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Bethlehem, New Hampshire, United States
E-mail contact: randonneur8@yahoo.com | Facebook: facebook.com/1HappyHikerNH

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26 September 2013

Venturing into Little Tunnel Brook Ravine (north side of Mt Moosilauke)

Recently, I received an e-mail from Steve Smith, shortly after 8 AM.  He apologized for the short notice, but asked if I'd be interested in joining him for a bushwhack on that very day to explore the Little Tunnel Brook Ravine.

Having such short notice was not a problem.  However, it would be a problem for me to gather things together and be out the door in a timely manner.  Not wanting to holdup Steve,  I declined his offer.  But, in a most generous gesture of kindness, he offered to delay his start time and wait for me.  And so, with a very late morning start, we headed off for Little Tunnel Brook Ravine.

Before going any further with this narration, I strongly urge you to read Steve's Blog report which contains terrific background information, as well as a truly excellent description and photo-documentation of our adventure!  Click HERE for Steve's report.

Since Steve's report is so thorough and complete, there is very little that I can add in terms of narrative or photos.  Therefore, perhaps the best approach is to merely present a few of the snapshots that I took during our trek. These images might serve to further emphasize the beauty that we experienced at various points along the way.

Upon accessing the northern end of the ravine from an old logging road, we traveled along the banks of Little Tunnel Brook as we trekked southward toward the headwall.
Scene along Little Tunnel Brook near the beginning of our trek
Steve photographing one of the many picturesque scenes as we wandered up the ravine
As we climbed higher up the valley floor, the cascades gradually became higher
 
And then,  just a tiny bit higher
Eventually, the cascades became not only higher, but more abundant and pervasive
And then, we reached the 'grand prize' located high up on the headwall of the ravine
The 'grand prize' cascade is probably about 100-ft high, and although this torrent of water is quite striking, it is unnamed!

After we finished our trek, Steve and I drove to the same spot that he had visited earlier in the day before we met up.  From a high bank along the road near the junction of Rt. 112 and Rt. 116, we could look back at the area where we had bushwhacked.  I was truly astonished that our 'grand prize' cascade could be seen off in the distance, about 3 miles away from where we were standing.  (In the next photo, the red arrow points to the cascade.)
Our 'grand prize' cascade as viewed from a high roadside bank near Rts. 112 and 116
For any reader who might be unfamiliar with the location of our bushwhack adventure, perhaps the map shown below might be of some use.  As a further point of reference, this location is about 8 miles west of I-93 (Lincoln /North Woodstock).
Map showing the general location of our bushwhack
To sum it up, I must say that this day turned out to be a surprise in the truest sense of the word.  When I woke up in the morning, I had no idea that later in the day I would be trekking into the remarkable Little Tunnel Brook Ravine, and witnessing the awesome beauty of a huge cascade.  Life is full of surprises!

22 September 2013

A Terrific Trek in the Tumbledown Mountain Region of Maine

In mid-September 2013, I did a hike in the Tumbledown Mountain region of Maine.  This might sound like an exaggeration, but I will say that this was the most enjoyable hike I've done to date!

However, as pleasurable as this adventure was, it got off to a very rocky start!  Coming from the east, Byron Road is used to access the trailheads for the Tumbledown Trail system.  Upon arriving at Byron Road I was shocked to see that the road was closed!!
Byron Road closed on day of my hike! 
Being unfamiliar with the back roads in this area, it required some scrambling to determine if there was any alternative routes that could be used.  After receiving some misinformation and misdirection, an alternative route was found thanks to Jerry, the owner of the Weld General Store.  He indicated that I could bypass the closed section of road by taking West Side Road to Westbrook Brook which intersected Byron Road beyond the section that was closed.  For any reader who might need this alternative routing, it is shown in the map below.
Alternative route to Tumbledown Trail System from the vicinity of Weld, ME
Even before the road-closure issue, I was already running short on time.  So, after having lost over an hour of valuable hiking time, I needed to reassess and quickly improvise a shorter route than originally planned.  And so, I ended up doing a loop by using the Brook Trail for both the ascent and descent.  The middle part of the route involved hiking the Tumbledown Ridge Trail to West Peak, then hiking an unofficial trail to North Peak, and continuing on that trail to the junction of the Pond Link and Parker Ridge Trail.

