buckyball1
New member
..well Toto, we're not in Colorado anymore, these are peaks a bit smaller and there are no pics (the CO pics were my first attempt at posting pics, and probably only time i've carried a camera on my hikes in years)..anyway
Today was a road trip, line up the peaks, logistics type excursion--out the door at 3AM to that great full moom and off to
Beech Hill-(1541') near North Waterford (south of Bethel)-I approached off the Irving Green road and used decent older roads to get most of the way up with a modest 'whack the last 0.4 or so-the top's a bit of a jumble, no views..then off to Bethel, Andover, South Arm (think Elephant of NEHH) and
Metallak (2870')- I drove north of the campground on Richardson Lakes on S Arm Road and found a logging road that carried the Forester toward the peak-the road is in bad shape here and there (no low clearance/2WD or you'll be sorry)-I probably tortured the car higher than i should, but had about a mile walk on decent old roads before another 0.4 mile 'whack to the top--very steep in parts with thick sections, but nothing terrible. The top is flat with all sorts of blowdown. --then it was back thru Andover, into Rumford and then East Dixville where i did
Colonel Holman (1850')--because of landowner issues this turned into a bit more than i planned-approach from Rt 17 and the Severy Hill Rd-a long (8 mile round trip) walk on a very rough/eroded/rocky, hot, dusty road all the way to the top--some nice views in all directions if you wander and peek between the growing trees--much hazier than the last few days. I chatted with a few hosre people who were also headed for the peak--nice folk, local, filled me in on "private property" issues--seems the same mess everywhere--perhaps we can start a 100+ reply thread ...i was running out of time, but decided to go through Farmington and Fairbanks to try
Pratt (1571')-- I took Rt 27, Barker Rd and finally Herrick Rd to jump off point--i had planned a few alternative approaches and needed them as there's a lot of posting around Pratt--i found a good approach road (sans legal threats) and used it to get within 0.25 of the summit. I then encountered some very thick going coupled with "unseeable" rocks and steep terrain which made for the most difficult stretch of the day--especially as i was pretty whipped by then. Found an obvious high point, heavily wooded, no views, but garlands of blue survey tape around the "top tree"
Heading home, i realized that while these are rather insignificant hikes/peaks compared to my recent trip, i really do enjoy the hiking and also the endless planning
...and as i drove across the Penobsct toward home, the full beautiful moon was already well up in the sky...symmetry to a long day
jim
Today was a road trip, line up the peaks, logistics type excursion--out the door at 3AM to that great full moom and off to
Beech Hill-(1541') near North Waterford (south of Bethel)-I approached off the Irving Green road and used decent older roads to get most of the way up with a modest 'whack the last 0.4 or so-the top's a bit of a jumble, no views..then off to Bethel, Andover, South Arm (think Elephant of NEHH) and
Metallak (2870')- I drove north of the campground on Richardson Lakes on S Arm Road and found a logging road that carried the Forester toward the peak-the road is in bad shape here and there (no low clearance/2WD or you'll be sorry)-I probably tortured the car higher than i should, but had about a mile walk on decent old roads before another 0.4 mile 'whack to the top--very steep in parts with thick sections, but nothing terrible. The top is flat with all sorts of blowdown. --then it was back thru Andover, into Rumford and then East Dixville where i did
Colonel Holman (1850')--because of landowner issues this turned into a bit more than i planned-approach from Rt 17 and the Severy Hill Rd-a long (8 mile round trip) walk on a very rough/eroded/rocky, hot, dusty road all the way to the top--some nice views in all directions if you wander and peek between the growing trees--much hazier than the last few days. I chatted with a few hosre people who were also headed for the peak--nice folk, local, filled me in on "private property" issues--seems the same mess everywhere--perhaps we can start a 100+ reply thread ...i was running out of time, but decided to go through Farmington and Fairbanks to try
Pratt (1571')-- I took Rt 27, Barker Rd and finally Herrick Rd to jump off point--i had planned a few alternative approaches and needed them as there's a lot of posting around Pratt--i found a good approach road (sans legal threats) and used it to get within 0.25 of the summit. I then encountered some very thick going coupled with "unseeable" rocks and steep terrain which made for the most difficult stretch of the day--especially as i was pretty whipped by then. Found an obvious high point, heavily wooded, no views, but garlands of blue survey tape around the "top tree"
Heading home, i realized that while these are rather insignificant hikes/peaks compared to my recent trip, i really do enjoy the hiking and also the endless planning
...and as i drove across the Penobsct toward home, the full beautiful moon was already well up in the sky...symmetry to a long day
jim
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