BillDC
New member
Having seen Big Spencer out of the clouds we set out for it. From Greenville, the route is a straight shot up the Lily Bay road though Kokajo and up over Sias hill and down to the approach road. From the village of Kokajo, take the Lily Bay road through town bearing left at the junction where the pavement ends and travel 8 miles to a well traveled logging road on the left. The is the approach road to the Big Spencer trailhead. Take this road around 6 miles to the well-marked trailhead. Of course on the approach, some low clouds began to engulf the summit, and as with the last many years, there will be poor views!
There were some big changes since my last trip up last year. The first and a definite improvement is that the state has created a real parking lot for the trailhead. Previously, a tiny parking area may have held only 2 cars. The new area can hold many more. The trail used to start as an open woods road, but now there are rocks that block access and there is a sign that prohibits motorized vehicles. Starting out on the trail, it is still looks like a woods road, but it became clear that the state has improved the trail as there were many new water bars present. The trail was wet and the water bars were doing their job nicely.
The trail climbs steadily and eventually bears right into a wet area and flips around left. Soon we arrived at an area that the state used to clean out the old watchman's camp up ahead. Only a few artifacts were left. Continuing on, the next change that was noticeable was that the old heli-pad on the right side just before the watchman’s camp has been removed and now there is a pile of slash in its place. Approaching the camp, at the watchman's stream was the next surprise. The state has built a new foot bridge here.
Entering the camp complex, the most obvious feature here is the old camp in a pile of lumber. It had been scheduled for removal last fall. The state had knocked down the camp, tool shed and woodshed, and placed all of the lumber into one large pile for burning during last winter. Apparently the burning didn't happen and the entire mess is still onsite. Use care in this area as there are plenty of nails sticking up from the many pieces of loose lumber. The old privy is still onsite, though it has been moved off of its original pit and is likely going to suffer the same fate as the camp. The state did clear trees on the north side to open up some views of Blood Pond. Once this area is completely cleaned up, it will be a nice viewpoint.
As we headed out of the clearing on the upper trail, you again cross the watchman's brook and saw something unusual. Just beyond the brook where the trail goes up a small rise, the trail has major water running down the trail into the brook. If you didn't know any better, it looked like a well established side brook feeding the watchman's brook instead of a trail. Looking up at the source of the problem, it is clear that beavers have dammed up the whole area and the newly formed pond's outlet was the trail! I guess I was a little surprised to see Beavers up at 2000+ feet! This area has always been wet and boggy and there is a trail relocation to the left just before the dam that allows the traversal of the new pond.
Continuing on, the trail climbs steeply along the ridge edge where there are some views. There were some minor blow downs that need attention, but the trail was largely clear. The trail continues up steeply through a series of around 7 wooden ladders. The ladders continue to rot, but most of them are still useable. At the summit, we had some windows of views. The old fire tower steel still stands and it is now a radio tower. The helipad is still in good shape. Given the plans to overhaul the radio towers on the summit this year, I expect alot of activity on this summit this year.
A few photos can be found here -
https://picasaweb.google.com/BillDC3/BigSpencerMountainME5222012?authuser=0&feat=directlink
Bill
There were some big changes since my last trip up last year. The first and a definite improvement is that the state has created a real parking lot for the trailhead. Previously, a tiny parking area may have held only 2 cars. The new area can hold many more. The trail used to start as an open woods road, but now there are rocks that block access and there is a sign that prohibits motorized vehicles. Starting out on the trail, it is still looks like a woods road, but it became clear that the state has improved the trail as there were many new water bars present. The trail was wet and the water bars were doing their job nicely.
The trail climbs steadily and eventually bears right into a wet area and flips around left. Soon we arrived at an area that the state used to clean out the old watchman's camp up ahead. Only a few artifacts were left. Continuing on, the next change that was noticeable was that the old heli-pad on the right side just before the watchman’s camp has been removed and now there is a pile of slash in its place. Approaching the camp, at the watchman's stream was the next surprise. The state has built a new foot bridge here.
Entering the camp complex, the most obvious feature here is the old camp in a pile of lumber. It had been scheduled for removal last fall. The state had knocked down the camp, tool shed and woodshed, and placed all of the lumber into one large pile for burning during last winter. Apparently the burning didn't happen and the entire mess is still onsite. Use care in this area as there are plenty of nails sticking up from the many pieces of loose lumber. The old privy is still onsite, though it has been moved off of its original pit and is likely going to suffer the same fate as the camp. The state did clear trees on the north side to open up some views of Blood Pond. Once this area is completely cleaned up, it will be a nice viewpoint.
As we headed out of the clearing on the upper trail, you again cross the watchman's brook and saw something unusual. Just beyond the brook where the trail goes up a small rise, the trail has major water running down the trail into the brook. If you didn't know any better, it looked like a well established side brook feeding the watchman's brook instead of a trail. Looking up at the source of the problem, it is clear that beavers have dammed up the whole area and the newly formed pond's outlet was the trail! I guess I was a little surprised to see Beavers up at 2000+ feet! This area has always been wet and boggy and there is a trail relocation to the left just before the dam that allows the traversal of the new pond.
Continuing on, the trail climbs steeply along the ridge edge where there are some views. There were some minor blow downs that need attention, but the trail was largely clear. The trail continues up steeply through a series of around 7 wooden ladders. The ladders continue to rot, but most of them are still useable. At the summit, we had some windows of views. The old fire tower steel still stands and it is now a radio tower. The helipad is still in good shape. Given the plans to overhaul the radio towers on the summit this year, I expect alot of activity on this summit this year.
A few photos can be found here -
https://picasaweb.google.com/BillDC3/BigSpencerMountainME5222012?authuser=0&feat=directlink
Bill
