Dappled Sun on Speckled Mountain: (06-Oct-2009)

It was difficult to decide where to hike on Tuesday. Up until about 10 AM, the sky in Bethlehem was pretty much solid gray, plus I felt a bit under the weather myself (slight head cold, or whatever). Gradually, the weather (and me) started showing some signs of improvement. So, considering the “crack of noon” start I’d be getting, I opted for something relative short & easy. Speckled Mountain over in Maine would be my destination for this day (unless I decided to do something else while en route)!

I had never been to Speckled Mountain, but it has been on my mind to do ever since TDawg mentioned it in his reply to my Trip Report on Mt. Meader that was posted in July of this year. I took TDawg’s suggestion to use the Evergreen Link and Cold Brook Trail. This is a beautiful route, a good part of which is in the Caribou-Speckled Wildnerness. It’s never overly steep at any point. One of the steepest parts occurs in first few tenths of a mile immediately upon leaving the trailhead!

But speaking of the trailhead, I don’t know if there was ever a sign at the trailhead for the Evergreen Link. Regardless, there is no sign there now! I thought I was in the right place, but since there was no sign, I was unsure. So, I went a short distance back down the road to the Evergreen Valley Inn where the good folks there confirmed that the spot I’d found was indeed the trailhead.

As I began the hike, the sky had far more clouds than sun, but at least it wasn’t raining! Within an hour of hiking through an awesome hardwood forest, I came to the first of many open ledges that “speckle” this mountain. The views were marvelous, but this is where the “dappled” thing comes into play (as was mentioned in the title of this report).

The mixed conditions of sun and clouds caused the landscape to be “dappled” with areas of extreme bright and extreme dark. My poor “point & shoot” camera didn’t know how to handle this, and neither did I. But between the two of us, we did the best we could and managed to eke out a few semi-decent snapshots.

Below are three photos of vistas showing some autumn colors.

Below is a snapshot which isn’t being shown for reasons of autumn color. Is it just me, or does the sheer cliff on Red Rock Mtn sort of resemble “The Captain” in a way?


Well, getting back to the theme of autumn colors, my snapshots of the vistas didn’t really do justice to the distant views. But to see some brilliant autumn color, you really didn’t need to look any farther than the ground beneath you, or just on either side of the trail.
(Below are two examples of what I’m talking about.)


It should be mentioned that there are extremely nice views of Kezar Lake from the south-facing ledges along the upper part of the Cold Brook Trail. However, once again, because of my issues with the “dappled” lighting I only got one snapshot (out of several that were taken) that is worth posting.


And finally, I sort of knew this in the back of my mind, but I’d forgotten about it until I arrived at the summit. This mountain once had a fire tower, which is little wonder since even without the benefit of a tower, the summit area of today still provides a fine panorama of views to the southwest, north, and around to the east. The footers for the tower are still there (photo below).


Speckled Mountain is an excellent destination. I want to pay a return visit to the ledges that “speckle” this mountain, but on a day when the views aren’t “dappled” with patches of sunlight and darkness.

1HappyHiker

Aren't the ledges beautiful? I'm glad you enjoyed it, and you got some nice pictures.

I've only been up Speckled in July while vacationing with my family on Kezar Lake. So seeing your fall pics was nice, makes me miss the lake.

Speckled Mtn. and the ridge out to Red Rock Mtn. provide a gorgeous back drop to the northern bay of Kezar Lake where we stay. Coupled with the Baldface Range, the Royce's, and Kearsarge North to the west they make Kezar an absolute gem. And its a great base for hiking!

Thanks for the TR. Pictures are fantastic. So is the WMG accurate on the location of the trailhead? I may try and hike this on Columbus day weekend.

TDawg: Thanks Todd for recommending this trail combination to me, and also thanks for your response (including the link to your photos from your July trip).

And yes, that place where you’ve stayed on the northern bay of Kezar Lake sounds ideal on so many different levels!

Cgarby: Chris, first of all, I realized after reading your question that I wasn’t clear as to which trailhead I was talking about. I’ve since edited this TR to indicate that I was referring to the trailhead for the Evergreen Link Trail.

OK, so with that being said, yes the WMG description is accurate about the location of the trailhead. However, perhaps another few words could be added to the WMG to provide some additional clarity about the trailhead itself.

So, if you go there, maybe this info might be of some benefit. As indicated in the WMG, once you pass the Inn (on your left), then begin to look almost immediately for a dirt road that goes off to the right. It’s a rough/rutted road, but it only goes for a few hundred yards, and then you come to a cable stretched across the road. Here, there’s a small parking lot about big enough for 3 cars. But as I said, I didn’t see any signs around to indicate that it was the trailhead for the Evergreen Link. And so, that’s why I went the short distance back down the road to confirm with the folks at the Inn that this spot was indeed the trailhead.

Hope you have a great hike over the Columbus Day weekend, regardless of what you end up doing.

Nice!

Another great TR! You did a fine job with limited resources as far as the pictures go. Believe me, I shoot a lot more than people see, 50-60% of them get deleted, and another 30% should. Edit down to your best and just show that. You pulled it off nicely!

KDT

Great photos as always John

looked to be whole lot clearer on Speckled than it was on Moriah

Speckled a real nice hike..did a Speckled/Blueberry Loop in August a few years back from 113..fun trails but the fall color you show really sets it off!!

The first few look like someone is just swirling paint in a bucket. How can you not love the Northeast.

That's a great report, John - looks like the colors on the other side of the state line are just as great as they are here!

I love Speckled Mountain - I went up there last year via a loop hike up over Blueberry Ridge and down the Bicknell Slides - great waterfalls and open ledges! Lovely to see the summit in the Autumn season - thanks for those great photos! I am starting to believe the blueberry bushes have the best fall colors of all!

Tuesday was a great day for a hike under halfway cloudy skies, but you are absolutely correct about the sun conditions creating quite a challenge for pictures! We were up on Black Mountain in the Benton range that same day - hung out on the summit until sunset just so we could get some decent shots when the sun moved along!

Kevin, Judy, Emma: Hey guys, thanks for the compliment . . . very much appreciated!

When you say 50-60% of your photos get deleted and another 30% should be, why do I get the feeling that I would consider many of your "deletes" as "prized shots" if I had taken them?

Silverfox: Mark, thanks for the kind words. It can be kind of nice hiking on a trail every now & then!

ColdRiverRun: Hey Cory . . . Wow! Do I ever agree with your statement: "How can you not love the Northeast." When I go down to the southeastern part of the U.S. to visit relatives, I often have people down there tell me that wouldn't ever consider visiting the northeast (much less live there) since it's too cold for them. Hmmm! I'm happy that they're happy staying put where they are!

NeoAkela: Chris, thank you for always being so supportive of my hiking adventures. And hey, I agree with your statement about blueberry bushes perhaps having some of the best autumn colors. Many times there are spots where all you need to do is look down at the ground around you to see a veritable "mini-autumn" right at your feet, i.e. brightly colored blueberry bushes contrasted against other ground-level flora.

Looking at those shots makes me wish I wasn't so busy to be out hiking right now and enjoying the fall colors.

Sigh...

Great shots -- I particularly like the one of the ledges with the low blueberry bushes that have turned red adjacent to the pale green of the lichen.

Beautiful.