path was well graded and easy to follow and headed almost directly to Miles Notch crossing the sources of several brooks.

The path eventually came out at the herd path crossing with the loop trail. The weather was marginal and the winds were howling so I elected not to repeat the walk up white cap so I took a break and then headed down sticking to the path. From my break point on the loop trail to the major logging road where I had first headed into the woods was just about 30 minutes heading down with my truck about 55 minutes down. The logging path I followed is marked with a very small cairn and one piece of orange flagging. It is located south of the two bridges down the logging road about a 100 yards along the main logging road and is very obviously the third logging path shown on the USGS map. Overall the condition of this path is well above many of the lesser used trails in the whites.

A note about flagging along this route. There are many pieces of mostly blue flagging along the path on the ground, it could be left over from when the path was brushed out but it may also be a deliberate attempt to keep the path low key as it could easily be adopted as a bootleg snowmachine trail. There really isnt a need for it to be flagged as the route is obvious and the trail bed well beat. A GPS is a nice toy but really the only needed gear is a copy of the most recent 7.5 minute USGS topo and a compass (plus the knowledge to use both).

The description of the hike is probably a good one to use for the next year or so and may be usefull for longer if the path remains brushed out. I expect it will remain so as it is a good access for maintainers to the GLT but if its is not used, the blackberries and underbrush may grown in. If that happens, the woods are fairly open and some easy bushwhacking will get hikers to the same spot without a lot of effort. This route may also be useful to do an overnight trip up Speck from the south with two campsites located along the route.

I havent plotted the route out but I would expect the hike up SRW via this route is 2.5 to 3 hour event with much faster descent. I plan to be heading back up to check out the foliage in a few weekends.

 

[MichaelJ]

That route was "abandoned" and undocumented for good reasons - to protect that summit and not have it or any of the west side of the Grafton Loop be a day hike destination.

 

[RoySwkr]

That route was "abandoned" and undocumented for good reasons - to protect that summit and not have it or any of the west side of the Grafton Loop be a day hike destination.

I climbed SRW and Slide as a bushwhack before the trail was built, limiting their ascent to backpackers is elitist

There is a fire tower peak in VT and a former tower peak in ME with similar shortcuts for maintainers

 

[peakbagger]

Hard to read into Michael's comment on his opinion about it but, the reality is that the GLT was routed up and over Sunday River Whitecap, so therefore the summit gets use by an ever increasing group of backpackers. The upper section of the herdpath appears to have been in place for many years and the general route is actually mentioned with no details as an option in the first edition MMG as a option for accessing the summit. It is also fairly obvious from looking at the USGS map that this is a viable route. Like any other piece of info on the internet, my post will be instantly accessable to anyone looking for it and what they will learn is read a map and follow an old somewhat obvious logging path to a col. Note I didnt post Lat Long, nor a GPS track. I dont see this report as anything different from the frequent detailed discussions of how to access any of the "six pack up north including the canadian option ", the firewardens trail up Hale or the Downes Brook Slide trail on Passaconaway.

I guess ultimately its a difference of opinion on the accessibility of summits. I personally am not a backpacking elitist and will admit that I utilized back roads and old fire roads to access many spots on the AT other than trailheads while I was finishing it. I expect that a lot of folks would object to closing all the side trails in the Mahoosucs or any of the ridgelines in the whites to reserve the summits for backpackers who did a multiday trip. Using those summits as a example as they are nearby SRW, I havent seen any one complaining about their experience being impacted by dayhikers. I know it closing down side trails sure would impact the folks obsessed with multiple climbs of major lists. By not signing the route and not showing it on maps and in guidebooks I expect the actual extra traffic is minimal and probably less impact than the group of 10 high school age backpackers with guides sitting off the screeed in section of the trail that I encountered in the alpine zone on a Wednesday. Given that the summit is outside of the "magic 3 hours from Mass zone" and is not on any of the major lists, its not going to draw a lot of interest from the typical casual dayhiking crowd and those who do elect to go there will most likely be more experienced folks due to the navigation required. The one other case for publicizing this path is that there arent any good options for bailing out on the GLT in case of injury or illness on the west side of the highway. I expect that thats one reason that the route will remain for the long term access point in case of rescues.

I personally plan to revisit it with friends as the summit cone is a atypical for the region and the views outstanding. I find that its more remiscient of the summits in the baxter area. I know the folks I would dayhike it with would not be interested in the out and back via the GLT but they would appreciate the summit. If I can find them a route over a relatively hardened path that allows them to enjoy the view without the impact of overnight camping (which inherently introduces impact), I am all for it.

 

[una_dogger]

I suspect the intent of the comment was not elitist.

SRWC was my favorite spot on the Grafton Loop. We noticed the small woods road in the col and I thought "that's probably the local's route". ;-)

Part of the beauty of SRWC for me was its solitude. A direct route generally brings more people, so its someplace that will likely remain that way without one, or at least without a widely publicized one.

