Snow (Chain of Ponds) - 12 Oct. 2014

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Joined
Jan 15, 2013
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Location
Vernon, Conn.
Last weekend I took my fourth and final annual New England Fifty Finest trip to western Maine. This report is for Sunday, when I climbed Snow.

I don't know if I've ever been on a hike where I took so many wrong turns. I took a wrong turn driving to the trailhead. I took a wrong turn going up the mountain. I took a wrong turn coming down off the mountain.

The wrong turn getting to the trailhead, while driving the maze of dirt roads on Penobscot tribal lands, at least was easily rectifiable, and more than compensated for by the fact that while I was on a wrong road I saw a bald eagle close up several times flying from tree to tree near my car.

When I did find the trailhead I was the only car there. The first part of the hike is along a dirt road, which was lined in parts with birches in their full fall glory. A sign at the beginning of the hike requests that hikers take a new relocation instead of the old eroded path, so when I came to a cairn marking a path I took it. This path follows an old road with a lot of blowdowns for a while, but it wasn't difficult. It then becomes a regular trail (albeit unblazed) for a while. Then it starts getting sketchier, and I lost and regained it several times. Then I lost it for good. At this point I was about a mile in, and the woods were fairly open, so I figured I'd just bushwhack northwesterly until I reached the real relo, which this apparently was not, or else the original trail. After a while I saw a north-south ridge to my west and figured that was the ridge which my map said the original trail follows, so I headed towards that. Soon the whacking started getting much worse, steep with thick fir. I couldn't see the ridge after a while, and I started heading straight up, which was northwest there, knowing I'd either find the ridge or the summit.

The whacking got really nasty for a while. It was the second most difficult whack I've ever done. Then I hit the cliffs. It took a while to find a spot where I could climb over them. Then it was steep with thick fir again. Then I hit the second cliffs. Then it was steep with thick fir again. But then it got less thick and much less steep, and I saw the summit tower. I ended up arriving at the summit from the east.

Snow's fire tower is still standing, but the cabin which was on it is now on the ground next to it. There's also another ruined building nearby. The tower itself, however, is sturdy enough to climb, which provides views all around. I went down via the path, which is very well defined. I soon met the only other people I would see while hiking that day, a couple from Massachusetts named Brian and Mary. It turned out they were the ones who were going up Elephant as I was going down the day before.

Soon after I came to a fork in the trail. I went left, figuring that must be the real relo. Except for one confusing spot it was easy to follow all the way down to the dirt road, which it ends at across from Snow Mountain Pond.

I headed east on the dirt road. After a while I passed a cairn marking a trail to the north which was a different one than the one I'd taken. A while after that I came to an intersection. It was a T intersection and the road I'd come in on was the base of the T. The other ways went northwest and southeast, and I wanted to go roughly east northeast. I decide to go right. After a while there was another fork where again going right seemed correct. Soon I was descending quickly while headed southwest and I knew that couldn't be right. I turned around and tried the first alternate branch I came to. That quickly ended in a meadow. I went back and continued to retrace my steps, until I got to the T, where I continued straight. That turned out to be right; it turned to the northeast, and after a while I passed the spot where I'd left it on the way up. When I got to my car it was alone; Brian and Mary had passed me while I was on the wrong road.

So in order to hike Snow without all the wrong turns I made: Go north on Rte. 27, and 9.7 miles past the Cathedral Pines campground turn left onto a dirt road signed as being in Penobscot tribal lands. On this road go generally straight. Where there's a fork keep to the right except for the one 2.7 miles in, where you go left. The trailhead is 4.9 miles from 27. When you get on the trail keep on the dirt roads until you get to the lake. At one point another road will come in from the right; take it. A couple times you'll see trails coming in from the right marked with cairns. Do not take these trails! They are evil! When you do get to the lake take the trail which goes off opposite it. Take that up to the summit. To go back reverse all this.

Snow was number 42 on the New England Fifty Finest list.

Here are the pictures.

--

Cumulus

NE111: 115/115 (67/67, 46/46, 2/2); Cat35: 32/39; WNH4K: 32/48; NEFF: 43/50
LT NB 2009

"I don't much care where [I get to] --" said Alice, "-- so long as I get somewhere," ...
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
- Lewis Carroll
 
This was #100 for me back in July. Ecxellent views from the tower as well an open ledge shortly before he summit. We had exceptional directions and even modified them to cut some corners on the return. I think the hike only ended up taking us a little over 3 hrs. This peak deserves a proper trail IMO.
 
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