buckyball1
New member
An odd pair of peaks to do on the same day, but ....
Mt Will is a small (1726') peak off Rt 2 between Bethel and Hanover, Me. It's just west of Rt 26 and there's a parking lot on the N side of Rt 2 across from the recycling center--yes, there's a trail
. This is a peak i planned to 'whack from the west side if i could get permission to use a private road going in. When i spoke to the land owner (gracious assent) he asked why i didn't want to use the trail--duuuh, no trail on any of my maps.
I was at the trail head for a daylight start (39 degrees), took the South Cliffs Trail up to the view point and kept going to the trail's closet approach to the summit. The hike to the South Cliffs would make a good short hike if you're in the area. It's about 750' up in 3/4 of a mile - good trail. The 180 view is excellent and from a perspective I doubt few of us have seen. You can also do a nice loop over other view spots and back to the original trail head. I left the trail and did a short, easy 'whack to the summit through fairly open woods. There is no view from the very flat, almost rectangular summit (there is a decent one from a nearby ledge). The tree that has survey tape on it may/may not be the top. There are several other possibilities close by; not sure it matters.
I drove back through Rumford, into Mexico and up Rt 17 to Oquossoc; then over 16 to the Morton Cut Off, Lincoln Pond pair of dirt roads which were in excellent shape. It's amazing how "good" these seem after scrounging around on the dirt roads of Maine the last two years. I mistakenly thought these roads were "rough" when doing the NEHH. The trail to the tower on W Kennebago is about 8.7 miles from Rt 16; There's a parking area, small trail sign, red blazes. During the drive from Will, the weather changed constantly, a bit of sun, a shower, then mist. The higher peaks in the target area were shrouded in clouds.
North Summit of West Kennebago-3750'. My goal wasn't the W Kennebago tower peak which is totally trailed, but the north summit of the ridge (over the "middle" summit to get there). It seemed odd to start this hike (1030 AM and 38 degrees) at about 2000' when Will topped out at 1726'. The trail up W Kennebago is long past it's shelf life. It's the old fire warden's trail and is badly eroded. Many stretches are filled with large moss covered rock and tons of roots (exposed like rope loops and waiting to trap/break your ankles). Add a coating of leaves, a dash of water and the trail was iffy in spots coming down. It was still a relatively easy 'workout" to reach the ridge (about 3450') above the site of the old cabin There were some harbingers of things to come with snow flakes at 2800' and some snow on a few trees starting about 3100'.
At the ridge crest, where the trail turns left toward the tower summit, i turned right into the woods and headed for the north (higher) summit (0.6 crow flies miles distant). A few people mentioned the hike had a few tuff spots, but i seemed to be sailing along pretty well though moderate woods and with numerous herd paths as i reached the middle "bump" and headed down into the col between Middle and North. As I started into the shallow col, there were a lot of pipes/cable strewn around -from a wind measuring station i heard (why wasn't this junk removed?). The snow was increasing in intensity, many of the balsams held a coating of wet snow/ice from last night and there was a light coating on the ground-most easily avoided.
No problems until i started up the cone to north, perhaps 0.25 miles from the summit. If there's a decent herd path, i blew it and rapidly became enmeshed in, as someone mentioned, "typical thick Maine woods"-tight balsams, much blowdown, etc. This crap is common to many of these hikes and would have been frustrating and slow going for a bit, but no big deal except for the weather. Now snow was tumbling from the sky, all the trees were covered and the thicket became a slick mess and even with decent gear, snow slowly soaked all my clothing (including boots). I was getting cold from moving so slowly and gave thought to a retreat, but ...only 0.15 from the top. On I went, a few feet at a time, colder, wetter. I finally broke out in some small, linked clear areas and found the general vicinity of the top (within say 30') A search turned up a larger clearing at the right height and place for the top--ah, the jar spot i think--nada. I usually search for jars too long, but was starting to shiver and knew I had to get down. I planned to ask the jar police for absolution on this one. Finally ate/drank and then decided to change my wet clothes for dry. Fortunately you weren't there to observe that, but it was a wise move-felt much better. Past time to go down, but then right near the large clearing i see a single piece of faded survey tape fairly high up on a tree in a tiny opening--the jar!!--hanging lower out of sight
I know many of you hate the "tape", but please leave this one. Without it, you'd probably only find the jar by dumb luck or a long search. I managed to bash the rusted lid off and ...the only pencil has no lead exposed. I use a rock to file away some wood and scrawl my name (will vanish with first dampness) and i think "tuff", "snow/cold", etc. Everything was so wet and cold (including my hands), that i onlyed look at a few pages from the jar, many deteriorating--the Paisleys, Roy's name was on a single yellowed sheet, jt (BigMoose) in a new notebook; last sign in was Marc and apparently he was not pleased with the summit either--more, but i didn't read them all.
