Bombadil
Active member
3-15-13
Tom and I camped out at a pretty nice spot across the last bridge over the Cupsuptic River (fyi did not look drivable in summer as there were large gaps in it) coming over from Cupsuptic Pond Rd (from our car our route was Burnt Mtn Rd, Big Canyon Rd, Megantic Rd, Cupsuptic Pond Rd, across the river to Porter Brook Rd). We had hoped to cross further south but the spot we had hoped to cross at didn't have a bridge and the river was open and deep, so we wound up pushing further north which made for an easier hike on the 15th.
We got an early start and headed north to the boundary on what I presume is Gray's connector which runs due north from the river crossing to the boundary but is nothing more than a tight hiking trail but just wide enough to get a snowmobile through. We hit the swath/ slash and made the long trek out to Boundary. It was a rather chilly trip with nights around 0 or slightly negative (camp was at 2500 ft) and highs struggling into the high teens during the day even when the sun came out. Rather dramatic difference to hiking Carrigain just a few days before in shorts and a t shirt. The slash was very firm rain crust which fully supported our weight and along the ridges we hit a few pockets of windblown snow from the snowshowers the day before. The cannister at boundary was frozen solid but we stopped and basked in the sun on the cold morning. Great views from Katahdin to the Bigelows and even the Presidentials were easily visible.
We doubled back to the subpeak of whitecap due west of whitecap where the slash is the closest to the summit and pushed through a couple small thick sections but for the most part connected old woods roads with open softwoods to easily reach the summit of whitecap in less than an hour. We were generally on the south side of the ridgeline but not by much. We followed the usual route down to the col to Kennebago Divide then bushwhacked up through a bunch of moderately thick garbarge with the occasional small patch of open woods. Gradually as we ascended the ridge the woods opened up especially by the summit. Rather than bushwhacking straight off the summit we smartly opted to double back to the saddle and follow an old woods road which we hoped was the remnants of Porter Brook Rd/ its extension. We were correct in our hunch and having a good map helped tremendously with these seemingly small decisions as we followed it straight down the fall line to our camp with one minor turn south away from camp where it hits Oxbow and become a solid snowmobile road. All in all a very nice loop to bag all 3 peaks and I'll put together a TR in case others are interested in our route and have a few tidbits about our numerous encounters with Border Patrol. Thanks for the company on the long day Tom! 33rd peak in less than a week and a half, my legs were feeling it so it was great to have company.
Pat
pcushing21 at yahoo dot com
Tom and I camped out at a pretty nice spot across the last bridge over the Cupsuptic River (fyi did not look drivable in summer as there were large gaps in it) coming over from Cupsuptic Pond Rd (from our car our route was Burnt Mtn Rd, Big Canyon Rd, Megantic Rd, Cupsuptic Pond Rd, across the river to Porter Brook Rd). We had hoped to cross further south but the spot we had hoped to cross at didn't have a bridge and the river was open and deep, so we wound up pushing further north which made for an easier hike on the 15th.
We got an early start and headed north to the boundary on what I presume is Gray's connector which runs due north from the river crossing to the boundary but is nothing more than a tight hiking trail but just wide enough to get a snowmobile through. We hit the swath/ slash and made the long trek out to Boundary. It was a rather chilly trip with nights around 0 or slightly negative (camp was at 2500 ft) and highs struggling into the high teens during the day even when the sun came out. Rather dramatic difference to hiking Carrigain just a few days before in shorts and a t shirt. The slash was very firm rain crust which fully supported our weight and along the ridges we hit a few pockets of windblown snow from the snowshowers the day before. The cannister at boundary was frozen solid but we stopped and basked in the sun on the cold morning. Great views from Katahdin to the Bigelows and even the Presidentials were easily visible.
We doubled back to the subpeak of whitecap due west of whitecap where the slash is the closest to the summit and pushed through a couple small thick sections but for the most part connected old woods roads with open softwoods to easily reach the summit of whitecap in less than an hour. We were generally on the south side of the ridgeline but not by much. We followed the usual route down to the col to Kennebago Divide then bushwhacked up through a bunch of moderately thick garbarge with the occasional small patch of open woods. Gradually as we ascended the ridge the woods opened up especially by the summit. Rather than bushwhacking straight off the summit we smartly opted to double back to the saddle and follow an old woods road which we hoped was the remnants of Porter Brook Rd/ its extension. We were correct in our hunch and having a good map helped tremendously with these seemingly small decisions as we followed it straight down the fall line to our camp with one minor turn south away from camp where it hits Oxbow and become a solid snowmobile road. All in all a very nice loop to bag all 3 peaks and I'll put together a TR in case others are interested in our route and have a few tidbits about our numerous encounters with Border Patrol. Thanks for the company on the long day Tom! 33rd peak in less than a week and a half, my legs were feeling it so it was great to have company.
Pat
pcushing21 at yahoo dot com
