Maine 100 mile wilderness

[AThiker]

Have section hiked alot of the AT and planning to do this area in two trips this year. Would like to break it up into two 5 day trips. Any advice as to best place to drop a car and recommended logistics? Thinking Monson to someones recommendation for the first leg.
Thanks,
Ken

 

[Orphic Seth]

Start here.

 

[askus3]

If you choose to hike the hundred mile wilderness you can do it with only two nights out. I chose to do it this way. Trip report is here. (Note: the picture links have been removed.) Scroll down to Maine AT post: Abol Bridge to Rainbow Stream post and work your way up. This was a trip I did in August 2003 southbound. Any further questions e-mail me at: [email protected] and I will help you in any way I can as I spent alot of time researching this area to make this possible. Also give you hints on how to make the trip go even smoother. It is hard to believe but you actually can dayhike the entire state of Maine with only one night out backpacking! Nothing wrong with backpacking and some enjoy it but not my cup of tea. A remote campsite along a wilderness road is fine with me and a campgound with a shower facility is luxuriously satisfying. Anyway, I just post this here for another option that you have open to you and another viewpoint on how to hike the 100 Mile Wilderness (and another report to read). I copied this post from the other thread, as the post was on page 2 (maybe you didn't get that far). If I would break the trip in two parts, I would split it at the JoMary Lake Road crossing.

 

[onestep]

There are many ways to access the AT in the 100-mile. Major logging roads cross the trail 33.2 miles from Monson (Katahdin Iron Works Rd) and at 61.8 miles (Jo-Mary Rd). You can also access the trail from the West Branch Pond Road, a secondary logging road, which is 48 trail miles from Monson and just north of Whitecap Mt. From this access point the trail south to Monson would be considered 'mountainous' while north to Abol Bridge would be mostly a 'lake walk'. When I last used this access point the road was blocked to traffic approx 1.5 miles from the AT crossing.
I'm not sure what services Shaws in Monson will be offering this year. In the past they had 2 shuttle options. Using their vehicle and paying per mile, or using your own vehicle and paying per hour.

 

[askus3]

West Branch Pond Road is blocked for access when approaching from the west, 1.5 miles from the AT. However, from the JoMary gate you can get right to the AT crossing. But, there is a fee (per person) to access these lumber roads and there are several turns and you have to know what you are doing to get in there. See the DeLorme Atlas and combined with my report, it might be clearer.

Using JoMary Lake Campground (showers), I made dayhikes from JoMary Road to West Branch Pond Road. Then to KI Road. Then a dayhike to fully explore the Gulf Hagas from KI Road. Now you can go over to AMC's Little Lyford Camp from KI Road thru the Gulf Hagas making a nice two day extravaganza, if you really want to leisurely explore this area, without backpacking.

 

[Stan]

I was there last summer and the West Branch Pond road was gated with a parking area sufficient for at least a few cars. It wasn't a mile and a half ... from the maps it appeared further than it really is.

I don't know if that's the name of the road but you can get there either via Roach Ponds or Kodajko ... the Delorme map is easy to follow in this area. The gate wasn't actually closed though it was clear not to pass. I expect you can probably buy a pass at one of the other manned gates. If you were to spot a car here, this is probably the closest place to park to the AT and it is roughly half way on the 100 mile wilderness.