Wild River Loop 5/28-29/05

[HAMTERO]

Suebiscuit and I got a late start out on Gorham on Saturday am. Trailhead parking for carter-Moriah was full but a nice local said we could park at the head of the gas pipeline there. C-M dry down low but wet rock higher requires extra care. Ran into a couple of people and a dog coming down and passed thru a big 10-12 person group. Snow starts at 3500' abd continues over the summit of Moriah (great views and warm spots) and continues most of the way to Shelburne-Moriah which is my new favorite mountain for its look and view down the Wild River Valley. All this time the Biscuit is letting out these terrible coughs on the uphills and looking grim but pressing on regardless.
Snow ends on Kenduskeag trail (after Shelburne-Moriah). Traveled down to Shelburne trail which follows Bull Brook and an old RR bed down to the Wild River. Wet in spots, Feet get wet, less down low on the RR. Highwater Trail smooth sailing. Found a great camping spot on a bluff above the river. Thunderstorm passed thru during the night but no problem for sue's new tent.
Next morning we sat out with just regular clothes on having breakfast. So different from winter camping!
Started up Moriah Brook Trail on another old RR bed. Had to wade across the brook above the gorge crosssing to keep from chancing washing thru there with a pack on. Figured who cares anyway because wet feet only a matter of time. Saw two sets of human footprints that we thought might be SherpaKroto but when we got higher saw some people camped at the top of the old RR on the other side of the brook. Tons of scat from moose and other large critters. Really nice area with lots of good camping spots. Lots of brook crossings.
Topped out on Carter-Moriah and Sue (hacking her way along) suggested we "just go over to Imp" then "maybe we sould go over to North Carter". Snow is above the Imp shelter cut-off and two fairly hard snow and ice scrambles up and coming back down from N. Carter.
Coming back down C-M to the Stony Brook trail it started raining really hard. SB trail was a river most of the way. Crossing low down too scary so we went down logging road into brand new neighborhood and road walked RT16 back to Gorham. We were really wet. Got some excellent MEATLOAF AND TURKEY DINNER there. YUM.
This is a really nice loop, right up there with Baldface Circle for me. We will be back in the winter for another hell hike.

 

[SherpaKroto]

The Moriahs, aka chasing Hamtero and SueBiscuit!

Hamtero/SueBiscuit: Saw your little calling card Nice touch! We also got a late start as Gris and I got our signals crossed. I was waiting at the Rt 2/113 intersection (where we planned to meet), he was at the trailhead . Told him about a moose that was eating at the beaver dam, and since he had never seen one !!! we went off to get some shots (he got some nice ones). Off we finally went at 9:30 and really took our time getting going (even though we expected to take about 11 hours to complete the loop). Spent a goodly amount at Moriah Gorge, then a lot of time chatting along the trail as we had not seen each other since 9/10 Flags hike. Soon found ourselves way behind schedule , but with no real need to get back early, finally stopped worrying. Thought we might see you when I saw 2 packs at the outlook near Stony Brook trail, but it was the couple you saw with the dog. We finally hit the summit well after 2 (we hadn't had a view in WAY too long, and were making up for lost time!). Headed over to Middle Moriah ahead of Gris, and passed a bench with "Hi SherpaK! in twigs which put a smile on my face! Got to my exit point and hastily took a bearing/waypoint that I "thought" I then stored in my GPS. Came across some really foolish flagging (at points, less than 10 feet apart!) that had been there for months (no foot prints in the deep snow), so I followed it to take it down. Finally got sick of taking myself further and further away from my goal (it wasn't even close to heading to the summit). Hit the summit after 3 wrong knobs, looked for a canister, but didn't find any (I was clearly higher than any other point, so knew I had reached summit. GPS waypoint that I took from summit confirmed it later. Hit "nearest waypoint" on GPS and headed off. Mistake: read the bearing, don't just head in the direction the arrow points to (being tired is no excuse!). I chose not to head back on my original route because I had gone so far out of my way on the way up pulling down the flagging. Still no excuse. I headed down for about 15 minutes and it finally hit me: the sun should not be directly in front of me - doh! And Moriah should definitely not be to my left! Out comes the map, triangulate location, hmmm, let's look at that GPS again. Nearest Waypoint: Bangor Road. I was heading toward Gorham! What a moron! Where was that waypoint I took when I left the trail? No idea. Oh well, no biggie, it's always fun traipsing through crotch deep snow in lowcuts, shorts, and gaiters. My "20 minute side trip to bag Middle" took nearly 90. Never felt lost, but sure felt foolish!
Back on the trail, I figured I'd be making a call to my wife so she wouldn't get worried (I had already told her we were 2 hours behind). I also knew I needed to push hard to catch Gris. At about this time I realized I felt really good. The mile long posthole from Moriah and the 90 minutes (over a mile counting the flag gathering and "detour" ) hadn't bothered me. I finally caught up to Gris heading up Shelburne Moriah and we really enjoyed the views and an orange. We knew we wanted to get down off the snow and steeps before it got dark, and knew it was time to go. I made call to my wife with a "honey, we're running at least 3 hours behind, but the views have been great! see you around midnight! Don't worry - we have everything we need". Since she's watched me head off on night hikes, coming home under headlamp is not something that worries her, anymore...

