campsite
New member
Access: driving 6.2 mi on plowed logging road. Start of logging road is on Rt. 26 approx 1.5 mi W of the ME-NH state line. This road snakes its way S and W, eventually coming out in Milan.
Condition of road: from hard packed to glare ice in early morning. Road was well plowed, but not sanded. Glad to have a 4WD with snow tires.
Surface conditions: hard but miserably unsupportive crust, eventually morphing to soft snow before degrading to mashed potatoes.
Vegetation: 15 minutes dense spruce, most of hike through nuisance whips, summit open
We had planned to ascend 3 area peaks with an early morning start, expecting to-die-for surface conditions - we had to settle for 1.
Difficulties plagued us from the start. We immediately encountered a large bog with a multitude of flowing streams, spruce thickets and alder jungles. A strategically located beaver dam saved the day. Once beyond the bog, our intended route was short-circuited by a heavily flowing brook. We eventually found an old logging road that took us to the col between the N and S summits. Even at this elevation, crossing the brook proved difficult until we found a blowdown nest lying across the brook.
Condition of road: from hard packed to glare ice in early morning. Road was well plowed, but not sanded. Glad to have a 4WD with snow tires.
Surface conditions: hard but miserably unsupportive crust, eventually morphing to soft snow before degrading to mashed potatoes.
Vegetation: 15 minutes dense spruce, most of hike through nuisance whips, summit open
We had planned to ascend 3 area peaks with an early morning start, expecting to-die-for surface conditions - we had to settle for 1.
Difficulties plagued us from the start. We immediately encountered a large bog with a multitude of flowing streams, spruce thickets and alder jungles. A strategically located beaver dam saved the day. Once beyond the bog, our intended route was short-circuited by a heavily flowing brook. We eventually found an old logging road that took us to the col between the N and S summits. Even at this elevation, crossing the brook proved difficult until we found a blowdown nest lying across the brook.
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