onestep
New member
Friday 07-07-06: JimC picked me up around 7:30 AM for a trip up to Jackman where we would spend 3 days bushwhacking Maine 3K peaks.
Our first order of business upon arriving in Jackman was to find the logging road approach to Sandy Bay Mtn, 3110’. This peak is located north west of Jackman along the US / Canada border swath. We where pleasantly surprised to be able to drive in from Rt 201 approx 2 miles along an old logging road before our progress was blocked by 3 large boulders. We continued on walking in a westerly direction following the old logging road & twitch trails. After a short 'whack through mostly open woods we finally reached the border swath. We followed the swath S past several hunting shacks, and monument markers, to the “summit”.
We found the ‘true’ summit to be approx 100’ E of the swath in very thick spruce. The jar was found on the ground, broken, its contents unreadable. We did not replace the jar.
Saturday 07-08-06: After a rather noisy night (a private fireworks display) at Sally Mountain Cabins on Wood lake we got up early for our most ambitious day of the trip. Our goal for the day was Boundary Bald - 3630', Boundary Bald E Peak – 3459', & Boundary Bald W Peak – 3167’. This group of peaks is located north east of Jackman. There is a hiking trail to the summit of Boundary Bald. The East & West peaks would be bushwhacked.
We where able to drive to within a mile of the old fire wardens trail up Boundary Bald. The trail is in pretty good shape considering it generally follows the fall line without protection of water bars, rock work, switch backs, and other ‘modern’ trail building techniques. We reached the summit at 8:20 and took in it’s fantastic views… the morning was clear, dry, comfortable and mostly bug free!
From here the adventure would begin. We made a decision to bushwhack the ridge line over to the East peak instead of descending back down the hiking trail, walking the old logging road that parallels the ridge, and then bushwhacking up to the col and on to E Peak. Either way the length of the bushwhack is about the same. We chose the ridge in order reduce the amount of road walking we would have to do.
The ridge took us 3-1/2 hours to bushwhack. It was persistently scrappy! Several interesting open areas gave us a reprieve but overall it was tough. We where somewhat puzzled when we discovered that the intermediate peak along the ridge is higher than the East Peak. (I believe it is not on the 3K list though as a result of the 200’ col rule).
We enjoyed fantastic views from the open East Peak! We found the broken remains of the jar hidden in the cairn. We did not have a replacement…
We chose to descend to the logging road almost directly from the peak instead of backtracking to the col and then down. This saved us distance, and time, but the steep ledges made things interesting!
We reached the logging road and began the long walk back to the car. Even though we started out with 3 liters each, we where both out of water. About half way back to the car we came upon an ice cold spring! We drank and drank and drank some more. We then filled up our bottles, and continued on refreshed.
We reached the car and drove approx a mile or so to where we started another long road walk towards the West Peak. Even though we where both tired we where determined to reach our third peak of the day. This bushwhack would be short, approx 7/10th of a mile to the summit. It seemed to take forever! We both felt the topo did not correspond to the terrain. Our altimeters (mechanical, digital, and via GPS) had the peak a lot higher than the map / or list / indicated! Not much made sense… but we trusted our compass. We finally reached the summit and found the jar! This time it was intact. We signed the log and began a slow descent back to the car. We where both tired. We hiked / walked / whacked 12-1/2 hours today, we earned our peaks.
Sunday 07-09-06: After a quiet night at Sally Mountain cabins, we had breakfast in Jackman. No need for an early start today. On the agenda is Coburn Mtn – 3730’, and Coburn East Peak – 3070’. Similar to yesterday, there is a hiking trail to the summit of Coburn, and the East Peak would be a bushwhack. The difference today is that we would not bushwhack the ridge!
We where able to drive in towards Coburn Mountain from route 201 approx 2.4 miles. From there we followed a snowmobile trail to the top of the old ski area, and then a hiking trail to the summit. Another beautiful day, another fantastic view! This time from a steel observation tower.
We looped back down from the summit via a snowmobile trail which followed the ridge line west before swinging back towards the old ski area. This was a longer route than our ascent, but much more gradual. On the way down we met a hiker from Parlin Pond. Come to find out he’s working on the NE100. He said it wasn’t uncommon for him and his hiking buddy to leave Jackman at 2 in the morning to get to the Whites in the winter! I’ll never complain about my 1-1/2 drive again…
Back at the car, we drove a half mile or so down the logging road that parallels the ridge heading towards the East Peak. We parked where a rather suspicious looking bridge halted our progress. We continued down the logging road on foot until it swung around to the N-NW and ascended the ridge leading down from Coburn’s East Peak. We started our bushwhack “back” towards the East Peak from there.
The woods where mostly open, quite a change from yesterday. We made good progress following many heard paths. The summit area was rather broad and flat with many blowdowns. It was rather open so after a short search we spotted the jar. We signed the log, replaced the ziplock, and called it good! Six peaks in 3 days… time to head home.
We descended directly to the logging road instead of walking the ridge back down. Like yesterday, it was steep but quicker!
I’d like to thank JimC for suggesting this group of peaks to ‘whack… it sure was fun!!
