Scar via loon 8/29

[Tim Horn]

I finally got #97 out of the way. I had put it off after reading the horror stories of the whack portion. Got a late start trying to decide if I would take the "safe" trail from Loon or go for the Big Rock whack. In the end I went with the surety of the loon mountain traverse. Ski slope was in great shape and the employees were friendly and informed us that if we hike up the ride down was free in the Gondola. (We did not take him up on the offer) The side trail out of bounds was clear and easy to follow. We found the turn off to Scar just after a major blow down (only one we saw on the trail) Made our way through the sag and the small pond and followed and lost and found and lost the trail multiple times on the ascent. (I still have not learned to circle the blow downs correctly.) The going was pretty easy. No fur traps or such. Just blow downs to negotiate. I kept getting led off to the East away from the actual trail but in the end the met back up with it for the last 1/4 mile or so. Descent was far easier as I never lost the trail. If you find it and stay on it this hike is a breeze. We did whack through some crazy thick stuff at the very end of the whack return. When we got to the pond in the sag instead of walking west and then back east. I just plowed South over the ridge hump and down to the trail. Much quicker but a bit rough. Soon we hit the ski slopes and made the *&^^&%%$ descent of the ski slopes.
Trip was just around 8 miles and took us right at 6 hours and 30 minutes truck to truck.
Much less nasty a whack than Elephant or North Brother although the ski slopes make up for the less dense woods.
Now to get a reservation for Katahdin and finish this list.