Jo-Mary (ME) 10/5

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buckyball1

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Location
Orrington, ME
Jo-Mary (2905) is north of Brownville Junction and west of Millinocket

The mountain actually looked imposing as I drove in the Jo-Mary road off Rt 11 (fee gate) on a crystal clear, cold morning; it sits pretty much by itself and is "bulky" looking. I parked directly east of the peak about 9 miles in from the gate and started hiking --33 degrees. There are a number of good looking approaches and I decided to come in from the east, then swing around and go for the top from the NE. There's also a good line directly from the NE further in the JM road and it looks like the easiest "hike" might be from the west, but i have no idea how the approach roads might be. (thanks Nate)

Today was "solve the maze". There's an extensive network of old logging and skidder roads on the mountain which go up surprisingly far. There must have been extensive lumbering on the mountain as some of the roads are pretty serious endeavors while others are just badly overgrown paths and rocky/eroded steep gullies. While you can work your way fairly close to the top using these avenues, you better have a plan as choices aren't always obvious. If you make a mistake down low and need to wack to another spot, the woods are medium density hardwood; higher up the mountain they're medium size very thick evergreen and hard to push through. I was literally "stuck" at one point for at least a minute trying to free myself from the tangle. Close to the summit, the cone is steep with cliffy sections, but not as dense and an OK 'wack. The top is a pretty thick, flat table with considerable blowdown.

I was fortunate to get "off-line" in only a few spots and before I knew it was in the steep, rocky skidder trails high on the mountain. The views form here are superior-endless lakes of all sizes with Katahdin and its friends in the backgroung-worth the hike for this. NO views on top.

Once I 'wacked the last few tenths to the "summit", the fun began. The top is flat and featureless with several areas where the last contour line is 2900; the "top" is 2905 and the topo shows it being in the "center" of the top area. But where's "the top"? I knew there was at least one jar up there and was determined to find it. I think if you sent 5 experienced hikers up with 5 jars they'd all end up in different places. There is an awful lot of area within 10-15' elevation of "the top" and the tiny dips between several areas are really shallow-it's just gently sloping this way and that. I spent 2 hours looking around (longer than it took me to get down), pushing thru thick stuff with occasional small clearings-no jar. I was very methodical at this and even went to the areas where the "other" 2900 foot contours were just in case. I got to know the top pretty intimately and could probably sketch a topo with all the altimeter readings I took. I found the area I felt (uncertainly) was the top, but no jar. I channeled Diogenes (thanks to A :) ), but got Ahab instead, was getting a bit crazed-I was giving various trees and clearings I saw several times nicknames in my head. :) I finally realized I was getting exhausted; no "happy" ending, no jar, but i felt I could "count" the peak since I probably walked over whatever is the top(s) multiple times.

Descent was pretty easy and I enjoyed another very good hike, jar or no.

always happy to give more detailed info

jim
 
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buckyball1 said:
Jo-Mary (2905) is north of Brownville Junction and east of Millinocket.

This is a great opening paragraph. Also east of Eden?

buckyball1 said:
I channeled Demosthenes, but got Ahab instead, was getting a bit crazed....

Another good line, but I don't quite get it. Demosthenes was the Athenian orator who honed his craft by orating into the surf with a mouthful of pebbles. Do you do that? Two hours for a peanut-butter jar (at most)? "Ahab" is right.
 
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should never do a TR when i'm so tired--JM mountain is "west" of Millinocket and i thought D was the guy pictured wandering the earth with a "lantern" searching for "truth"??--probably wrong there too

jim
 
I don't remember the details but it was much like you said. JRP probably left a bottle but we didn't find it either, or the BM, or the fire tower ruins. It was our 2nd day out and I was beat, fortunately my associate drove the whole way. When I got home, my doctor decreed I had pneumonia and sent me off to bed.
 
