I made my annual trip to Andover White Cap in Andover Maine on Sunday. White cap is a large dome that sticks up in the Andover valley. It has 360 degree views from acres of open ledges at top. The Mahoosuc Land Trust bought the summit several years ago and has slowly be upgrading the trail network which previously was a an old logging road that was trashed by ATVs. After last years drought and few blueberries, recent reports from Sunday River Whitecap looked good for White Cap. This is a great family hike, I took a hour to get to the open area and its well graded all the way.
I headed over there early and as usual the local mosquitos came out in force on the way up. Near the beginning of the summit ledges an new trail was signed to Black Mountain but indicated it was under construction. As I ascended I saw the usual sparse blueberries, I have learned over the years that these don't reflect the berries on top but new folks to the hike let it get them down and they start picking too early. One I got out in the open the berries were far more abundant. It is mixed year some of the patches were no abundant but its all relative, in other areas folks would say they were loaded. I headed up to my normal spots and soon started picking in some very loaded areas. I normally carry a couple of hard shell containers and had thrown two in the pack totaling one gallon. I filled them up in about an hour with plenty skipping the container going straight to the mouth. I didn't move much more than 100 feet. I then filled a 1 gallon ziplock plus another 1/2. It was getting hot so I started heading down with bowl in hand. After spotting a couple of two good to resist patches I filled the second bag and packed the bowl away. The rest of the hike down was occasion stops for handfuls. The mosquitoes returned on the way down. While picking there were occasional deerfly and for awhile I had dragonfly acting as bug zapper.
There are normally five distinct varieties on the summit,
Alpine which are tart low bushes similar to those in the presidential above treeline, they were present but quite tart. I usually sample a few
"black blueberries" these are sweeter, some call them huckleberries, they were present but not prolific (usually my favorite).
Standard blueberries, they were patchy but in some spots one stem may contain 50 to 75 berries and they were flopped on their sides. Good quantities
Dark blueberries, these are mixed in the standard blueberries, there are less per stem but larger and plumper, with the best ones hiding in the shade, probably the best picking this year
Silver Blueberries - These look like a standard blueberry bush but the berries have distinct silver sheen to them (which rubs off) - They were sparse.
Overall not a record year for this location but still worth the trip. I would expect this week and next weekend would be peak with some left the week after.
I headed over there early and as usual the local mosquitos came out in force on the way up. Near the beginning of the summit ledges an new trail was signed to Black Mountain but indicated it was under construction. As I ascended I saw the usual sparse blueberries, I have learned over the years that these don't reflect the berries on top but new folks to the hike let it get them down and they start picking too early. One I got out in the open the berries were far more abundant. It is mixed year some of the patches were no abundant but its all relative, in other areas folks would say they were loaded. I headed up to my normal spots and soon started picking in some very loaded areas. I normally carry a couple of hard shell containers and had thrown two in the pack totaling one gallon. I filled them up in about an hour with plenty skipping the container going straight to the mouth. I didn't move much more than 100 feet. I then filled a 1 gallon ziplock plus another 1/2. It was getting hot so I started heading down with bowl in hand. After spotting a couple of two good to resist patches I filled the second bag and packed the bowl away. The rest of the hike down was occasion stops for handfuls. The mosquitoes returned on the way down. While picking there were occasional deerfly and for awhile I had dragonfly acting as bug zapper.
There are normally five distinct varieties on the summit,
Alpine which are tart low bushes similar to those in the presidential above treeline, they were present but quite tart. I usually sample a few
"black blueberries" these are sweeter, some call them huckleberries, they were present but not prolific (usually my favorite).
Standard blueberries, they were patchy but in some spots one stem may contain 50 to 75 berries and they were flopped on their sides. Good quantities
Dark blueberries, these are mixed in the standard blueberries, there are less per stem but larger and plumper, with the best ones hiding in the shade, probably the best picking this year
Silver Blueberries - These look like a standard blueberry bush but the berries have distinct silver sheen to them (which rubs off) - They were sparse.
Overall not a record year for this location but still worth the trip. I would expect this week and next weekend would be peak with some left the week after.
(vid comes in HD and full screen if you hit the vimeo link)
