.December 16, 2006
Speckled Mountain??? I know what you are thinking: "Didn't you just hike Speckled Mountain two weeks ago?" Yes, I did, but this is a different Speckled Mountain. Jason from work will be joining me today. Ironically, he was with me two weeks ago when we hiked the other Speckled Mountain. There are several approaches to the summit of this mountain. The most popular routes are from Evans Notch off Route 113. There are several other ways in, and today we are going in the backdoor. I found directions to the trailhead at Mountain Wanderer. There is a lot of information on this page so if you go to it, you may want to do a find on "Cold Brook Trail". I found these directions to be very accurate.
We parked in the lot by Evergreen Valley Inn
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ There is an old ski lodge the next street over that is no longer in use, but it looked like this inn was still operational.
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I'm glad I found such detailed directions on the Internet. I never would have found this trail without it. We headed briefly up a paved road and then a steep, partially washed out dirt road before coming to a junction. Here we saw our first yellow blaze. This must be the trail. We were on the lookout for the Link Trail which would lead us to the Cold Brook Trail.
"This may not be right. The directions I have mention there should be a sign here that reads: Link," I said to Jason.
"There's a block of wood at the base of the tree. Maybe the sign fell off," said Jason.
I kept my fingers crossed as Jason went over and flipped the block of wood around. Sure enough we were on the Link Trail
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The trail was grassy with a gradual incline.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ After 5 to 10 minutes on this smooth section the trail takes a turn.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ These blowdowns were tough to negotiate through.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ We reached the end of the Link Trail as we came to the junction with the Cold Brook Trail.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ After this we began the steepest part of the climb. Part way up we entered the Caribou-Speckled Mountain Wilderness. There are 5 wilderness areas within the White Mountains. This is the only one located in the Maine section of the Whites. It is also the largest protected wilderness in Maine covering 12,000 acres. We came out of the woods and onto some ledges with a great view of Kezar Lake and Mount Pleasant in the distant.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ We followed the cairns along the exposed ledges.
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Another look back
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We cut back into the woods for a while before coming out at another trail junction.
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This trail junction is just below the summit. We took a left. The summit is just another 100 feet or so from here. Unfortunately, we were now in the clouds. We missed out on the view but at least we had good views on the way up. There were remains of the base of a firetower that once stood here. There was surprisingly little snow even at 2,906 feet. It's not a huge mountain, but it is the highest point in the Caribou-Speckled Mountain Wilderness.
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As we returned over the same route, the weather began to clear just a little.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ This one icy spot was tricky coming up and even more tricky going down.
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A look back at Speckled Mountain from Adams Road
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ This was a nice hike. I plan to hike to the summit again. Seeing there are so many trails to the summit, I will probably try a different route next time.
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