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Roy--I looked for all those things and I know there's at least one other bottle been placed more recently, even had a rough "description" of where it was. I quickly gave up any hope of finding the BM (can't imagine anyone ever finding it), but I thought that I'd at least find something.

There were a number of "clearings" that were close to the "right" height and about where I was told the second jar was placed (in the woods, not easily visible). I felt I had the correct spot, but nothing. When I thrashed over to the more "southern" 2900 foot contour bump, I certainly felt much of it could easily have been the top too. I can't imagine that without specialized tools we'll ever be sure where the "top" is on this one.

I had so much fun getting up there that I overestimated my "endurance" in looking endlessly for the "top" in that mess and am paying the price today.

Wonder if anyone reading this has more insight or found "anything" up there?

jim
 
Wonder if anyone reading this has more insight or found "anything" up there?

On 6th Sept. 2010 hiked up Jo-Mary from east. 6 hrs round trip. Found jar placed by Notorious Nate in July 2008 (it was within 20 ft by my Garmin GPS of the "x" on map), but not the one by JRP (who is this pioneer bushwhacker?). No other entries since. Only 4 pages in plastic bag & 1 pencil. As usual Nate filled a full page, but assuming 3 entries per page both sides and only 1 entry per 2 years those 4 pages should last until 2050!

Saw no BM or tower remains but not knowing these existed didn't search. Had I known would I haved searched? No!

Refexions on register hunting:

Hard core bushwhackers are by necessity a very determined & obsessive breed, but in order not to tip into insanity I feel that one has to set a time limit for canister searching and respect it. Mine is 1 hr. So far found all registers except one on ME #6. Gave up after 45 min. as daylight was limited and as we all know it's a long whack out.

BTW there's a new fairly recent slide less than 2 yrs old slide on S, SE side of #6 MTN. It's about 100 yards long & the top is somewhat hard to manage. And for your information I am almost convinced that the canister on #6 is not in the central part of the plateau nor the eastern section. Due to lack of time didn't do a meticulous search of north-western part where I suspect canister is located.

Register on Coburn East was found on June 2010 by pure luck 5 min. before my time limit under 2 layers of blow down on a flat summit with not a single tree still standing. Replaced jar on remnant of a branch on a 4 ft tall trunk. Hope it will be visible for the next visitors.

BTW I'm working on the ME200 list. What about you buckyball1? Is it the ME 2 K's? How many of those are there?

Pierre
 
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Hi Pierre--glad you found the "jar" on Jo-Mary--almost drove me over the edge and still didn't find it--i did however find the jar on #6 :)
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#6 from 6/25/09.......
There's a great view ledge SE of the summit, but the top itself is in thick stuff. I was "sure" the top was about 100 yards south of where I finally found the jar (those southern bumps are probably less than 6-8' lower than the top, but "look" right). The register (in a pretty non-obvious, thick spot)is a DC from 88? and while the old pages are almost destroyed, the newer pages show a lack of signins of many I know have climbed this(some very recently)--I saw Marc/Albee/Nate/jt/the Paisleys/dms (the older entries are almost illegible, but i could figure out the names + a few others)--I am guessing a fair number of people don't find this jar. Descent was even uglier than the way up-yuck--I was wet and very dirty--was happy to be down and pretty whipped........
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what am i doing right now?...actually nothing.. i finished the ME100P (100 most prominent in ME -Tumbledown near #6 was the last of the 100 for me) and by 7/06/10, i had done 196 of the ME 200P (200 most prominent in Maine)--i headed out to CO and OR and did some good stuff and when i returned to ME to finish the ME200P (i've already scoped the #201-300 peaks for ME300P and done some), i just stopped about 2/3 of the way up a ME200P peak and thought "why am i doing these??"--just turned around, walked down and "quit"--wasn't having fun and.....so i haven't done any whacks of peaks in 2 months and right now have no plans to resume..silly that i stopped a few short of the first 200 and with 201-300 on deck, but....burned out? tired of crazy drives/hikes starting at 2-3AM and always solo? identity crisis? finally getting smart?:)--i have no clue--just no desire for these right now


