New England Gems

I was on Starr King this winter. The fireplace, grey jays and limited views of the Presis are still there.

Maybe we can also resolve the meaning of "is", as soon y'all decide what Peakbagger meant by "deserve"?

Political Correctedness seems to be the theme today so

I hack, maim, dismember "deserving" trees and shrubs on a frequent basis when I do AT corridor boundary work and when I do trail work and I expect other trail maintainers do the same. I expect 95% of the folks on this board that own property do something similar on routine basis when they cut their grass. The grass doesnt "deserve" to be cut and we are doing it for our own selfish reason (or spouses) to improve our view. Arguably, I expect the photosynthesis impact of cutting a lawn is equivalent to cutting fir/spruce on Starr King. I along with even the Forest Service makes allowances for cutting and maintaining viewpoints along trails. Starr King's viewpoint is well established and given Starr King's writings, I would expect this view was at least in existence for 170 plus years. The reason for the loss of the view on starr king appears to be that the view wasnt maintained over the years, so the small seedlings that rapidly move in to any clearing, eventually grow into trees. I expect few would object to brushing a trail or viewpoint and the recent cutting is basically the same thing albeit at a less frequent basis. To take this to an illogical conclusion, we really should stop all maintenance of any trails as fundamentally we are killing trees that could have grown in the trail corridor location. I expect some might not object to this approach but I expect trails are judged by most as an acceptable tradeoff and I feel viewpoints are a logical extension of trails.

peakbagger said:

Starr King now has a great view, the trees that had grown up blocking the view werre cut down (although a few more deserve to be). YOu now can see an unbroken stretch from the Shelburn Moriah, the entire presidential ridge, the Willey range, the Twins, Garfield and with a bit of moving around the Lafayettes and Cannon. The Waumbek viewpoint is a very close second. Worth a revisit on a clear day.

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Very interesting....is somebody going around "improving" views? I was on Tecumseh two weeks ago and somebody cut down 2-3 trees on that summit (it now has a great view). I wonder how the FS would feel about this...

Speaking of improving views, Mt. Blue in Maine, the perfect pyramid visible from many highpoints in the WM, had an observation tower constructed last year which makes it a better gem than it was...staying at Mt. Blue State Park and hiking Tumbledown, Little Jackson, etc in that area would be like a nice two-three day event...

Ed'n Lauky said:

I think it's just the choice of a word that is in question. I'm sure that in using the word "deserve" he wasn't referring to a tree as if it were a serial killer deserving of death he was simply saying that in order to have a really good view there are a few trees that are still in the way. I'd be willing to bet that right now you'd find him dressed in sack cloth and covered in ashes repenting over his choice of words.

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Peakbagger looks so much better, and happier, I'd daresay, in hiking gear that I'd never ask him to don sackcloth and smear himself with ashes. Beeches and firs, maybe - so long as they weren't undeservingly cut down.

PS: I can't get over how cute that picture of Lauky is in your avatar, Ed. He's one of my favorite citizens of this board.

peakbagger said:

Political Correctedness seems to be the theme today so

I hack, maim, dismember "deserving" trees and shrubs ...

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I love a good trail and certainly accept the small but real impacts we as hikers have on the mountains, the trees and other flora and fauna. I merely raised concern at the thought of a tree as "deserving" to be cut down. Not so much a political agenda as a great fondness, respect and, yes, reverence for trees. To anyone who'd ever call me "tree hugger," I'd kindly reply, "we all should be, given all they do for us."

Shelburne Moriah. There's something absolutely surreal about that peak...

Shelburne Moriah is nice, I spent the night on it, quite the view you wake up to. The Baldfaces are great peaks. The Horn in the Kilkenny is quite pleasant. Traveler in Maine gives you stunning views of Baxter and nonstop views of Katahdin. Doubletop on Western side of Baxter. I'm always pleased with the views on Acadia's summits. It's easy to hit several peaks on one trip with views of mountains and ocean..My favorite is traverse from Sargent to Penobscot. Moosehead Lake area has several short hikes with good views. Little Spencer is 4 miles round trip with several views along way and 360 from summit. Eagle Rock is northern point on Big Squaw (Moose) and you can see everything from it, it's less than 4 miles round trip and well below 3k but it sticks out above immediate ground with great 360s. Several spots on Grafton Loop...particularly Sunday River White Cap, Puzzle, and Baldpate.

natron said:

maine

puzzle
e.baldpate
s.r.w.c.
r.w.c.
goose eye
baldfaces
caribou
tumbledown
little jackson
bald (weld)

what makes these 10 gems so good to me? all around 1 hr from my house!

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Great Western ME list! I would suggest adding Bemis Mountain Peak 2 and Cranberry Peak Bigelow to it.

Regards,
Marty