J
Jay Meyer
Guest
A very pleasant overnight trip to this mountain with Adrian K., as part of a 2 mountain series with nearby Coburn Mountain (separate thread).
We headed up after work on Friday night and camped in a wide spot near the trailhead on the old access road. The Bald Mountain Road from Rt. 201 (now signed!) is in good shape and should be easily passable by 2WD vehicles despite a couple of rough spots. But we got a surprise when we reached the turn-off for Notch Road (also signed, but less prominently), which leads to the access road: there were several large boulders blocking the road right at the turnoff. "Mountain Magic" got us up to our campsite, where we enjoyed a nice starry night on the mountain's slopes. Note that the access road is quite narrow and rough with deep waterbars, so a high clearance 4WD vehicle and offroad skills are mandatory for this section if you dare attempt it.
The trail itself is not regularly maintained, which adds to the charm of this remote destination. The lower section is rocky and eroded, and there are a couple of wet, muddy section plus multiple blowdowns. But ultimately it is a quick and fairly easy climb to the summit with its small, fairly new radio building. We made it up to the summit in about 1 hr. 45 mins. carrying extra training weight and without especially pushing it; overall round trip time including a long break on the summit to enjoy the views was less than 3 hrs. There were plenty of mosquitos so bring good repellent.
Saw one Canadian couple on our way down, otherwise it was just us and the mosquitos.
We headed up after work on Friday night and camped in a wide spot near the trailhead on the old access road. The Bald Mountain Road from Rt. 201 (now signed!) is in good shape and should be easily passable by 2WD vehicles despite a couple of rough spots. But we got a surprise when we reached the turn-off for Notch Road (also signed, but less prominently), which leads to the access road: there were several large boulders blocking the road right at the turnoff. "Mountain Magic" got us up to our campsite, where we enjoyed a nice starry night on the mountain's slopes. Note that the access road is quite narrow and rough with deep waterbars, so a high clearance 4WD vehicle and offroad skills are mandatory for this section if you dare attempt it.
The trail itself is not regularly maintained, which adds to the charm of this remote destination. The lower section is rocky and eroded, and there are a couple of wet, muddy section plus multiple blowdowns. But ultimately it is a quick and fairly easy climb to the summit with its small, fairly new radio building. We made it up to the summit in about 1 hr. 45 mins. carrying extra training weight and without especially pushing it; overall round trip time including a long break on the summit to enjoy the views was less than 3 hrs. There were plenty of mosquitos so bring good repellent.
Saw one Canadian couple on our way down, otherwise it was just us and the mosquitos.