..wasn't going to mention any of this on the Board, but,,,,

be well. be careful

jim
 
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tired of crazy drives/hikes starting at 2-3AM
just one of those would be enough to make me quit :)

since you quit with the Adk100 within sight I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that once again you stopped near the end

good luck with your golf or sailing or whatever you do instead

-rs
 
just one of those would be enough to make me quit :)

since you quit with the Adk100 within sight I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that once again you stopped near the end

good luck with your golf or sailing or whatever you do instead

-rs

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..surely you jest--have never golfed in my life :) and sailing isn't real high on my to-do list either

..my instinct not to mention my "vacation" from deep in the NMW type 'whacking on the Boards was undoubtedly correct...however......

"once again you stopped near the end"--ah, and there's the issue isn't it?--with "lists", where is the end? and how does one escape from the tyranny of the endless new lists??--this has plagued me a few times

...the ADK100 was back in the 80s and with not many to go, i decided that monastic hiking to heavily wooded summits/peaks wasn't a whole lot of fun (it was hard to find anyone who'd even heard of theADK100 back then)...i went back to doing fun/challenging hikes, no lists

..after moving to ME about 8 years ago, i somehow got hooked on lists again and after the usual 116, NEHH, YALP, 52WAV, etc, i found the 50Finest prominence fun (thanks PB)...which led [at your (rs) suggestion ] to the NE P1000 (99 of them)...then i decided to try the ME100P (wasn't much beta to go on there) and when i was sure i was "done" that stuff....ah, well, "let's do another 100 of them" led me to the ME200P (nobody doing those) ...and then with only a few of the ME200P left, i embarked upon "maybe just another 100 peaks for the ME300P before i stop"..........see how it's progressing?..........i really admire the individual who's done the NE highest 1000 peaks, but ......


my hikes the last two years of large, tuff rockpiles in CO and OR just reinforced my feelings....these were hard, but mucho fun..at least a few people and great hikes/tops in many cases-also offered more delusions that i can stem the tide of aging which IS one of the reason i hike......on the other hand, driving 40 miles of iffy dirt roads and hiking BM Dry Town..well, not so much fun


so for now, on to other stuff in the mountains (haven't done the Traveler Loop or Cathedral in years) and more running on the roads


jim

Thread: Jo-Mary (ME) 10/5 Reply to Thread
 
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Buckyball -

A group of us (Damon Ritter, Carl Cressey and I) spent an inordinate amount of time recently searching the summit of Jo-Mary for a jar to no avail. We did ultimately place one on a tree near a large rock in a clearing, but where the "true summit" is remains debatable. Splendid views north to Baxter on the approach.

Roy,

I think Oncoman is referring to the Maine 200 Highest List, which is posted on the NEBushwhackers site. It seemed unfair that NH would have a 200 highest list, but not the Great State of Maine.

markie mark
 
Multi register peak

Jim, an interesting report as usual! I've heard there may be as many as 5 registers on JM, you could have made it 6! :) This is one of the ME 200H I still need, so if you want to go back up let me know. :) Misery loves company. Dennis
 
I've got a link to this list, including GPS coordinates for all of the summits. Actually, I have the 300 highest listed for VT on there, too.

#6 wasn't that bad - ask Van, we found a nice route!! I even managed to find both jars up there and consolidated them into one spot that 5 of us (and an altimeter and 2 GPSs) agreed was the highest bump. Turns out the original logbook had gotten soaked, so it had been removed and dried out. The person that returned it couldn't find the original jar, so they hung a new one about 100 yards away. That's why some of the old entries were nearly indecipherable and the newer ones are fine.
 
#6 "wasn't that bad" for the two of our group of five that had the good sense to take the talus slope up. We other three clawed our way steeply up another route though thick gnarled spruce, mossy boulders and ample blowdown. When in doubt, follow Albee!
 
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