campsite
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Fran and I were pulling in to Dube's Pit Stop just before 5:30am. Our hearts sank when we saw the dark interior, but the lights went on just as we stopped the van. We were the first customers of the morning - getting there even before the kitchen staff. I notified the waitress (a Maine girl who noticed in the dark morning that we had Maine plates) that the tip would be mighty small if I had to prepare my own breakfast. Soon the village elders strolled in - motheaten old codgers who were probably the village selectmen.
We stuffed ourselves in anticipation of the long day ahead.
As we were driving north on Rt. 3 the clouds were dissipating and I was starting to be glad that we hadn't done this hike on Friday.
We knew we had to park the car at Deer Mtn Campground since there was no roadside parking on Rt. 3 at East Inlet Road., so we agreed to drop our gear by the snomo trail on East Inlet Road, and Fran would wait there until I parked the car and walked back from the campground. As I drove off, I advised her to keep an eye out for hungry she-bears, Indian bands, and rowdy snowmobiling flatlanders. In my rear view mirror I saw her burst into tears.
We decided to start the hike barebooting since the road was a wide, groomed, hard snowmobile trail. The trees were all covered with the previous day's snow and the sky a winter blue. We continued on our way until mile marker 4, where the groomed trail veers right, and East Inlet Road goes straight. Here we took a bite to eat, and were soon the center of attention of a bunch of Canada Jays who readily perched on our fingers. The road now became ungroomed but still snowmobiled. Unfortunately, ungroomed trails aren't as easy to walk on, and they are riddled with transversal humps. We continued on the road, past the turnoff to Rump, and past the roadside camp. Soon we were at our takeoff point - approx 2300', just after a brook crossing. We put on our snowshoes and followed a 66-degree bearing through a beautiful wide open forest of rather mature harwoods and softwoods. The softwoods sheltered us from the sun beating down on this southerly facing slope. As we climbed, the hardwoods gave way progressively to softwoods. The woods stayed wide open, even when predominantly softwoods.
We reached the snow covered summit highpoint and looked in vain for the canister. We then extended our search to areas that appeared lower. We soon found the canister. A 2-minute walk to the north of the summit brought great views of d'Urban, Snag, and Salmon. The south side of the summit brought great views of Rump.
On the way back, we kept our snowshoes on all the way to Rt. 3. The day's snowmobiling had churned up the snow making it difficult to bareboot.
Last fall, we had hiked this mountain from the logging road on its north side. That hike was short, and not very pleasant due to the slash and skidder ruts in the logged area. We prefer this route from the south - longer but more scenic.
We stuffed ourselves in anticipation of the long day ahead.
As we were driving north on Rt. 3 the clouds were dissipating and I was starting to be glad that we hadn't done this hike on Friday.
We knew we had to park the car at Deer Mtn Campground since there was no roadside parking on Rt. 3 at East Inlet Road., so we agreed to drop our gear by the snomo trail on East Inlet Road, and Fran would wait there until I parked the car and walked back from the campground. As I drove off, I advised her to keep an eye out for hungry she-bears, Indian bands, and rowdy snowmobiling flatlanders. In my rear view mirror I saw her burst into tears.
We decided to start the hike barebooting since the road was a wide, groomed, hard snowmobile trail. The trees were all covered with the previous day's snow and the sky a winter blue. We continued on our way until mile marker 4, where the groomed trail veers right, and East Inlet Road goes straight. Here we took a bite to eat, and were soon the center of attention of a bunch of Canada Jays who readily perched on our fingers. The road now became ungroomed but still snowmobiled. Unfortunately, ungroomed trails aren't as easy to walk on, and they are riddled with transversal humps. We continued on the road, past the turnoff to Rump, and past the roadside camp. Soon we were at our takeoff point - approx 2300', just after a brook crossing. We put on our snowshoes and followed a 66-degree bearing through a beautiful wide open forest of rather mature harwoods and softwoods. The softwoods sheltered us from the sun beating down on this southerly facing slope. As we climbed, the hardwoods gave way progressively to softwoods. The woods stayed wide open, even when predominantly softwoods.
We reached the snow covered summit highpoint and looked in vain for the canister. We then extended our search to areas that appeared lower. We soon found the canister. A 2-minute walk to the north of the summit brought great views of d'Urban, Snag, and Salmon. The south side of the summit brought great views of Rump.
On the way back, we kept our snowshoes on all the way to Rt. 3. The day's snowmobiling had churned up the snow making it difficult to bareboot.
Last fall, we had hiked this mountain from the logging road on its north side. That hike was short, and not very pleasant due to the slash and skidder ruts in the logged area. We prefer this route from the south - longer but more scenic.
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