I have often thought of finding the route Peakbagger chose, although I know I could day hike the traverse from Grafton Notch with a car spot or bike spot, as I know others have done it from even as far as Success Pond Rd in a day.

Are there any landowner issues with the route? It might be good to point them out, if they exist.

 

[peakbagger]

There are landowner preferences on the east side loop which limited access to the private land by only the GLT (no side trails), I am not aware of any issues nor is there any signage in this area on the west side of the highway neat Miles Notch. There is evidence of a major snowmachine trail along the main logging roads I mentioned in my original post.

The entire trail opening was delayed a year when landowner issues arose on the west side of the RT 26 southerly crossing and I expect that the lack of parking on the west side of RT 26 is a possible point of contention for those landowners near the GLT. Generally foresty land owners dont have issues with public day use of their land as recreational liability laws protect them from liability unless the land is specifically posted.

Although I cant find a good map, I beleive that the land in this area is at least partly in the Stowe Mountain project by the Trust for Public Lands which was subsequently funded by the federal government.

 

[Lost Dad]

From looking at Google Maps, it appears that most all of the property referenced from Rt 26 up to Miles Notch is part of the Maine Department of Conservation, Bureau of Parks & Land Public Reserve Land.
I have been looking at this same objective from the "other side" off of Riley Rd. The images on Google are very current for the SRWC area so I do not feel that there are any secrets as this is all "out there" already

 

[MichaelJ]

Elitist? Hah, that's a funny one. Let's cut and blaze a trail to the Captain, then, so you bushwhackers aren't so elitist.

I don't care if you go there or even tell your friends how to get there, but it's poor backcountry ethics to publicly publish the detailed instructions on how to put together a shortcut route to a brushed-off herd path to a peak with a fragile, protected environment on top.

 

[peakbagger]

Kind of spurious to introduce the Captain,a summit with no trails into a discussion about a summit with a trail over its summit. I suppose if you expand the debate, you might as well add in the PATN and the infamous "double bubble" illegally cut and marked trail or to even stir the pot more lets throw in Owls head and its illegal path which more than a few folks elect to use despite the "illegality" of the trail.

I looked back over my prior posts on this thread and did not see that I made any reference to deliberately brushed in so I dont know the source of this statement. Mother nature has brushed in the lower more recent logging road and a large group of people based on the footbed and vegetation have reopened the route until it enters the older section of the path. At the Miles Notch end there was no attempt visible to brush in the route (as I looked at this area twice). There is one blowdown somewhat lined up with the direction of travel but it is to the right of the obvious trail bed. Perhaps it was brushed in at some point previously but if it was, someone was quite meticulous in removing any trace. The path ties into the trail far below any alpine zone. The alpine zone of the mountain is delineated with scree walls and extensive rock and plank work. A group coming in from the path accessing the summit has no more or less likelihood of damaging this summit than any of the backpackers who care to access the summit via the GLT.

So the statement " but it's poor backcountry ethics to publicly publish the detailed instructions on how to put together a shortcut route to a brushed-off herd path to a peak with a fragile, protected environment on top." is your opinion. Ultimately the statement ends up somewhat incorrect unless you personally observed that the route was brushed in at some point and by someone in authority. Despite your protestation it somehow implies that those uninterested/unable in backpacking the GLT are somewhat less deserving of visiting a summit than those who elect to climb it via the GLT and that borders on "elitism".

The debate over when to and when not to publish non sanctioned trail descriptions has been around since before VFTT and was thrashed endlessly on outdoor use groups as long as they existed. To date I haven't seen a final resolution over the proper rules for when and when not to disseminate information on off trail routes and until such time that I do I reserve the right to publish.

In general rather than continuing the thread, I guess we have to agree to disagree on this one.

 

[MichaelJ]

You reserve the right to publish, and I reserve the right to be critical of such publication. It's unnecessary, especially in the case of a fragile summit like Sunday River Whitecap. If someone wants to get there they can grab a topo map and figure it out themselves, or use the trail.

I brought up the Captain as an absurd example because having only a backpacking trail on SRW was considered "elitist" by someone who then went on to talk about how SRW was only a bushwhack when they did it. If it's elitist to have a backpacking trail but no day route, then logically it must be even more elitist to have no trail at all, right?

Seriously, because a place only has certain ways/directions/means to access it does not make it elitist. It also means the official stewards of that land chose to have it that way.

I personally witnessed the herd path brushed over when Sabrina & I backpacked the Grafton Loop.

 

[RoySwkr]

I brought up the Captain as an absurd example because having only a backpacking trail on SRW was considered "elitist" by someone who then went on to talk about how SRW was only a bushwhack when they did it. If it's elitist to have a backpacking trail but no day route, then logically it must be even more elitist to have no trail at all, right?

I consider saying that you should only access SRW by a route that requires backpacking or a long day hike to be elitist, as far as I know it is you and not the landowners who discourage bushwhacking.

I personally like trails and would be happy if you built one to The Captain, so long as it complied with environmental standards and was not harmful like the one to PAtN - I can't recall ever saying a peak should not have a trail

Having peaks with no trails is not elitist so much as realistic with budget limits and landowner issues

 

[Lefty E]

Question about SRWC summit being different than other summits in the area? I will say I have not been there yet but will get there sometime soon because I would like to see the view (esp this time of year)...if someone told me hey you can get to Lafayette Lincoln etc (highly protected summits) quicker and easier via a drainage off the Lincoln Brook Trail (seen a few reports on thise) I would probably do it!! Responsible people will not damage areas like this, and not many people come up to Rt. 26 to bushwack up to GLT and SRWC...a weekend on Wash or Lafayette might see how many people, compared to Sunday River Whitecap??

 

[yardsale]

Here's a solution, go in the winter when you will have zero impact on the landscape. There is actually good skiing on the north, and ne side of SRC and Slide Mt. The area gets more snow than anywhere else in NE except Jay Peak. I used to ski there all the time when I worked in the area. If you Mainers are interested in establishing an "official" back country ski zone similar to that which is gaining traction here in VT, that would be the place to consider.

 

[una_dogger]

Did you use ITS82 - the snowmobile/ATV trail that's blazed on the state park map?

 

[peakbagger]

I had not seen this map it must be fairly recent, I assume you mean this one http://www.maine.gov/dacf/parksearch/PropertyGuides/Maps/FullSize/graftonmahoosucmap.pdf ? Its a nice map and includes the recent land purchases in the area.

The alignment of the ITS looks like it runs through the old logging path I described previously that diverges off the very obvious logging road. When I hiked it earlier in the spring, the actual bushwhack route definitely didn't appear to be an ITS trail as its not wide enough and its beginning is fairly obscure with no markings like it was a snow machine trail. Generally ITS trails are cleared wide enough for a groomer two sleds wide. I have always turned right onto the bushwhack but it may be worth heading straight (south) on the logging road for a few minutes to see if the ITS diverges up the mountain. I would probably stick with the woods route I had described to the col as the GLT is very well graded from the col up to SRW.

 

[Lost Dad]

check out this map of the Maine ITS trails. I have found it to be quite accurate in actual location.
http://www.jimapco.com/maproom/snowmobile/me/
This map agrees with the State Park map, but is a little more specific (zoomable) and you can go into satellite mode and see how close the ITS trail gets to the open areas on SRW.

PB, I have been through this area on a snowmachine. In general I do agree with your size assessment. However, in this area I believe that the trail is much smaller than usual; basically not much wider than one machine. If you are curious about the ITS in this area, it bisects the AT just outside for the big parking lot at the AT crossing (on the Old Speck side of the lot) of rt 26.

 

[una_dogger]

I had not seen this map it must be fairly recent, I assume you mean this one http://www.maine.gov/dacf/parksearch/PropertyGuides/Maps/FullSize/graftonmahoosucmap.pdf ? Its a nice map and includes the recent land purchases in the area.

.

Yes, that's the map

 

[egilbe]

Yes, that's the map

It looks like ITS 82 goes along the side of SRW?

 

[peakbagger]

The ITS map has pretty good topo and it sure looks like the bushwack route and the ITS are very close to each other if not co-aligned until it diverges where the old logging road turns south while the bushwhack route runs west to Miles Notch. It looks like I have an excuse to go revisit the area and do some research. The GLT runs through some pretty dense spruce on its way up the open ledges so the question would be if the same conditions exist between the ITS and the ledges. The trail builders did a lot of work to scree in and delineate the trail through the alpine zone of Sunday River Whitecap to reduce impact so my preference is to use the bushwhack route I described through the lower elevation route to connect up with the GLT as it is already hardened and in active use by trail maintainers.

 

[peakbagger]

A 2017 update, the maintainers trail is still being used and there is some level of maintenance. The old logging road up from RT 26 is definitely growing in but the original tire treads remain while brush is growing in from the sides. The trail up through the woods to the GLT is a short distance after the third marked snowmobile bridge after a distinct turn in the road. It is still marked with a small cairn and very occasional flagging. The maintainers trail which formerly went up through raspberries has now transitioned to going through thick regenerating stems. Brush is trying to move in from the sides but the trail bed is very well traveled. It looks to have cut back about 4 to 6 feet wide in the last two years with some recent growth filling in the sides. There were definitely signs of recent human and moose use. Previously there were a few potential splits in the old road where a hiker might get confused but these have grown in. Once it transitions off the logging road the trail widens out as the woods are more mature. The trail does have a couple of small branches laid over it at the junction with the GLT but under the branches is a cut large blowdown. I expect the branches are there to keep someone from inadvertently turning onto it from the GLT. In a few spots along this trail, large blowdowns have been sawed. I expect this route is being kept open for maintainers access and S&R access.

I am decidedly pokey hiking but it took me about a hour to get from the car to the GLT from there is 45 minutes to a hour to the summit. I ran into one day hiker who claimed to be doing the entire loop in a day and that was it. I was on the summit around noon and had it to myself. On the way down I met a two VFTT folk who had read my prior post and they managed to follow my directions without benefit of GPS.