Yet again Onestep and I ventured into the Beaudry as he comes very close to climbing all of the Maine 3000 fters.... Had 3 weeks been long enough for the muddy Haynestown Road to dry enough to finally allow passage by car? ...barely. The road was in pretty rough shape, although Saabie was able to make it through the muddy section that defeated us in May. But even Onestep's off-road Taurus couldn't have made it over the East Branch of the Moose River, so Saabie was content to park there with no loss of face. Continuing on foot to the high point on the Haynestown Rd, we could see the cliffs on Leroy's southern side and avoided them by whacking to the ridge west of the summit. From the Leroy summit we could see the bumpy ridge and some of the cliffs between us and Tumbledown. Originally, we had planned to return to the road and approach Tumbledown from the south, but the day was young and we felt adventurous. Taking a fairly direct line eastward, we descended steeply from Leroy, passed south of the cliffy westernmost bump to its col with the middle bump, then contoured on the north side of the middle and east bumps starting at 2850' and gradually ascending to 3000' and the west ridge of Tumbledown itself. With only a few very brief thick or steep sections the ease of this traverse was a very pleasant surprise. The climb to the firetower was denser and steeper, but only rated a "mild" on the thickness scale.
High noon on Tumbletown found us climbing the tower (from which we could see the Bigelows, Coburn and many of the nearby Beaudry peaks), swatting pesky insects and replacing the absent summit jar (now hose clamped to the NW leg of the tower). We descended SE following the old firewardens trail toward the ridge with Three Slide Mt., but lost it around 2800'. By then the woods were open and we were well east of the steepness and cliffs. Bearing SW we entered a recently logged area and found a wet logging road which paralled the Tumbledown/Leroy ridge at 2400' and led us back westward to the Haynestown Rd. We stopped off to explore Prick Pond (no kidding, that's what the USGS calls it) and were rewarded by seeing multiple yellow spotted salamanders and red efts in the water. Other wildlife for the day included 1 moose, 2 deer and several ruffed grouse. The Beaudry Rd itself has been repaired and is in terrific condition compared to what we experienced in May.
We highly recommend this loop route!... Another unbelievable adventure in the mountains!!
High noon on Tumbletown found us climbing the tower (from which we could see the Bigelows, Coburn and many of the nearby Beaudry peaks), swatting pesky insects and replacing the absent summit jar (now hose clamped to the NW leg of the tower). We descended SE following the old firewardens trail toward the ridge with Three Slide Mt., but lost it around 2800'. By then the woods were open and we were well east of the steepness and cliffs. Bearing SW we entered a recently logged area and found a wet logging road which paralled the Tumbledown/Leroy ridge at 2400' and led us back westward to the Haynestown Rd. We stopped off to explore Prick Pond (no kidding, that's what the USGS calls it) and were rewarded by seeing multiple yellow spotted salamanders and red efts in the water. Other wildlife for the day included 1 moose, 2 deer and several ruffed grouse. The Beaudry Rd itself has been repaired and is in terrific condition compared to what we experienced in May.
We highly recommend this loop route!... Another unbelievable adventure in the mountains!!
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Did drive this OK but coming back put a nasty twist in rear bumper when I got hung up crossing a dip. This was after both vehicles getting flat tires 2 days earlier from rock on Beaudry Road. That particular rock is no longer there - we dug it out the last day as a public service.
