.August 5, 2006
After a very rocky and bumpy ride, Lynn dropped me off at Perham Stream. She will be spending most the day at Rangeley Lake State Park. She will later drive to Route 4 and begin to hike toward me. We plan to meet at Piazza Rock.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I began today's hike with a long descent. I hate going down, knowing I have a lot to climb later. I came out on an old road. The AT seemed to disappear. There was a small stream and waterfall.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I crossed the stream and walked up the road a few paces. I didn't see any white blazes so I went back the other way. There it is, a double blaze on a rock. I continued down and crossed Orbeton Stream. Then I had a 1,500 foot steep climb up to my first great view of the day, Poplar Ridge.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The view here was good, but somewhat obstructed by the trees. I will be getting much better views later. Next stop was Poplar Ridge Leanto
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Inside the leanto were several laminated pages stapled together. They were from the man who maintains the shelter and some of the trail in the area. I believe his name was Dave Fields. He has been doing this for 49 years!! The laminated pages had questions and answers about the shelter and surrounding area. I didn't have time to read it all but what I read was interesting. One of the questions was: Dave, what is the worst thing you have ever found in the shelter? His answer was a porcupine. Another question was: What is the best thing you have found? His answer was the woman he's been married to for 43 years. I continued on my way and headed up to Saddleback Junior.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ As I neared the top, I met my first hiker of the day. Her name was 'Swiss Miss' and she was on her way to Katahdin.
"I bring extra fruit for thru hikers. Would you like some?"
"You have fruit?"
"Yep, today I have grapes and peaches."
"I would love a peach."
"Here's a couple."
"This is great. My last stop was at a convenience store in Andover and all they had was junk food."
"Glad I could help, good luck reaching Katahdin."
Here's the summit of Saddleback Junior
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I could see over to Sugarloaf and Spaulding. They are both 4,000 foot mountains that I hiked a few Saturdays ago. The AT goes close to the summit of these mountains but you will have to take a side trail to the top.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I saw some interesting patterns in the forest. They reminded me of crop circles only in this case they were 'forest squares'. They have to be manmade. My guess is they were fields once upon a time and the forest hasn't fully taken over.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ A view of the Horn in the foreground and Saddleback in the background.
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I dropped back down below treeline for a couple more miles. I had another steep climb up as I neared the summit of the Horn.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The Horn is my 40th New England 4,000 footer.
There were tremendous views from the summit. I met a day hiker like myself. He came up one of the ski trails to Saddleback and then took the AT over to the Horn. There is a proposal to build a windmill power plant in this area. Here is a view of Black Nubble to the left and Redington to the right.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ What a beautiful view. It would be a shame to put a bunch of windmills here. The Appalachian Trail Convervancy is against the project and last I knew it looked like it wasn't going to go through. I have mixed feelings about it. I hate to see the beautiful landscape altered but as windy as it was on the Horn, I am sure this would be a great spot. We need power. Windmills are a great source and are pollution free. There are hundreds if not thousands of mountains in Maine. Can't they find another spot??
Below is a picture of Mount Abraham which I climbed on July 8, 2006. It is one of my favorite mountains in the area. It is 1.7 miles off the AT so not too many are willing to take such a detour. The views from there are terrific as well.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Here's a shot of Rangeley Lake.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Time to head south toward Saddleback.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ For the most part, the trail between the Horn and Saddleback stays above treeline. There was a spot or two where I entered the woods, like this spot where I climbed down this ladder.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Closing in on Saddleback.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Whether you are coming north or south on the AT, Saddleback has a few false summits. Here's a view from one of them.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Here's the true summit of Saddleback, my 41st New England 4,000 footer. There are fourteen 4,000 footers in Maine. I have now done 10 of them.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I met a couple of thru hikers named 'Mufasa' and 'Lotus'. They were looking forward to getting their first view of Katahdin in the next day or two. They couldn't believe that as far as they have come from Mount Washington, they could still see it. Unfortunately, they had had bad weather when they were there. I gave them some fruit and carried some trash down the mountain for them to help lighten there load just a little.The views from here were outstanding as well, although I liked the view from the Horn just a little better. The false summits of Saddleback block some of the view into the valleys. I came across this orange sign. This must be the way the day hiker came up that I had met on the Horn.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Next up or down in this case, was a significant drop down to Eddy Pond. The AT doesn't go quite to the pond but it comes close.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The trail drops steeply into the woods, but there were lots of rock steps....
.. steel rungs ...
...and stone staircases to help.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ What do you know? A flat section of trail.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ As I mentioned, the trail didn't go quite up to Eddy Pond but it did skirt the shore of Ethel Pond.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Next I came across this side trail.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I was slighlty ahead of schedule for meeting Lynn so I decided to check it out. The trail to the caves is probably only about 50 feet. The caves are not really caves but more a pile of boulders some of which you can climb under. This picture was tough to take using the self-timer function. I only had a few seconds to jump over the rocks and get in place.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I followed the blue blazes as they brought me up, over, and under a series of boulders. It was Mahoosuc Notch all over again.
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Then the blue blazes seemed to just stop. I don't know if that was the end of the trail or if I just couldn't find the next blaze. I got back on the AT and within a few minutes I reached the Piazzo Rock Lean-to. Lynn was already there and was talking with 'Orange Man'.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Ironically, he was not named 'Orange Man' for wearing orange like in the picture above. When he peels an orange he makes designs and carvings out of the peel. Since he was thru hiking, I offered him some peaches and grapes which he gladly accepted. I wished I had had an orange to give him so I could see his talent in action.
I was glad to see Lynn and we were off to see Piazza Rock. I can't believe I forgot to check out the privy here. I really, really meant to. On the outside of the privy it reads 'It's your move'. Inside the privy there are two toilet seats with a cribbage board inbetween. Here's a picture that I "borrowed" from Runtrails' website.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ It's a tenth of a mile side trip to Piazza Rock or Pizza Rock as Lynn likes to call it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Lynn under Piazza Rock
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The trail continues under the rock and then up to the top with some fairly difficult scrambling. The picture above is the best viewpoint I could find. There is no view from the top of the rock. Somehow trees still manage to grow on top of the rock. Lynn and I went back to the AT and hiked another 1.8 miles to the truck. Everything I have done in New Hampshire and Maine is now linked together, at least for now. This section is from just north of Mount Moosilauke to just north of Avery Peak on Bigelow. It is a little over 200 miles. Because of the driving time to get to different trail heads, I have just about reached the limit of my Saturday AT hikes. I think I will have to start making them weekend hikes now.
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