PICTURES HERE
Onestep
Our first order of business upon arriving in Jackman was to find the logging road approach to Sandy Bay Mtn, 3110’. This peak is located north west of Jackman along the US / Canada border swath. We where pleasantly surprised to be able to drive in from Rt 201 approx 2 miles along an old logging road before our progress was blocked by 3 large boulders. We continued on walking in a westerly direction following the old logging road & twitch trails. After a short 'whack through mostly open woods we finally reached the border swath. We followed the swath S past several hunting shacks, and monument markers, to the “summit”.
We found the ‘true’ summit to be approx 100’ E of the swath in very thick spruce. The jar was found on the ground, broken, its contents unreadable. We did not replace the jar.
Saturday 07-08-06: After a rather noisy night (a private fireworks display) at Sally Mountain Cabins on Wood lake we got up early for our most ambitious day of the trip. Our goal for the day was Boundary Bald - 3630', Boundary Bald E Peak – 3459', & Boundary Bald W Peak – 3167’. This group of peaks is located north east of Jackman. There is a hiking trail to the summit of Boundary Bald. The East & West peaks would be bushwhacked.
We where able to drive to within a mile of the old fire wardens trail up Boundary Bald. The trail is in pretty good shape considering it generally follows the fall line without protection of water bars, rock work, switch backs, and other ‘modern’ trail building techniques. We reached the summit at 8:20 and took in it’s fantastic views… the morning was clear, dry, comfortable and mostly bug free!
From here the adventure would begin. We made a decision to bushwhack the ridge line over to the East peak instead of descending back down the hiking trail, walking the old logging road that parallels the ridge, and then bushwhacking up to the col and on to E Peak. Either way the length of the bushwhack is about the same. We chose the ridge in order reduce the amount of road walking we would have to do.
The ridge took us 3-1/2 hours to bushwhack. It was persistently scrappy! Several interesting open areas gave us a reprieve but overall it was tough. We where somewhat puzzled when we discovered that the intermediate peak along the ridge is higher than the East Peak. (I believe it is not on the 3K list though as a result of the 200’ col rule).
We enjoyed fantastic views from the open East Peak! We found the broken remains of the jar hidden in the cairn. We did not have a replacement…
We chose to descend to the logging road almost directly from the peak instead of backtracking to the col and then down. This saved us distance, and time, but the steep ledges made things interesting!
We reached the logging road and began the long walk back to the car. Even though we started out with 3 liters each, we where both out of water. About half way back to the car we came upon an ice cold spring! We drank and drank and drank some more. We then filled up our bottles, and continued on refreshed.
We reached the car and drove approx a mile or so to where we started another long road walk towards the West Peak. Even though we where both tired we where determined to reach our third peak of the day. This bushwhack would be short, approx 7/10th of a mile to the summit. It seemed to take forever! We both felt the topo did not correspond to the terrain. Our altimeters (mechanical, digital, and via GPS) had the peak a lot higher than the map / or list / indicated! Not much made sense… but we trusted our compass. We finally reached the summit and found the jar! This time it was intact. We signed the log and began a slow descent back to the car. We where both tired. We hiked / walked / whacked 12-1/2 hours today, we earned our peaks.
Sunday 07-09-06: After a quiet night at Sally Mountain cabins, we had breakfast in Jackman. No need for an early start today. On the agenda is Coburn Mtn – 3730’, and Coburn East Peak – 3070’. Similar to yesterday, there is a hiking trail to the summit of Coburn, and the East Peak would be a bushwhack. The difference today is that we would not bushwhack the ridge!
We where able to drive in towards Coburn Mountain from route 201 approx 2.4 miles. From there we followed a snowmobile trail to the top of the old ski area, and then a hiking trail to the summit. Another beautiful day, another fantastic view! This time from a steel observation tower.
We looped back down from the summit via a snowmobile trail which followed the ridge line west before swinging back towards the old ski area. This was a longer route than our ascent, but much more gradual. On the way down we met a hiker from Parlin Pond. Come to find out he’s working on the NE100. He said it wasn’t uncommon for him and his hiking buddy to leave Jackman at 2 in the morning to get to the Whites in the winter! I’ll never complain about my 1-1/2 drive again…
Back at the car, we drove a half mile or so down the logging road that parallels the ridge heading towards the East Peak. We parked where a rather suspicious looking bridge halted our progress. We continued down the logging road on foot until it swung around to the N-NW and ascended the ridge leading down from Coburn’s East Peak. We started our bushwhack “back” towards the East Peak from there.
The woods where mostly open, quite a change from yesterday. We made good progress following many heard paths. The summit area was rather broad and flat with many blowdowns. It was rather open so after a short search we spotted the jar. We signed the log, replaced the ziplock, and called it good! Six peaks in 3 days… time to head home.
We descended directly to the logging road instead of walking the ridge back down. Like yesterday, it was steep but quicker!
I’d like to thank JimC for suggesting this group of peaks to ‘whack… it sure was fun!!
PICTURES HERE
Onestep
Last edited:
