Tumbledown Mtn., Maine, August 14

[Muddy2Shoes]

Trails used: Brook Trail connector, Brook Trail, Parker Ridge Trail

The Brook Trailhead connector trail is not on the mountain guide map. We drove in to the Parker Ridge trailhead and parked. Somehow we missed a sign and then, instead of going up the Parker Ridge trail as planned and after considerable discussion, we found outselves on a trail not shown on our map. This new trail took us to the Brook Trail trailhead. Although not our plan, this gave us a wonderful loop of going up Brook and back by way of Parker Ridge. A total of almost 6 miles.

I had not been to Tumbledown for about 14 years. The tremendous efforts of volunteers and the AMC in bringing the trails to this mountain into shape were very evident. This effort included carrying out BAGS and BAGS of trash. The purchase of this special place by the state is a shining example of the Land for Maine's Futrue program. The considerable trailwork done in the past 14 years is impressive. If a reader of this participated in the restoration of this mountain -- THANK YOU.

That said, we had a glorious day with two grandchilden. The trailheads were very busy but we never felt the bustle on the trails or the mountain. One grandchild brought a pole and cast a couple of lines into the pond at the top. Although he did not catch any of the trout living there, he did bring in some very pretty golden shiners. Several people took a dip in the pond. This small mountain has something for everyone, woodland trails, steep trails, ledges, views and a swim at the top. Don't know why it took us so long to return!

 

[csprague]

I made the same mistake a couple years ago. I think if you search the trail conditions forum hard enough you may even find my report (sometime in June 08, I think).

I found this unmarked trail to be rather soggy in parts and a bit overgrown, which leads me to believe that it wasn't that new, or was still being constructed and therefore not entirely cleared, I'm not sure which.

Like you, we came down the Parker Ridge trail after literally running from the summit after we reached it and found ourselves looking straight into Mordor. We made the trees just seconds before the skies opened up. It even hailed on us! It was certainly an exciting memory in retrospect, but not one that I'd like to soon repeat

Chris

 

[csprague]

In my trail condition report, I called the trail we took up the "Pond Link Trail", so I'm not actually sure that we did the same thing. It's possible that I got the name of our trail wrong, though.

http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=23280

How did you determine the name of the trail you took up?

Chris

 

[marty]

The Parker Ridge to Brook trail connector is fairly new and is unnamed, but blazed in blue. It starts at around 1100 feet. The Pond Link is at a much higher elevation and connects the pond to the Little Jackson Trail at about 2100 feet.

Marty