Descent was uneventful, although Gris wasn't feeling well (a bit of dehydration from too much pre-hike tennis!). We did have one interesting photo op where a partridge decided I had gotten too close and flew at me kamikaze style (interesting picture of a wing!). I also had a good chuckle when Gris said "let's stop for a few minutes to rest". I sat down, looked over and he had curled up to sleep. I knew we had T-Storms coming, so figured that wouldn't do us much good. Got him up after a few minutes, and off we went again. We had decided to take the Highwater trail instead of fording the Wild as the level was high. Once we got there, we changed out minds and decided to check out the Wild to see the level as we could hear the T-Storms in the distance. It was lower than in the morning, and crossing would save us about a mile. I figured "what the heck", and tentatively headed in. No problem, but the current was fairly strong. I decided deeper was better when I hit the strongest current, but Gris took a slightly different track. I crossed the deepest spot (just below waist deep), grabbed Gris as he floated by , and looked for the trail on the other side. By now it was pouring, so we just made a beeline for the road which I knew to be less than .25 miles away, and walked up to the cars which we reached at 10:30. Yup, a nice long day with some excellent sightseeing thrown in! 16+ miles, 3 summits, some fun (and not so fun) snow travel, and interesting stream crossings. Another great hike in the books, and good time spent with a friend. Gotta love life! Now please, show me to a beer!

 

[HAMTERO]

Like ships in the night

Sherpa
Looks like you just missed us as those two pack-droppers were coming up to Moriah summit as we were headed down to Kenduskeag. That trail is fun! We didn't do the BW but I want to come back in the winter and do it and Shelburne-Moriah. Want to come? Wild River rocks!

 

[SherpaKroto]

Hamtero: doubt I'll ever make it up Middle or Shelburn Moriah in winter. Still have too many of these list summits left! I definitely agree about Shelburne Moriah. One ugly mountain. Everyone should stay away

 

[HAMTERO]

lists

I'm starting a list of places not on a list...
A lot of the "just under" peaks are great and less traveled. I want to bushwack up Cypress or Spruce brook sometime too. If I were a moose or bear that is where I would live.

 

[Suebiscuit]

sticks

Hey SherpaK-

We tried to clear the trail as much as possible for you! Did you notice?! So glad you found our greeting!, but sad we missed you - would have been fun to say hello...!

Sue

 

[SherpaKroto]

Sue,
Now that you mention it, it did seem that there were fewer sticks in the trail from Moriah on. Wish you could have gotten rid of some of those big blowdowns on the Shelburne! I'm not as good at crawling as I used to be! Between what you and we moved off the trail, it should be in good shape!

I'd guess that we'll run into each other eventually with the amount of hikes we all do! Hope it's soon!

 

[Suebiscuit]

SherpaK -

Yes, those pesky blowdowns. Lloyd has long legs, so gets up over them pretty easily... I, however, look like one of those people trying to master a bullriding machine, often ending up hanging on upside down or tossed onto the other side. Not pretty...!

 

[Frodo]

Looks like you all had quite the adventure in the Wild River Valley Got to love those Spring water crossings where the water is so cold it burns I have come to the conclusion that any trail with the word “brook” in it’s name is going to be a wet one I am also game for some fun there next winter when everything is frozen and white... Definitely keep me posted.

 

[Gris]

Some pics here.

ps - thanks for saving my life Sherp!

 

[SherpaKroto]

My PICS from the trip

 

[Suebiscuit]

SherpaK - BTW, it's "Friendly woodland creatures of loveliness" if you don't mind.... Hope the grouse didn't get tangled in your beard....

 

[SherpaKroto]

SherpaK - BTW, it's "Friendly woodland creatures of loveliness" if you don't mind....

I would think nothing less!
BTW, great avatar!