.December 2, 2006
My Appalachian Trail hikes are done for the year, but I'm not through hiking. Today I will hike two local mountains. They are small mountains. Bald Mountain is 1692 feet, and Speckled Mountain is 2183 feet. I've already hiked them a couple of times. It was when I was a casual hiker and not the hiking addict that I am today. I didn't photograph it when I was there, so I am hoping for some good pictures today. Jason from work says he wants to get in shape for snowboarding this winter so he has joined me. We had a lot of rain last night and the weather was calling for snow at higher elevations, so we may run into some of the slippery, white stuff. We stopped at Shagg Pond on the way to get a look at Bald and Speckled Mountains.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ After about 15 minutes of hiking we reached Little Concord Pond. We got off the trail and briefly explored the south end of the pond. I found this rock with a small ladder. There must be a good view from up there.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Here's the view of Little Concord Pond from the rock.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ We got back on the trail and headed toward the summit of Bald Mountain. On the way we found 'Speck Mt Trail' chiseled into a rock. There were also initials and a date (May 1916). I guess this is a pretty old trail.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Even with the stop at the pond, it only took about 45 minutes to reach the summit of Bald. We got a great view looking down to Shagg Pond. Looks like some of the mountains in the background have snow, ice, or frost on them.
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Jason on the summit of Bald Mountain
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The weather was beginning to clear, and we had partly cloudy skies.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ In this section the trail isn't marked. We followed the ledge until we reached the woods again. We looked ahead to Speckled Mountain.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ We went back into the woods where the blue blazes picked up again.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ We dropped into the col between the two mountains. There are several renegade trails that run into this trail, and it is easy to get off course. I led us down one such trail. After about 10 minutes I told Jason it didn't seem familiar to me, so we headed back and found where we missed the turn. There was a small cairn there to mark it. We gathered some more stones and made the cairn more noticeable. Then the steep climb up to Speckled. It's not a long climb, but steep. Here's Jason showing how steep the trail was.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ We came out of the woods briefly and got a view of Concord Pond.
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The trail goes back into the woods for a few minutes, follows the side of the mountain, and then turns to the summit. It didn't snow last night, but all the trees were covered in ice.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Then we reached the summit. I forgot how beautiful it was here. I love every piece of the Appalachian Trail, but it's great to be home in Maine.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I used the self-timer feature on my camera to get this picture of Jason and me on the summit. Notice the icy bush in the foreground.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ We enjoyed the great view for 15 minutes or so. It was cold and windy so when we had all we could stand, we headed back over the same route. My knee which had bothered me for over a week on the AT gave me no problems. I guess it just needed some rest.
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