For the remainder of this report, I'll mostly let the photos tell the story of this marvelous hike.

From the West Side Road, I took a snapshot of the Tumbledown/Jackson Mountain grouping (next photo).
Tumbledown/Jackson Mountains as viewed from West Side Road near Weld, ME
Once I finally got on the trail, it took just a little over an hour to reach Tumbledown Pond.  Along the way to the pond, there wasn't much of interest to see until I neared the junction with the Parker Ridge Trail where I got the picturesque view shown in the next photo.
Vista seen from Brook Trail near the junction with the Parker Ridge Trail
At the junction of the Brook Trail and Parker Ridge Trail, I was greeted with my first view of a portion of Tumbledown Pond.
Approaching Tumbledown Pond from junction of Brook Trail and Parker Ridge Trail
The views from the shoreline of the pond were stunning.  The next photo is just one of the many eye-catching scenes.
One of many eye-catching scenes from shoreline of Tumbledown Pond
Eventually I had to pull myself away to head up the Tumbledown Ridge Trail. The trail begins its ascent via the rocky slabs seen in the next photo at center-left.
Tumbledown Ridge Trail begins ascent at rocky slabs seen at center-left
As I climbed higher along the Tumbledown Ridge Trail, I began to get an overview of the entire Tumbledown Pond.
Overview of Tumbledown Pond as seen while climbing Tumbledown Ridge Trail
Besides the views of Tumbledown Pond, there were other views along the route, such as a view of Webb Lake.
View of Webb Lake from Tumbledown Ridge Trail
While approaching Tumbledown's West Peak, there was a nice westward view of many mountain peaks, including the Presidential Range in New Hampshire.
Tumbledown's West Peak on right, peaks in Presidential Range on distant horizon
After visiting Tumbledown's West Peak, I backtracked a few hundred feet to pick up the unofficial trail that leads over to Tumbledown's North Peak.  Unless someone decides to remove the signage currently painted on the rock slab shown below, it would be difficult to miss the starting point for this trail.  However, beyond the starting point, this unofficial trail can be challenging to follow in some spots.  It should probably be attempted only by experienced hikers. 
Start of the unofficial trail to North Peak from West Peak
From the ridgeline of North Peak, there is a very nice view looking over at West Peak.
View of West Peak from ridgeline leading to North Peak
Also along North Peak's ridgeline was a view toward Webb Lake which was slightly different from the one seen earlier from West Peak's ridgeline.
View of Webb Lake from North Peak's ridgeline
From Tumbledown's North Peak I experienced the most dramatic view of the day.  From a nearby ledge, I was able to look straight down at Tumbledown Pond.  The next photo shows this view.
Tumbledown Pond as viewed from a ledge near top of North Peak
Upon seeing this stunning view, I moved a bit further down the ledge to a very comfortable spot to eat my lunch.  It was so wonderfully weird to be the only person on the planet on this particular who was having their lunch at this incredibly extraordinary spot.
Perched high above Tumbledown Pond eating my lunch
Shown in the next photo is a close-up zoomed view of Tumbledown Pond
Close-up zoomed view of Tumbledown Pond
In addition to the outstanding distant views, and the nearby views of Tumbledown Pond, there were many dazzling views of trailside features along the ridgelines of West Peak and North Peak.  Some of these scenes are shown in the next 4 photos.  There are no captions. I'm sort of left speechless as to how to label them! 




Particularly prominent on North Peak were ledges with unusual striations, as seen in the next photo  Perhaps a reader of this Blog can provide some geologic details as to how they were formed, etc?
[ADDENDUM: Subsequent to writing this report, a State of Maine website was located which discusses the geology of Tumbledown Mountain (click HERE).
Unusual striations seen on ledges of Tumbledown's North Peak
After descending North Peak and arriving at the junction of the Pond Link and Parker Ridge Trail, I still had about 30 minutes before I reached my turnaround time.  This small amount of time was spent exploring a short segment of the Parker Ridge Trail in order to get some different viewing perspectives from the east side of Tumbledown Pond.  I'm so glad that I took this extra half-hour.  The views were excellent!

