S Whaleback(3060') and Big Coolidge(3294')

Onestep and I started out for this "easy" day but became ensnared by controversy and blowdown.

The old Osseo trail, starting above the condos across from Loon Mt, is no sweat to find and still very well blazed and maintained. After a short whack to the NW bump of S Whaleback (nearest the trail), I was ready to turn around when Onestep announced that the "true" summit was SE along the ridge another 0.3 miles! (Dr Wu's post and replies of 11/06 also discuss the issue.) On Onestep's altimeter both bumps had identical elevations!! Most maps place the summit triangle on the NW bump. However, the SE bump log placed by Ed Robertson in 1997 refers to replacing the old jar and logbook from the 1980's. The log in the plastic jar on the NW peak was completely wet and unreadable. Do any of the Founders of this sport have any comments?

The Eastern slope of Big Coolidge was a very steep 1000+ vertical foot ascent through persistent blowdown. We found this route to be one of the more challenging ascents we have undertaken. MJ, Swampy and NeighborDave were the last signers - 2005. From the summit, Flume, Liberty and the Cannon to Moosilauke ridge were visible! We descended from a point a little further South on the ridge, and while the blowdown didn't seem as bad, the forest was quite a bit thicker.

Another great day in the mountains!

I did S. Whaleback in 1988 and the register was on the NW bump. The standard names were in the register, Crispo, McHugh, Matzco and so on. There was never any discussion at that time about the SE bump being the true summit.

Pat and I climbed them both in Sep-Oct 1992.

I'm not adverse to trying for the SE bump - nice area!

Big Coolidge was easy, nice open woods from the path about a half-mile from the condos. The return put us about a half-mile further up the path, but it was good too, good enough to talk about exploring the basin between Whaleback and Big Coolidge. We could hear a pileated woodpecker somewhere in there, like a siren song.

dms said:

There was never any discussion at that time about the SE bump being the true summit.

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I climbed the NW bump ~1979 and don't believe there was a register, didn't go to SE bump. Later I heard that some folks (BBrown?) thought the SE was higher. Now I find it more convenient to bag all bumps the first trip. Thought I might get there again but haven't yet.

mhrsebago said:

However, the SE bump log placed by Ed Robertson in 1997 refers to replacing the old jar and logbook from the 1980's. The log in the plastic jar on the NW peak was completely wet and unreadable. Do any of the Founders of this sport have any comments?

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I think we went to the NW bump but you'd have to ask Barbarossa. I suspect that there was more than one jar floating around on that bump. When we signed in, I recall the last entry being a while back and I just didn't believe it. There was some flagging on a bump about 0.1 NE of the NW bump that I thought might have a jar. It seemed even higher although my altimeter said otherwise, I think. It was a fun hike! I don't care if we were on the proper summit or not although Barbarossa might -- I was just along, as always, to keep him company.

-Dr. Wu