Gamehiker
New member
Day 1 of planned 4 day excursion. More on that later.
Drove 1.5 Miles up Bear Brook Road and parked. Started out at 10:00 for Whitecap. Had no problem with the road-herdpath until reaching the eastern plateau on top and finally figured out that I needed to backtrack a little. After doing that I saw that there was higher ground to the west and proceeded with the whack only finding herdpaths just before the cannister which I reached at 12:40.
After a quick lunch I bravely continued with my original plan which was to whack a mile over to Monument 450 but that meant I would have to climb back over Whitecap! or so I thought.The whack started out pretty thick but gradually opened up as I got closer to the col. Then more openings on the climb to the monument. It never really got thick but numerous blowdowns made the going rough. Just before the swath I saw a hiker in front of me. Who else would be out here? It was mrhsebago who was just as suprised to see me. See his post. Anyway he graciously offered a smelly hiker and his smelly dog a ride back to my car which meant that NKD would wait for another day. Maybe I will get to return the favor some day.
Arriving back at my car at 4:00 I decided I needed more punishment so I saw that SW Cow Ridge was close so I went for it. About 2 miles East of the Kennebago River on Tim Pond Road an old woods road goes off to the North. I parked there and headed in. The road soon becomes grassy and overgrown but easy to follow North then NW into the col. There the path peters out so I just forged ahead thru a lot of knee deep undergrowth to a flat summit with some thick spruce and a lot of blowdowns. I thought I found the highest spot but no cannister. Anyway I headed back to the car thru some wet muddy soft area and arrived at 7:00. SW Cow Ridge is a fairly easy hike but might be easiest between November and March. Today's animal count: 7 Rabbits, 3 Deer, 2 Snakes, and too many grouse to count.
Decided to drive home and take a day off as the weather didn't look too good for Sunday. Good choice as Sadie has spent all day lying on the bed. Will head out again tomorrow. Gamehiker
Drove 1.5 Miles up Bear Brook Road and parked. Started out at 10:00 for Whitecap. Had no problem with the road-herdpath until reaching the eastern plateau on top and finally figured out that I needed to backtrack a little. After doing that I saw that there was higher ground to the west and proceeded with the whack only finding herdpaths just before the cannister which I reached at 12:40.
After a quick lunch I bravely continued with my original plan which was to whack a mile over to Monument 450 but that meant I would have to climb back over Whitecap! or so I thought.The whack started out pretty thick but gradually opened up as I got closer to the col. Then more openings on the climb to the monument. It never really got thick but numerous blowdowns made the going rough. Just before the swath I saw a hiker in front of me. Who else would be out here? It was mrhsebago who was just as suprised to see me. See his post. Anyway he graciously offered a smelly hiker and his smelly dog a ride back to my car which meant that NKD would wait for another day. Maybe I will get to return the favor some day.
Arriving back at my car at 4:00 I decided I needed more punishment so I saw that SW Cow Ridge was close so I went for it. About 2 miles East of the Kennebago River on Tim Pond Road an old woods road goes off to the North. I parked there and headed in. The road soon becomes grassy and overgrown but easy to follow North then NW into the col. There the path peters out so I just forged ahead thru a lot of knee deep undergrowth to a flat summit with some thick spruce and a lot of blowdowns. I thought I found the highest spot but no cannister. Anyway I headed back to the car thru some wet muddy soft area and arrived at 7:00. SW Cow Ridge is a fairly easy hike but might be easiest between November and March. Today's animal count: 7 Rabbits, 3 Deer, 2 Snakes, and too many grouse to count.
Decided to drive home and take a day off as the weather didn't look too good for Sunday. Good choice as Sadie has spent all day lying on the bed. Will head out again tomorrow. Gamehiker