The next photo shows Tumbledown Pond as viewed from the edge of a small tarn along the Parker Ridge Trail.
Tumbledown Pond as viewed from edge of a small tarn along the Parker Ridge Trail
Another outstanding view from the Parker Ridge Trail included a vista looking up at Little Jackson Mountain.
Little Jackson Mountain as viewed from a point along the Parker Ridge Trail
To sum it up, despite the rather shaky start to this hike, and the impromptu route change, I will state what was said at the beginning of the report.  This was the most enjoyable hike I've done to date!

A Trek to Cranberry Peak in Maine's Bigelow Mountain Range

This was my very first foray into Maine's Bigelow Mountain Range.  Wow!  I was very favorably impressed.  There's a good chance I'll be returning there in the future for other hiking adventures!

This 5.8 mile (round-trip) hike began at the far western end of the mountain range by using the Bigelow Range Trail.

Sign at trailhead
The trailhead is reached by driving 0.8 mile south of the village of Stratton on Rt. 27  and then turning onto Currie Street (opposite the town's ball field).  Once on Currie Street, you drive 0.3 mile to the trailhead parking lot.

It's a minor issue, but AMC's Maine Mountain Guide spells the name of the street as "Curry" rather than "Currie", and it states that you drive 0.7 miles to the trailhead parking.  However, as shown in the next photo, the name of the street is "Currie". And, as the M.A.T.C. signage correctly indicates, it is only a 0.3 mile to the trailhead.
Signage at intersection of Rt. 27 and Currie Road 
The trail ascends moderately for about the first mile, and then begins to ascend steeply.  And in addition to being steep, there are several scrambles over boulders and ledges along the way.   Despite the steepness and scrambles, the trail has many sections that are very attractive.  A couple of examples are shown in the next photo collage.
A couple of examples of the many attractive segments of the Bigelow Range Trail
It should also be mentioned that about 30 minutes into the hike, you will come to the sign that is shown in the next photo.  I have no idea what this is all about!  There was no mention of it in the Maine Mountain Guide.  All I can say is that you should go in the direction of "Dry Trail Ahead".  The "Panberry Creek" corridor appears to be overgrown, and I have no idea where it leads you!  Perhaps a reader of this Blog can provide some information about this sign.
"Mystery" trail sign seen along the route to Cranberry Peak
After several steep pitches and scrambles over ledges and boulders, the terrain suggested I was nearing the summit.  Wrong!  I looked up and could see the bare rock summit looming ahead of me in the distance (see next photo).
Approaching bare rock summit of Cranberry Peak
Actually, the final scramble to the top of Cranberry Peak (shown above) was very short and mild-mannered.  And the views from the summit and surrounding ledges were simply breathtaking!
Looking eastward along the Bigelow Range toward Cranberry Pond and The Horns
Looking a bit southeasterly from Cranberry Peak
Looking eastward toward Sugarloaf Mountain
Looking a bit northeasterly with the eastern end of Flagstaff Lake in sight
Looking northwesterly with the western end of Flagstaff Lake in sight
A slightly zoomed view of Cranberry Pond
A zoomed view of various peaks along the Bigelow Mountain Range
There are two spur trails along the route to Cranberry Peak.  One leads to a deep cleft known as Arnold's Well. Any water that might be in this cleft is unsuitable for drinking.  The other spur leads to what is known as The Cave (see next photo).  It's an interesting spot and worth walking the few hundred feet to take a look.
"The Cave" as viewed from a short spur trail off the Bigelow Range Trail

To sum it up, this was a magnificent first-time hiking experience in Maine's Bigelow Mountain Range.  There are high hopes of returning here for other hiking adventures.

