Baldpate - 13 Oct. 2014

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Vernon, Conn.
Last weekend I took my fourth and final annual New England Fifty Finest trip to western Maine. This report is for Monday, when I climbed Baldpate.

Baldpate was a lot different from the previous two days hiking; it had blazed trails, lots of views, and a fair number of other hikers.

There were a lot of cars at the parking lot in Grafton Notch, and though I think most of them were for people headed to Old Speck, I'd meet a number of hikers on the trail that day.

Baldpate is on the Appalachian Trail east of Grafton Notch (opposite Old Speck). I took a side trip going up, though, to visit Table Rock. Table Rock Trail is flat then steep, but soon gets to Table Rock, which has excellent views of Grafton Notch and Old Speck, covered in golden trees.

After I got back on the Appalachian Trail the trail was fairly easy for a while and then started steeply up to Baldpate, West Peak. On this section whom should I meet but Brian and Mary, who'd been the only hikers I'd met the day before, and whom I'd passed without meeting the day before that.

After the west peak the trail drops down into the col and then up to the east peak, which is higher. The trail up the east peak from the col is mostly up rock slabs, which were fine that day, but which I wouldn't want to hike wet. The summit of Baldpate, East Peak is treeless with views all around. Then I went back the way I came, except skipping Table Rock.

Baldpate was number 43 on the New England Fifty Finest list.

Here are the pictures.

With this trip I've closed out western Maine for the New England Fifty Finest list. I have three peaks left in eastern Maine, three in southern New Hampshire, and one in northern Vermont. Over these four western Maine NEFF trips I've bagged 12 or 13 NEFF peaks (depending if you count Kibby and Caribou as one or two). (There are also 4 in western Maine which I'd already done while pursuing the NE4K list.) Although this year's trip was solo, Whichway, the Manbearpig, and She Who Shall Not Be Trailnamed had joined me in previous years in various combinations. Probably the most amazing aspect of these trips is that during them I've hiked twelve days and spent six nights camping, and I didn't have a single drop of rain either on the trail or in camp during any of it.

--

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
 
Boy you got a lot done. Baldpate must have seemed like a breeze after Elephant and Snow Chain of Ponds. My wife and I loved Table Rock, a really cool trail up. Baldpate was #100 for us on the NEHH.
 
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