Success Pond Road

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elvios lincoln

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Oct 20, 2003
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Thinking of a trip on the lower Mahoosucs around Memorial day. I would like to follow the AT from Rt 2 to Carlo Col campsite. On day two I would climb the southern Goose eye and then drop out to Success Pond Road.

Three questions:

1. Is Success Pond road likely to be open back to Berlin/Gorham by then?
2. Would this be an easy Mt bike ride or hitch-hike to get back to Gorham?
3. Alternatively is there a safe place on the Success Pond Road to spot a car
after coming down from one night on the lower Mahoosucs.

thanks
 
That is a pretty aggresive hike plan. Most AT thru hikers only go to Gentian Pond the first day and most weekenders go to Trident Col or Dream Lake. The second day is fairly short assuming you will be taking Goose Eye trail down. Might want to take a look at the maps and shift things around a bit.

Memorial day is sometimes pushing it on Success Pond Road, it is usually "open" but can be wet and rutted in spots. Depends on what sort of weather we have, but not many folks are out in the woods that time as the black flies are out in full attack mode.

There are parking areas at the traiheads to spot a car, but be aware that a car spot can take quite a while as the condtion of the road can limit the speed you can travel on it. You may want to consider spotting a car off of Bull Branch Road from the Sunday River side which is also a long drive but most of it is on pavement.

As for "safe" places to park, there hasnt been as many breakins/vandalism reported lately along the road recently than in the past but it has happened. I suspect that the arrest of the Berlin resident last year for trailhead breakins, will have reduced the problem, but it is a remote area.

Mountain Bike riding is possible, but be aware that a lot of the traffic on the road is going faster than they should and if logging trucks are on the road, make sure you get completely out of their way. Successful hitching is less likely.
 
Rev2 Trip Plan Mahoosucs

I was coming to the conclusion that It was overly ambitious and was already mentally revising things. Your comments here were helpful.
The Mahoosuc piece is part of a larger goal to section hike the Maine AT as far as Rt4 this summer. I had been considering two trips to do this, now I am thinking three. How does this sound?

1. Late May Trip: Lower Mahoosucs. Rt2 to Gentian Pond campsite on first day, via AT. On day two I'll go back to Rt 2 via the Peabody Brook Trail.

2. Mid July Trip: Upper Mahoosucs. Success Pond Road car park at Carlo/Goose Eye trail head. Hike up Carlo and over to Full Goose campsite on Day 1. On day 2, hike through Mahhoosuc Notch to Old Spec Pond. On Day 3 Mohoosuc Arm and Speck Pond Trail to Success Pond Road. Mt Bike ride back to car with spotted bike.

3. Late August Trip: Hike AT from Grafton Notch to Rt 4. Tenting 4-5 nights near: Frye Notch Lean-to, Hall Mountain Lean-to, Bemis Mt Lean-to, and Sabbath Mt Lean-to. I haven't quite figred out how I'll get back to Grafton Notch yet.

Any advice on the above will be welcome.
 
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