BillDC
New member
Ragged Mountain is an odd-ball peak just west of Millinocket in T4 Indian Township. I was last here in 1992 before it was logged. Today, it is a heavily logged area with many mazes of logging roads all throughout. Leaving Millinocket on RT 11, took the Lincoln Ridge Road which is a right turn directly across from Cedar Lake road. At .8 mi in, we took the logging road on the left and followed it to 1.9 mi where you fork right. Continue on to 3.2 mi where you bear left but then fork right at 3.5 mi. The road goes to about 4.2 where it forks right up into a clear cut area. You need a high clearance vehicle to go any further. We parked at this junction and set out walking up this road.
The area is a maze of logging roads and initial beta did not show any roads or trails to the top. There is a fire tower on this peak, but the watchman's trail has long been obliterated by logging. We walked east on a rough road until we were directly south of the summit and then we started wacking directly north. Much of the area has been clearcut in the last 8 years, so the going though the young growth was easy. Even into the old growth, things were easy going. We eventually reached the site of the old watchman's camp as evidenced by many artifacts. We located the sink, bed frame, and portions of the woodstove. This location was on the edge of another skidder area, so artifacts of watchman life were spread all over. At this point, there were wide skidder roads continuing to the summit, so we followed them. The skid roads started heading away from the summit, so we continued the wack up. We shortly reached the 48 foot fire tower which is still standing. The cab was removed long ago and the ladder modified to make it extra difficult to climb. The benchmark closest to the tower was obviously pried up and removed. The one just to the east of the tower is still there in rock hidden under some spruce.
There were nice views to the North, North East, and west from the summit, but that was it. There were no southerly views to speak of. A short trail that lead west of the summit brought us to some ledges that provided good West and North West views. Once at the summit, we discovered that the skid roads came all of the way to the summit in a roundabout way. On the way down, we explored these and found a way down via skid roads. We did find portions of the original watchman's trail, which actually looked like an old jeep road leading east, likely now used by ATVers.
After the hike, we headed back into Millinocket to check out the new American Loggers Restraunt which is featured on the Discovery Channel's "American Loggers" series. Nice place, all custom woodworking with local charm.
Some photos can be found here -
http://picasaweb.google.com/BillDC3/RaggedMountainME5252010?feat=directlink
Bill
The area is a maze of logging roads and initial beta did not show any roads or trails to the top. There is a fire tower on this peak, but the watchman's trail has long been obliterated by logging. We walked east on a rough road until we were directly south of the summit and then we started wacking directly north. Much of the area has been clearcut in the last 8 years, so the going though the young growth was easy. Even into the old growth, things were easy going. We eventually reached the site of the old watchman's camp as evidenced by many artifacts. We located the sink, bed frame, and portions of the woodstove. This location was on the edge of another skidder area, so artifacts of watchman life were spread all over. At this point, there were wide skidder roads continuing to the summit, so we followed them. The skid roads started heading away from the summit, so we continued the wack up. We shortly reached the 48 foot fire tower which is still standing. The cab was removed long ago and the ladder modified to make it extra difficult to climb. The benchmark closest to the tower was obviously pried up and removed. The one just to the east of the tower is still there in rock hidden under some spruce.
There were nice views to the North, North East, and west from the summit, but that was it. There were no southerly views to speak of. A short trail that lead west of the summit brought us to some ledges that provided good West and North West views. Once at the summit, we discovered that the skid roads came all of the way to the summit in a roundabout way. On the way down, we explored these and found a way down via skid roads. We did find portions of the original watchman's trail, which actually looked like an old jeep road leading east, likely now used by ATVers.
After the hike, we headed back into Millinocket to check out the new American Loggers Restraunt which is featured on the Discovery Channel's "American Loggers" series. Nice place, all custom woodworking with local charm.
Some photos can be found here -
http://picasaweb.google.com/BillDC3/RaggedMountainME5252010?feat=directlink
Bill
