bryan
New member
date: 8/23/13
trails: white brook road, white brook trail, firewardens trail, appalachian trail
conditions: from the gate at kathadin works i drove around 3.5 miles to a fork and went right onto white brook road. this junction was signed for "high bridge" amongst other things. in a couple more miles you reach the "high bridge" (can't miss it) and its three tentsites. up until this point the white brook road is totally drivable in any vehicle with care needed in a couple spots, including an interesting one where beavers have extended a dam into the road. between tentsite 2 and 3 the road starts to get rough and needed extra care in my corolla. this is a sensible place to park if you don't want to risk banging up your car or having it scratched by road side branches. if you do continue the first 100 yards past the 3rd tentsite are the worst i encountered driving another 1.8 miles or so. i almost just parked, but made it through after which the road was ok, but i still banged a few rocks hidden in the tall grass between the wheel ruts on the road. i ended up often driving with a wheel on the center ridge and one on the edge of the road to avoid this. a 4wd truck would really be the way to go and it would allow you to get farther up than i ultimately did though the driving would still be sporting. as described in the maine mountain guide you would eventually hit two brooks without bridges that would stop any sane person. all that said, the caretaker at the ki gate said the road is slated for repair next spring. what that will entail i don't know. from where i parked at a point where a defunct road goes left over a dilapidated bridge i started walking staying with the main road at any turns. in some spots the road is heavily grown in and in other it is wide open and smooth. eventually i began to note some blue blazes painted on rock along the road and after walking for about 45 minutes i reached an old log landing where the white brook trail leaves the upper left corner and is signed. it felt sort of weird to drive and then walk through such a long, overgrown and unmarked stretch of road to then hit a signed and well maintained hiking trail. the footbed was initially overgrown with grass, but as the trail transitioned into the woods it became more clear. any exposed rock seemed especially greasy. after about a half mile from the sign i reached the junction with the old firewardens trail. though unsigned it is still blazed, including some of it's old white blazes from when it was the route of the a.t., and despite poor reviews in guidebooks it was actually a nice piece of trail. all of the steeps had decent footing and the erosion was not worse than many currently maintained hiking trails in new england. i quickly found myself on the ridge at the current a.t. which had wet rock up to the summit of whitecap. descending i stayed on the a.t. to the col with hay mountain and found the trail in good shape. the section of white brook trail back down to the firewardens junction was wet with slippery rocks. the brook crossings along the road and on the white brook trail were not a problem though watch for slippery rocks and ledge.
equipment: nothing in particular.
comments: a nice hike to a beautiful summit. the views were phenomenal to the surrounding mountains and up to kathadin. getting to the start of the hike was the hardest part so it will be nice if they do fix the road up a bit. it was my first time on the kathadin iron works road so the drive through to greenville after the hike was interesting in its own right. i look forward to going back and climbing some of the other peaks in the area. though very quiet hiking in from the white brook road i saw numerous thru hikers and long distance backpackers along the short section of a.t. i travelled on. couldn't have had a better day to be up there.
bryan
[email protected]
trails: white brook road, white brook trail, firewardens trail, appalachian trail
conditions: from the gate at kathadin works i drove around 3.5 miles to a fork and went right onto white brook road. this junction was signed for "high bridge" amongst other things. in a couple more miles you reach the "high bridge" (can't miss it) and its three tentsites. up until this point the white brook road is totally drivable in any vehicle with care needed in a couple spots, including an interesting one where beavers have extended a dam into the road. between tentsite 2 and 3 the road starts to get rough and needed extra care in my corolla. this is a sensible place to park if you don't want to risk banging up your car or having it scratched by road side branches. if you do continue the first 100 yards past the 3rd tentsite are the worst i encountered driving another 1.8 miles or so. i almost just parked, but made it through after which the road was ok, but i still banged a few rocks hidden in the tall grass between the wheel ruts on the road. i ended up often driving with a wheel on the center ridge and one on the edge of the road to avoid this. a 4wd truck would really be the way to go and it would allow you to get farther up than i ultimately did though the driving would still be sporting. as described in the maine mountain guide you would eventually hit two brooks without bridges that would stop any sane person. all that said, the caretaker at the ki gate said the road is slated for repair next spring. what that will entail i don't know. from where i parked at a point where a defunct road goes left over a dilapidated bridge i started walking staying with the main road at any turns. in some spots the road is heavily grown in and in other it is wide open and smooth. eventually i began to note some blue blazes painted on rock along the road and after walking for about 45 minutes i reached an old log landing where the white brook trail leaves the upper left corner and is signed. it felt sort of weird to drive and then walk through such a long, overgrown and unmarked stretch of road to then hit a signed and well maintained hiking trail. the footbed was initially overgrown with grass, but as the trail transitioned into the woods it became more clear. any exposed rock seemed especially greasy. after about a half mile from the sign i reached the junction with the old firewardens trail. though unsigned it is still blazed, including some of it's old white blazes from when it was the route of the a.t., and despite poor reviews in guidebooks it was actually a nice piece of trail. all of the steeps had decent footing and the erosion was not worse than many currently maintained hiking trails in new england. i quickly found myself on the ridge at the current a.t. which had wet rock up to the summit of whitecap. descending i stayed on the a.t. to the col with hay mountain and found the trail in good shape. the section of white brook trail back down to the firewardens junction was wet with slippery rocks. the brook crossings along the road and on the white brook trail were not a problem though watch for slippery rocks and ledge.
equipment: nothing in particular.
comments: a nice hike to a beautiful summit. the views were phenomenal to the surrounding mountains and up to kathadin. getting to the start of the hike was the hardest part so it will be nice if they do fix the road up a bit. it was my first time on the kathadin iron works road so the drive through to greenville after the hike was interesting in its own right. i look forward to going back and climbing some of the other peaks in the area. though very quiet hiking in from the white brook road i saw numerous thru hikers and long distance backpackers along the short section of a.t. i travelled on. couldn't have had a better day to be up there.
bryan
[email protected]