A Trek to Blueberry Mountain (the one near Weld, Maine)

There are several peaks named Blueberry Mountain, but the one that is the subject of this report is the 2,890 ft.  peak located near Weld, Maine.

The trailhead is located at the Blueberry Mountain Bible Camp.  Getting to the camp involves driving uphill for about 1.5 miles on a dirt road that leaves the west side of Rt. 142 a few miles north of Weld village.  The point where the dirt road leaves Rt. 142 is shown in the next photo. 
Signage at point where dirt road leaves Rt. 142
The Maine Trail Finder website (Click HERE) has a map and other details about accessing the trailhead.   But be aware of one typo, the Trail Finder website currently lists the hike as being 2.4 miles round-trip.  It's actually a 4-mile round-trip hike, as is correctly stated in the AMC's Maine Mountain Guide (10th edition).

At the end of the dirt road, as described above, you come to the Bible Camp's main lodge (see next photo).  This is where you park.
Blueberry Mountain Bible Camp's main lodge, which is where you park
With the main lodge at your back, look for a path to the right of the parking lot that leads to an athletic field.  Walk across the athletic field to a road which has seen some recent logging operations.  As a result, for the first 0.25 mile (about a 10-minute walk) the trail's corridor follows a road that has been chewed up by logging equipment.  When I was there, this short segment was marked with blue flagging to guide you (see next photo).
Blue flagging along logging road for the first 0.25 mile of Blueberry Mountain Trail
Once the logging road segment ends, the trail then becomes like a regular hiking trail.  The corridor is well defined and easy to follow.  Although they are widely spaced, there are blue blazes on trees and rocks to guide you, particularly at places where there are abrupt turns (see next photo).
Example of blazing at abrupt turns in Blueberry Mountain Trail
The trail has some sustained steep sections, but the footing is good.  It leads you through attractive stands of maple and birch forestland at the lower elevations.   At higher elevations, spruce and fir dominate and then eventually give way to low scrub and blueberry bushes.  Also along the way are some large boulders.  The one shown in the next photo was a bit unusual in that it was cracked neatly in half.
Cracked boulder along Blueberry Mountain Trail
Once you reach the top of the mountain the views are expansive.  There is plenty of room to roam around the bare rock and ledges which allows you to view various points of interest from different perspectives.  To illustrate this, the next two photos show essentially the same vista, but seen from different spots atop Blueberry Mountain.  For both photos, Jackson Mountain (+ small sliver of Little Jackson Mountain) is seen in the foreground.  And on the distant horizon are high peaks in Presidential Range and Mahoosucs.
Jackson and Little Jackson in foreground; Presidentials and Mahoosucs on horizon
Same vista as previous photo, but taken from a different spot atop Blueberry Mountain
There is a great view of Webb Lake from Blueberry Mountain (next photo).
Webb Lake, as viewed from Blueberry Mountain
There is a long lineup of peaks looking northward from Blueberry Mountain.  Please, someone correct me if this is wrong, but I'm thinking this vista includes peaks such as: Saddleback, the Crockers, tops of mountains in Bigelow Mountain Range, Sugarloaf,  Mt. Abram (Abraham).
Long lineup of peaks looking northward from Blueberry Mountain
Mt. Blue is clearly visible from Blueberry Mountain.  The following photo collage shows both a distant and a zoomed view of this popular mountain.
Distant and zoomed view of Mt. Blue as seen from Blueberry Mountain
The next photo collage is a bit of a mystery to me.  For my entire stay on the summit of Blueberry Mountain, I could see a bright light emanating from the top of a distant mountain off to the northwest.  The left panel shows the un-zoomed vista, and the right panel is a zoomed photo.  Most likely this light is reflected sunlight.  Does any reader have an idea as to which mountain this might be.  Could it be West Kennebago where there is a relatively new communication tower as part of the MSCommNet Project?
Bright light on distant mountain to the northwest, as viewed from Blueberry Mountain
To sum it up, other than the 0.25 walk along the logging road at the start of the trek, the hike itself was very enjoyable, and the views not only met, but exceeded my expectations.