I headed down, a better line off the top, but still not great. When I arrived in the col (maybe 3500'), i thought ah..I'm OK now. Suddenly a bloodcurdling bellow erupted from the nearby woods--maybe 5-7 seconds worth. I'm so out of it, I have no clue, then more snorting, crashing-i realize it's a moose -soon a large bull comes crashing past me and away. Rut? bulls fighting?, i have no idea
back down at 2000' and the car, it's another world, mostly overcast, a bit of sun, actually drying out--i never seem to remember how different it can be a few thousand feet higher
the thought quickly passed, but "stop soloing this stuff" crossed my mind
and now, off to McDonalds--i need grease
jim
Mt Will is a small (1726') peak off Rt 2 between Bethel and Hanover, Me. It's just west of Rt 26 and there's a parking lot on the N side of Rt 2 across from the recycling center--yes, there's a trail
. This is a peak i planned to 'whack from the west side if i could get permission to use a private road going in. When i spoke to the land owner (gracious assent) he asked why i didn't want to use the trail--duuuh, no trail on any of my maps.I was at the trail head for a daylight start (39 degrees), took the South Cliffs Trail up to the view point and kept going to the trail's closet approach to the summit. The hike to the South Cliffs would make a good short hike if you're in the area. It's about 750' up in 3/4 of a mile - good trail. The 180 view is excellent and from a perspective I doubt few of us have seen. You can also do a nice loop over other view spots and back to the original trail head. I left the trail and did a short, easy 'whack to the summit through fairly open woods. There is no view from the very flat, almost rectangular summit (there is a decent one from a nearby ledge). The tree that has survey tape on it may/may not be the top. There are several other possibilities close by; not sure it matters.
I drove back through Rumford, into Mexico and up Rt 17 to Oquossoc; then over 16 to the Morton Cut Off, Lincoln Pond pair of dirt roads which were in excellent shape. It's amazing how "good" these seem after scrounging around on the dirt roads of Maine the last two years. I mistakenly thought these roads were "rough" when doing the NEHH
. The trail to the tower on W Kennebago is about 8.7 miles from Rt 16; There's a parking area, small trail sign, red blazes. During the drive from Will, the weather changed constantly, a bit of sun, a shower, then mist. The higher peaks in the target area were shrouded in clouds.North Summit of West Kennebago-3750'. My goal wasn't the W Kennebago tower peak which is totally trailed, but the north summit of the ridge (over the "middle" summit to get there). It seemed odd to start this hike (1030 AM and 38 degrees) at about 2000' when Will topped out at 1726'. The trail up W Kennebago is long past it's shelf life. It's the old fire warden's trail and is badly eroded. Many stretches are filled with large moss covered rock and tons of roots (exposed like rope loops and waiting to trap/break your ankles). Add a coating of leaves, a dash of water and the trail was iffy in spots coming down. It was still a relatively easy 'workout" to reach the ridge (about 3450') above the site of the old cabin There were some harbingers of things to come with snow flakes at 2800' and some snow on a few trees starting about 3100'.
At the ridge crest, where the trail turns left toward the tower summit, i turned right into the woods and headed for the north (higher) summit (0.6 crow flies miles distant). A few people mentioned the hike had a few tuff spots, but i seemed to be sailing along pretty well though moderate woods and with numerous herd paths as i reached the middle "bump" and headed down into the col between Middle and North. As I started into the shallow col, there were a lot of pipes/cable strewn around -from a wind measuring station i heard (why wasn't this junk removed?). The snow was increasing in intensity, many of the balsams held a coating of wet snow/ice from last night and there was a light coating on the ground-most easily avoided.
No problems until i started up the cone to north, perhaps 0.25 miles from the summit. If there's a decent herd path, i blew it and rapidly became enmeshed in, as someone mentioned, "typical thick Maine woods"-tight balsams, much blowdown, etc. This crap is common to many of these hikes and would have been frustrating and slow going for a bit, but no big deal except for the weather. Now snow was tumbling from the sky, all the trees were covered and the thicket became a slick mess and even with decent gear, snow slowly soaked all my clothing (including boots). I was getting cold from moving so slowly and gave thought to a retreat, but ...only 0.15 from the top. On I went, a few feet at a time, colder, wetter. I finally broke out in some small, linked clear areas and found the general vicinity of the top (within say 30') A search turned up a larger clearing at the right height and place for the top--ah, the jar spot i think--nada. I usually search for jars too long, but was starting to shiver and knew I had to get down. I planned to ask the jar police for absolution on this one
. Finally ate/drank and then decided to change my wet clothes for dry. Fortunately you weren't there to observe that, but it was a wise move-felt much better. Past time to go down, but then right near the large clearing i see a single piece of faded survey tape fairly high up on a tree in a tiny opening--the jar!!--hanging lower out of sightI know many of you hate the "tape", but please leave this one. Without it, you'd probably only find the jar by dumb luck or a long search. I managed to bash the rusted lid off and ...the only pencil has no lead exposed. I use a rock to file away some wood and scrawl my name (will vanish with first dampness) and i think "tuff", "snow/cold", etc. Everything was so wet and cold (including my hands), that i onlyed look at a few pages from the jar, many deteriorating--the Paisleys, Roy's name was on a single yellowed sheet, jt (BigMoose) in a new notebook; last sign in was Marc and apparently he was not pleased with the summit either
--more, but i didn't read them all.I headed down, a better line off the top, but still not great. When I arrived in the col (maybe 3500'), i thought ah..I'm OK now. Suddenly a bloodcurdling bellow erupted from the nearby woods--maybe 5-7 seconds worth. I'm so out of it, I have no clue, then more snorting, crashing-i realize it's a moose -soon a large bull comes crashing past me and away. Rut? bulls fighting?, i have no idea
back down at 2000' and the car, it's another world, mostly overcast, a bit of sun, actually drying out--i never seem to remember how different it can be a few thousand feet higher
the thought quickly passed, but "stop soloing this stuff" crossed my mind
and now, off to McDonalds--i need grease
jim
Last edited:
