Trail Boss
New member
Debar Mountain - Trail from Lake Meacham
2010-05-16
Summary
Trail is dry and in great shape. Campground to summit in 1-3/4 hours. Two hours lounging in the sunshine on the summit. Under 1-1/2 hours from summit to camground. Pace was brisk but stopped along the way to take photos, have a snack at the lean-to, catch my breath, etc. Guidebook indicates 4-1/2 hours for the round-trip.
Details
The start of the road from the campground (near site 41) to the parking area has a high center crown. If your vehicle does not have sufficient ground clearance, and you drive in the ruts, you run the risk of snagging something with your undercarriage. You can mitigate it by keeping your tires on the center ridge and a grassy shoulder. However, that practice tends to make the road wider so I chose to leave my car in the campground (pre-Memorial Day; it isn't open yet) and walk the road (adds less than 10 minutes to your hike).
The trailhead has a register but, unfortunately, the logbook had a single page and it was full. The initial part of the hike follows a grassy road that heads to country road 26. A sign clearly marks where you exit the road and follow a footpath to Debar. The trail rises gradually and was dry and in very good condition. There are a few muddy stretches but nothing like the boot-sucking mud wallows that one encounters in the High Peaks. Most of the waterbars are intact and doing there job. There are at least two small log bridges that have fallen apart but, frankly, they aren't necessary and whatever they are bridging can be easily crossed. The crown of a small fallen tree lies across the trail but it is not a serious impediment.
Water is available along the trail as far as the lean-to and a little beyond. The lean-to is in a good shape except for the righthand third of the frontmost log (it's missing). There's a lone doggy boot in there, so if your dog is missing one from a recent hike to Debar, it's waiting for you.
The serious part of the hike begins shortly after the lean-to. The trail steepens markedly until it becomes similar to what one would find in the High Peaks. I used hiking poles going up (and especially down) and they were appreciated. Fortunately, this stretch is short and it ends at the summit rock.
All that's left of the fire tower is its moorings (steel rods driven into the rock). The surrounding conifers restrict views to the southwest, west and a bit to the north. Sunday was a warm, clear day and views were excellent. I spent two hours chatting with a marvelous couple who live in the area.
The black flies were out but I was slathered in insect repellent so they didn't bother me (much). The other folks hadn't anticipated black flies in mid-May and they were affected whenever the breezes died down. Frankly, I thought the flies were much worse three weeks earlier when I hiked up Azure without bug repellant. Naturally, having used the stuff on this hike may be coloring my opinion.
I followed the trail past the summit rock and it headed in the direction of the second, lower, summit. However, it petered out just a point where I could see (just barely) that the second summit is completely wooded. It didn't look like it was worth the effort so I chose to head back down.
On the hike down I met a couple that also forgot overlooked to bring repellant. They improvised by battening down the hatches of their clothing making it look like they were hiking in Autumn. It was a warm day and hiking with your hood on could not have been comfortable. Further down the trail, there were at least four hikers heading for the summit. All in all, fairly low hiker traffic for such a nice destination.
2010-05-16
Summary
Trail is dry and in great shape. Campground to summit in 1-3/4 hours. Two hours lounging in the sunshine on the summit. Under 1-1/2 hours from summit to camground. Pace was brisk but stopped along the way to take photos, have a snack at the lean-to, catch my breath, etc. Guidebook indicates 4-1/2 hours for the round-trip.
Details
The start of the road from the campground (near site 41) to the parking area has a high center crown. If your vehicle does not have sufficient ground clearance, and you drive in the ruts, you run the risk of snagging something with your undercarriage. You can mitigate it by keeping your tires on the center ridge and a grassy shoulder. However, that practice tends to make the road wider so I chose to leave my car in the campground (pre-Memorial Day; it isn't open yet) and walk the road (adds less than 10 minutes to your hike).
The trailhead has a register but, unfortunately, the logbook had a single page and it was full. The initial part of the hike follows a grassy road that heads to country road 26. A sign clearly marks where you exit the road and follow a footpath to Debar. The trail rises gradually and was dry and in very good condition. There are a few muddy stretches but nothing like the boot-sucking mud wallows that one encounters in the High Peaks. Most of the waterbars are intact and doing there job. There are at least two small log bridges that have fallen apart but, frankly, they aren't necessary and whatever they are bridging can be easily crossed. The crown of a small fallen tree lies across the trail but it is not a serious impediment.
Water is available along the trail as far as the lean-to and a little beyond. The lean-to is in a good shape except for the righthand third of the frontmost log (it's missing). There's a lone doggy boot in there, so if your dog is missing one from a recent hike to Debar, it's waiting for you.
The serious part of the hike begins shortly after the lean-to. The trail steepens markedly until it becomes similar to what one would find in the High Peaks. I used hiking poles going up (and especially down) and they were appreciated. Fortunately, this stretch is short and it ends at the summit rock.
All that's left of the fire tower is its moorings (steel rods driven into the rock). The surrounding conifers restrict views to the southwest, west and a bit to the north. Sunday was a warm, clear day and views were excellent. I spent two hours chatting with a marvelous couple who live in the area.
The black flies were out but I was slathered in insect repellent so they didn't bother me (much). The other folks hadn't anticipated black flies in mid-May and they were affected whenever the breezes died down. Frankly, I thought the flies were much worse three weeks earlier when I hiked up Azure without bug repellant. Naturally, having used the stuff on this hike may be coloring my opinion.
I followed the trail past the summit rock and it headed in the direction of the second, lower, summit. However, it petered out just a point where I could see (just barely) that the second summit is completely wooded. It didn't look like it was worth the effort so I chose to head back down.
On the hike down I met a couple that also forgot overlooked to bring repellant. They improvised by battening down the hatches of their clothing making it look like they were hiking in Autumn. It was a warm day and hiking with your hood on could not have been comfortable. Further down the trail, there were at least four hikers heading for the summit. All in all, fairly low hiker traffic for such a nice destination.
