marty
Well-known member
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- Apr 9, 2004
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Hi all,
The Tumbledown/Jackson Range near Weld and Byron, ME has always been a favorite. Haven't been there in a while, so I decided to give it a go on a nice day. Decided to take the Loop Trail. There were several giant boulders along the Loop Trail, which fell from the West Peak, such as this one:
After a short walk, the trail gets steep, wet, rocky and slippery. Much scrambling was required:
Eventually, you reach the Tumbledown Cliffs:
The hike takes you to a fissure cave aptly named Fat Man's Misery:
This requires a climb up a narrow opening. It was very wet in the cave and required iron rungs. You need to toss your pack up first to squeeze through. Here is a view from the top of the cave, after climbing up it:
There is now a trail to the North Peak. This is just to the right of similar markings for the route up West Peak:
I first climbed West Peak and was treated to some great views of the Range:
Next was on to North Peak, where I met two really nice hikers:
The N. Peak trail was easy to follow and mostly in the open. There were great views, including Tumbledown Pond (left) and Webb Lake (right):
I returned the same route after the two aforementioned hikers advised me against descending North Peak from the pond due to slippery ledge. I then hiked up East Peak, which had a nice close-up of the pond and Little Jackson:
The southeast end of the pond was crowded with people who ascended via the Brook Trail. Many kids were swimming:
I decided to descend via the much easier Brook Trail. At the end, I found a newly built trail connector to the Parker Ridge and Little/Big Jackson Trails that leaves at the beginning of the Brook Trail. This is a lot easier to find that the older trailheads! If I had known about this previously, I would have descended via the Parker Ridge Trail, which I think is more interesting than the Brook Trail. Here is the sign for the trail connector, although it is hard to read:
The entire trip took about 4 hours and 45 minutes. That's a lot of fun in a small period of time. Can't wait to get out there again!
Here is a complete set of photos: http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=254c58c9c431026fcf4ab00f16ca9e1e&sid=0YYtW7Vo1YsMm
Marty
The Tumbledown/Jackson Range near Weld and Byron, ME has always been a favorite. Haven't been there in a while, so I decided to give it a go on a nice day. Decided to take the Loop Trail. There were several giant boulders along the Loop Trail, which fell from the West Peak, such as this one:
After a short walk, the trail gets steep, wet, rocky and slippery. Much scrambling was required:
Eventually, you reach the Tumbledown Cliffs:
The hike takes you to a fissure cave aptly named Fat Man's Misery:
This requires a climb up a narrow opening. It was very wet in the cave and required iron rungs. You need to toss your pack up first to squeeze through. Here is a view from the top of the cave, after climbing up it:
There is now a trail to the North Peak. This is just to the right of similar markings for the route up West Peak:
I first climbed West Peak and was treated to some great views of the Range:
Next was on to North Peak, where I met two really nice hikers:
The N. Peak trail was easy to follow and mostly in the open. There were great views, including Tumbledown Pond (left) and Webb Lake (right):
I returned the same route after the two aforementioned hikers advised me against descending North Peak from the pond due to slippery ledge. I then hiked up East Peak, which had a nice close-up of the pond and Little Jackson:
The southeast end of the pond was crowded with people who ascended via the Brook Trail. Many kids were swimming:
I decided to descend via the much easier Brook Trail. At the end, I found a newly built trail connector to the Parker Ridge and Little/Big Jackson Trails that leaves at the beginning of the Brook Trail. This is a lot easier to find that the older trailheads! If I had known about this previously, I would have descended via the Parker Ridge Trail, which I think is more interesting than the Brook Trail. Here is the sign for the trail connector, although it is hard to read:
The entire trip took about 4 hours and 45 minutes. That's a lot of fun in a small period of time. Can't wait to get out there again!
Here is a complete set of photos: http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=254c58c9c431026fcf4ab00f16ca9e1e&sid=0YYtW7Vo1YsMm
Marty
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