Turners-The Owl

[dms]

For the second time in a week, I was fortunate to be able to go hiking in BSP with my best friend and hiking partner, my son Dan. It was a great pleasure to be with him as I did my last 7 3k peaks in the park. On Thursday we did N. Turner which is a bushwack peak that has a totally open summit. Thanks to a tip from a ranger at Roaring Brook we were able to ascend to a huge scree slope on the eastern end of the peak. The views were spectacular. We had some rain, sleet and snow on the way up, fortunately we also had lots of sun. We could see Russell Pond and the surrounding area, with views of Mullen, the Brothers, Fort and the Traveler range which we had hiked only last Saturday.
We then headed over to S. Turner, and finally reached the summit at 6 pm. The summit scramble is steep and fun, and you are rewarded with 360 views at the top. The views into Katahdin are quite impressive. We could see that some snow had fallen, and this led to the closing of the eastern trails on Friday. We finally got back to Roaring Brook at 7:30, a 12 hour day without many stops, but well worth the effort.
On Friday we did the Owl, what a great peak this is. Because of it's huge next door neighbor it doesn't get many visitors, we had the summit to ourselves for over an hour! It has unimpeded views in all directions, looking into Witherle Ravine, the Klondike and all the way over to Fort.
I now only have Big Squaw left to complete my 25 year quest of the 3ks, I am hoping for a sunny day next Saturday to finish. In my old age I've become a wussy sunny day guy! Pics are at http://community.webshots.com/album/554313523oQvtEp

 

[Papa Bear]

Way to go Dennis! One more left - that's impressive.

And Big Squaw - a great peak to finish on (although not PC - ). If you have good weather you'll see the Spencers right across Moosehead lake and you might even pick out the Owl (of course with its big brother behind) in the distance. Make sure you take the path (heading towards the ski area) to the lookout.

 

[dms]

Thanks PB, I've heard the views are great. In fact on The Owl, my son and I could clearly see Big Squaw, er Big Moose, we briefly discussed heading over on the Golden Road for a hike today, but based on the gruesome weather forecast for today, we decided to stick to the plan of only doing it on a sunny day!

 

[RoySwkr]

we briefly discussed heading over on the Golden Road for a hike today, but based on the gruesome weather forecast for today, we decided to stick to the plan of only doing it on a sunny day!

Congrats on your near-completion. I know some people think that it's hiking the 3k that is crazy, but I just can't imagine driving to the far reaches of Maine 3 times in 3 weeks

 

[dms]

Thanks Roy! Clearly such driving just goes to prove how crazy 3k folks are! But I must make a small admission, my son did all the driving on the last two trips!! Age does bestow certain benefits.

 

[onestep]

Way to go Dennis!!
Only one more and you don't have to give blood any more.

Onestep

 

[Gamehiker]

Congrats, great pics of North & South Turner. Glad to hear that the rangers are cooperative about N.Turner. Hope to see you in Pittsburg in a couple weeks. Jim

 

[dms]

Thanks Kurt, my blood is so old and tired I need to keep as much as I can, but as you see from the pics I foolishly wear shorts on some of the wacks. Jim, I was a bit surprised that the ranger shared his "secret" route up N. Turner, but very happy that he did because it was a lot of fun to be out on that scree slope, the boulders were all the size of refrigerators, and the views were fantastic. I hope to be up in Pittsburg in a couple of weeks to work on finishing my NH 200 highest list.

 

[mhrsebago]

Having just started the 3000 fters, Dennis, it's difficult to imagine how close you are to finishing this daunting list!! Those of us hiking into Russell Pond this weekend will certainly be cheering for you on Big Squaw!!

 

[Peakbagr]

Come visit the ADK100 and discover what being a blood donor is really about.

 

[dms]

Mark, you will love N. Turner especially after Mullen, I found Mullen to be one of the tougher 3ks.
Peakbagr, you'll be a bigger blood donor doing 453 peaks than you ever will doing only 100!!!!

 

[dms]

Thanks Arm!! We were on The Owl from about 10 to 11 or so, but didn't see or hear the slide. What time was it when you saw it??? Glad you had good weather for your Traveler trip!

 

[onestep]

Thanks to a tip from a ranger at Roaring Brook we were able to ascend to a huge scree slope on the eastern end of the peak.

The rangers secret route up N Turner is safe with me!

Onestep