bryan
New member
date: 12/17/13
trails: bushwhack, snowmobile/atv trails, roadwalk
conditions: after driving though meaderboro road in farmington a couple of times scoping out possible start points i finally had a go at these local peaks. much of the property along both meaderboro and ten rod roads is posted including the start of the old road that ran between the two though it once had legal access from meaderboro. i parked off of meaderboro road about 2.4 miles north of its 4 way intersection with poor farm and reservoir road where there was a nice wide plowed area on the west side of the road. i started my bushwhack just up the road where there is a for sale sign and no prohibitions and was soon grinding up the steep slopes of nubble through a foot plus of snow. the woods were open with good going up to the prominent ledge on its southwest side. great views from here up to blue job. some more climbing led up to the summit and a bit east there were great cliff top views towards hussey. due to these cliffs i could not head directly east off the summit so circled down to the south to another nice ledge then worked my way back to the east skirting south of the swamp/nubble pond between the peaks. part of the slope coming off nubble had been logged over and the going under foot was not great, but with some more snow would be unnoticable. heading towards hussey i crossed over a snowmobile trail then the old road that used to run through the area and then another snowmobile trail before beginning the climb up to the peak through open woods. i noted numerous stone walls and some signage that i think is related to mountain biking, but no evident trail and eventually popped out on the ridgecrest at a wide open ledge with views to the southeast over baxter lake. there was also a clear snowmobile/atv trail along the ridgeline which i followed north over what i believe to be the highpoint and on to the open northeast ledges. at this point to trail is posted so i did not continue down to the prominent open ledges on that side of the mountain, but with some poking around found great looks to nearby chesley and some others to the merrymeeting lake peaks and belknaps. i retraced my steps over the top of the mountain then continued on the trail heading down the south ridge until it turned well off my course then bushwhacked back to my earlier line crossing over some of what i believe were mountain bike single track trails along the way. when i hit the old road, which had been recently snowmobiled i followed that back towards meaderboro road. the track turned off the road when it hit the now posted portion of land and followed a trail up through a cut over area and then down to a logging access road to meaderboro road about 200 yards south of my car. that logging road is blocked off, but not posted so i assume access is ok. there is also a for sale sign at its base.
equipment: i wore snowshoes the whole hike.
comments: after mulling over a route for a while due to access issues i finally took a shot at these peaks. though access seems to be restricted all over it was evident that people are out in the area a fair bit. some nice bushwhacking and good views before the snow rolled in though it remained quite cold all day. great hike.
bryan
[email protected]
trails: bushwhack, snowmobile/atv trails, roadwalk
conditions: after driving though meaderboro road in farmington a couple of times scoping out possible start points i finally had a go at these local peaks. much of the property along both meaderboro and ten rod roads is posted including the start of the old road that ran between the two though it once had legal access from meaderboro. i parked off of meaderboro road about 2.4 miles north of its 4 way intersection with poor farm and reservoir road where there was a nice wide plowed area on the west side of the road. i started my bushwhack just up the road where there is a for sale sign and no prohibitions and was soon grinding up the steep slopes of nubble through a foot plus of snow. the woods were open with good going up to the prominent ledge on its southwest side. great views from here up to blue job. some more climbing led up to the summit and a bit east there were great cliff top views towards hussey. due to these cliffs i could not head directly east off the summit so circled down to the south to another nice ledge then worked my way back to the east skirting south of the swamp/nubble pond between the peaks. part of the slope coming off nubble had been logged over and the going under foot was not great, but with some more snow would be unnoticable. heading towards hussey i crossed over a snowmobile trail then the old road that used to run through the area and then another snowmobile trail before beginning the climb up to the peak through open woods. i noted numerous stone walls and some signage that i think is related to mountain biking, but no evident trail and eventually popped out on the ridgecrest at a wide open ledge with views to the southeast over baxter lake. there was also a clear snowmobile/atv trail along the ridgeline which i followed north over what i believe to be the highpoint and on to the open northeast ledges. at this point to trail is posted so i did not continue down to the prominent open ledges on that side of the mountain, but with some poking around found great looks to nearby chesley and some others to the merrymeeting lake peaks and belknaps. i retraced my steps over the top of the mountain then continued on the trail heading down the south ridge until it turned well off my course then bushwhacked back to my earlier line crossing over some of what i believe were mountain bike single track trails along the way. when i hit the old road, which had been recently snowmobiled i followed that back towards meaderboro road. the track turned off the road when it hit the now posted portion of land and followed a trail up through a cut over area and then down to a logging access road to meaderboro road about 200 yards south of my car. that logging road is blocked off, but not posted so i assume access is ok. there is also a for sale sign at its base.
equipment: i wore snowshoes the whole hike.
comments: after mulling over a route for a while due to access issues i finally took a shot at these peaks. though access seems to be restricted all over it was evident that people are out in the area a fair bit. some nice bushwhacking and good views before the snow rolled in though it remained quite cold all day. great hike.
bryan
[email protected]
