Daniel Eagan
Active member
Followed Buckyball's report (here), which means following Papa Bear, BobandGeri, etc. Details are the same, however much work has been done on the road approaching the start of the herd path. Right now there is a thirty- to forty-foot clear-cut swath all the way up to the boulders marking the end of the road. Someone with guts and a high-clearance vehicle will find only a few troublesome spots up there as long as it's dry.
Otherwise it's a long, muddy slog up past tree stumps, truck ruts, and stacked piles of balsam. The trail up to the bushwhack starting points is easy to follow. Yellow flagging which I did not put up or take down marks a clear herd path to White Cap; it's past the cairn (now five measly rocks) and through the balsam field about twenty feet. My wife and I went up by the cairn, heading NW. Not too hard, some scratchy parts. Distinct herd path up near the top. We took it descending, and it was so easy we overshot the path back down entirely and spent the next hour getting back to it.
Maypole is still there, with only a few tatters remaining on it. Getting down to the col was okay; there we found an intermittent herd path to the summit of NKD. The southwest herd path there looked very inviting, but we retraced our steps. This time we stayed on the herd path almost all the way back, pushing through about ten trees at the very end. Came out to a spot marked with yellow flagging, and then followed a very distinct path uphill about 100 feet to the maypole.
It's now a pretty ugly road on the way out. Next day COP Snow was a very different experience.
Otherwise it's a long, muddy slog up past tree stumps, truck ruts, and stacked piles of balsam. The trail up to the bushwhack starting points is easy to follow. Yellow flagging which I did not put up or take down marks a clear herd path to White Cap; it's past the cairn (now five measly rocks) and through the balsam field about twenty feet. My wife and I went up by the cairn, heading NW. Not too hard, some scratchy parts. Distinct herd path up near the top. We took it descending, and it was so easy we overshot the path back down entirely and spent the next hour getting back to it.
Maypole is still there, with only a few tatters remaining on it. Getting down to the col was okay; there we found an intermittent herd path to the summit of NKD. The southwest herd path there looked very inviting, but we retraced our steps. This time we stayed on the herd path almost all the way back, pushing through about ten trees at the very end. Came out to a spot marked with yellow flagging, and then followed a very distinct path uphill about 100 feet to the maypole.
It's now a pretty ugly road on the way out. Next day COP Snow was a very different experience.
