BillDC
New member
The day was rainy early in the interior of Maine, so we decided to go out toward the boundary mountains looking for dry weather. Once past Jackman, the weather was just high clouds. We decided to hunt out the old trail on Tumbledown and after that, head to Kibby.
We took the Spencer road off of Route 201 south of Jackman and headed west. We hunted for Tumbledown for a bit and then moved on west. At Mile 26, we were forced to stop and wait for a stubborn moose that didn't want to move. Suddenly, the moose started running down the road away from us, so we followed cautiously at about 15 miles per hour. After just about a mile, the moose finally detoured left onto another road and we were able to pass. That was a first for us to be stuck in moose traffic for 1 mile!
Just a bit further up around Mile 27, we turned left onto the Beaudry road. Some locals call this upper half of the Beaudry road the Goldbrook road. Passed one active campsite with some fisherman and then a small logging camp. We went about 6.5 mi to a left that goes up to a small clearing (in about .4 mi) where you can clearly see one of the Kibby Wind turbines. The trailhead is on the left. The beginning of the trail has been cleared and widened - a truck could easily drive through the beginning segments of the trail. The clearing was recent and continued for about 1 mile up to a junction where a left goes about .4 mi to the watchman's camp and the right went to the summit. We decided to head to the summit first given the uncertainty of rain. The road narrows a bit, but the trail is really the width of a jeep trail most of the way up. The grade is pretty easy the whole way. The trail goes about .7 mi to a grassy area where it turns back south in a switchback to head to the summit in about another .7 mi. Phone line can be seen on the upper half where the very old watchman's trail came in. ATVs have been on the trail all of the way to the top.
At the summit is a 15 foot observation tower. This is the remains of the old 48 foot fire tower that was erected in 1914. In 1925, heavy ice collapsed the upper sections of the tower and they were removed to make the tower around 15 feet shortly after. The remains of the crushed steel can be seen in the woods just to the east of the current tower. In the early 90s, the tower was converted to an observation platform and remains in this state today. The tower is pretty wobbly and the platform is rotting, but it is still usable. It will need some maintenance soon.
Climbing up for views, the Kibby Wind farm kind of hits you like a ton of bricks. I was amazed how many turbines exist. The immediate south ridge is loaded, but looking south west and as far as I could see, there were turbines on the farther out ridges. We had high clouds with some low clouds floating in, so the views were not the greatest, but we did enjoy this mountainous area. It was clear enough to see the fire towers on Bigelow, #5 and Tumbledown from here.
We ate lunch and went back down to the watchman's camp. Took the left trail for about .4 mi where it drops you into a clearing where the last operating watchman's camp (built in 1963) still stands. It is privately owned and in great shape. The old woodshed is still intact and in fair shape. On the right side of the trail as you enter you can find the watchman's spring and a small wooden pipe coming out of the side with a steady stream of water still pouring out of it. In the back of the watchman's lot a trail goes left to the privy which is in questionable shape, but still functional. The trail continues and fades but goes out to the older watchman's trail and an older watchman's camp site. A trail goes right out the tool shed side which was a spur trail to the old watchman's trail which went straight up the ridge bypassing the longer jeep trail.
Packed up and headed back to the truck. Deer flies were especially a pain today and desperately wanted to get into the truck as they were bouncing off of the windows as we left. Pulling out and going around 10-15 mph, I could still see some deer flies flying next to the truck with the hopes of chasing us down. It looked kind of like a fighter escorts flying next to us
Some photos of the trip are here -
http://picasaweb.google.com/BillDC3/KibbyMountainME7102010?feat=directlink
Bill
We took the Spencer road off of Route 201 south of Jackman and headed west. We hunted for Tumbledown for a bit and then moved on west. At Mile 26, we were forced to stop and wait for a stubborn moose that didn't want to move. Suddenly, the moose started running down the road away from us, so we followed cautiously at about 15 miles per hour. After just about a mile, the moose finally detoured left onto another road and we were able to pass. That was a first for us to be stuck in moose traffic for 1 mile!
Just a bit further up around Mile 27, we turned left onto the Beaudry road. Some locals call this upper half of the Beaudry road the Goldbrook road. Passed one active campsite with some fisherman and then a small logging camp. We went about 6.5 mi to a left that goes up to a small clearing (in about .4 mi) where you can clearly see one of the Kibby Wind turbines. The trailhead is on the left. The beginning of the trail has been cleared and widened - a truck could easily drive through the beginning segments of the trail. The clearing was recent and continued for about 1 mile up to a junction where a left goes about .4 mi to the watchman's camp and the right went to the summit. We decided to head to the summit first given the uncertainty of rain. The road narrows a bit, but the trail is really the width of a jeep trail most of the way up. The grade is pretty easy the whole way. The trail goes about .7 mi to a grassy area where it turns back south in a switchback to head to the summit in about another .7 mi. Phone line can be seen on the upper half where the very old watchman's trail came in. ATVs have been on the trail all of the way to the top.
At the summit is a 15 foot observation tower. This is the remains of the old 48 foot fire tower that was erected in 1914. In 1925, heavy ice collapsed the upper sections of the tower and they were removed to make the tower around 15 feet shortly after. The remains of the crushed steel can be seen in the woods just to the east of the current tower. In the early 90s, the tower was converted to an observation platform and remains in this state today. The tower is pretty wobbly and the platform is rotting, but it is still usable. It will need some maintenance soon.
Climbing up for views, the Kibby Wind farm kind of hits you like a ton of bricks. I was amazed how many turbines exist. The immediate south ridge is loaded, but looking south west and as far as I could see, there were turbines on the farther out ridges. We had high clouds with some low clouds floating in, so the views were not the greatest, but we did enjoy this mountainous area. It was clear enough to see the fire towers on Bigelow, #5 and Tumbledown from here.
We ate lunch and went back down to the watchman's camp. Took the left trail for about .4 mi where it drops you into a clearing where the last operating watchman's camp (built in 1963) still stands. It is privately owned and in great shape. The old woodshed is still intact and in fair shape. On the right side of the trail as you enter you can find the watchman's spring and a small wooden pipe coming out of the side with a steady stream of water still pouring out of it. In the back of the watchman's lot a trail goes left to the privy which is in questionable shape, but still functional. The trail continues and fades but goes out to the older watchman's trail and an older watchman's camp site. A trail goes right out the tool shed side which was a spur trail to the old watchman's trail which went straight up the ridge bypassing the longer jeep trail.
Packed up and headed back to the truck. Deer flies were especially a pain today and desperately wanted to get into the truck as they were bouncing off of the windows as we left. Pulling out and going around 10-15 mph, I could still see some deer flies flying next to the truck with the hopes of chasing us down. It looked kind of like a fighter escorts flying next to us
Some photos of the trip are here -
http://picasaweb.google.com/BillDC3/KibbyMountainME7102010?feat=directlink
Bill
