Wright Trail, halfway up Goose Eye, Jan 14-16

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MindlessMariachi

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I hiked and camped on the Wright Trail on the side of Goose Eye in Maine this weekend. I don't know why, but I just love camping out in the cold weather that sends others inside! I started off Saturday morning on Sunday River Road. It was about 15 degrees and cloudy at go time as I set off down the unplowed road that leads to the trail head, towing my gear on a sled. I had to break trail on this road through about 10 inches or so of snow. Eventually I got to the trail head, which was also untracked. I started heading up; the lower part of the wright ascends gently through the forest, back and forth over a stream. At some point it got a little too rough for the sled, so I left it against a tree and put my pack on for the rest of the hike to the established campsite.

Cold front was really moving in at this point - it was into the single digits and breezy by mid afternoon while I worked to build some snow walls, which I spread a tarp over. I also had the first of many moments with a cranky whisper light before getting hot food cooked and snow melted before I got in my sleeping bag.

Temps plummeted overnight and the winds kicked up. When I got up a bit before dawn it was about 10 or 15 below and blowing. I set out up the trail, which gets really steep after the campsite. There was also a lot more snow as elevation increased and the wind was howling in the treetops. I climbed for a mile or two, breaking trail through deep snow before I hit the first exposed area, where the trail crosses over the top of a cliff for maybe 100 yards or so. I put my hood up and scrambled up onto the rock and was promptly blown right off my feet and landed on my back with my pack in a tree well. Walking in this wind required some concentration - I crossed the cliff and the trail dropped down into trees for a few hundred yards before it scrambles up a bare slope to a bare peak. There was a punishing wind here and I found myself rolling around in the wind as I switched from snowshoes to micro spikes. I love conditions like this - I could see clouds and waves of snow zooming by, and somehow it still feels quiet even with the wind roaring.

The trail then drops down again into the trees, rather sharply, before continuing back up to the summit. I didn't continue though. I stopped to make some soup and thaw out after my wind tunnel experience. It was about 15 or 20 below up there, and my whisperlight continued to be finicky even though it got me my soup. I spent maybe an hour sitting there (at which time all the clouds blew away, leaving some great views). I decided not to go to the summit, becuase I didn't want to get back to the campsite late in the day and have no water and no reliable stove. Instead I went back the way I came, having a classic above treeline experience, at a lower-than-usual elevation. At my campsite in the afternoon, it was still about 5 below, but the stove worked fine and I refilled my water bottles. I then made some improvements to my snow shelter and built a small fire. The fire turned out to be a good thing because at dinner time the stove pump whimped out again - i boiled water for a hot meal on the fire before getting in my bag.

Overnight lows on Sunday night were warmer - maybe stayed around 5 below. I got up early and hiked out and got to my car around 9:15. When I got there, the car thermometer said 2 degrees, though it really felt warmer as I hiked out in bright sun with no wind.

The trip was serene - i saw no other people, and broke trail the whole way. It was bitterly cold and windy - I was out in well-below-zero temps for most of the 2 days and 2 nights - but I love those conditions! I don't get out that much any more so I was psyched this trip worked out the way it did. I'll probably try it again next year, and hope to make it to the top on a similarly cold/windy weekend.
Mindless Mariachi
 
Great report and beautiful pic. My initial first reaction is basically: I want to be like you when I grow up. :)
Way to tough it out in the cold - sounds wonderful though. I adore the Goose Eye area and the allure/peace definitely resonates.
 
Goose Eye can be a wicked little peak. I climbed it from SP Rd so it is in the trees nearly the whole way. One person quit at the icy little cliff but I got around it and kept breaking uphill. The wind was behind me and pushed me to the summit but for some reason I decided to go down to the trail junction. Coming back the wind was too strong to walk into so I had to crawl over the summit. I met the 3rd person at treeline and told her "You could die up there", she decided to quit maybe .1 mi from the summit as being much lighter than me the wind would have hit her worse. But a lovely walk down the packed trail once we got out of that wind!
 
Which way?

From the established campsite on the Wright trail there are two routes up. The old AT route (not recommended as I recall) and the newer trail which goes up the south side of the valley. Which one did you take? Sounds from your description that you took the newer trail, but just checking. I was in there last Fall and wanted to investigate the old trail but didn't have the time. One of my more recent hobbies is hiking the abandoned sections of the AT. This interest began when I lived in Western NH where there were many miles of old AT heading east from Hanover.
 
on the map they're listed as "north branch" and "south branch". I'm pretty sure I took "south" (i don't have the map in front of me, but it was a left turn after the campsite). The other branch was roped off with a 'closed' sign. incidentally i was at this spot once in early 2010, and once in fall 2011, and it was roped off both those times too.

the books make that section of trail out to be pretty rocky and rough, but I was never up there. I've done the south branch in the fall, without snow, and it's steep but certainly not the most extreme hike in the world.
 
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