.December 24, 2006 Sunday afternoon looked like it was going to be beautiful. The sun was out, and temperatures were in the mid-40's. That may not seem very warm, but for Maine in December it doesn't get much better. I headed off to the Maine portion of the White Mountains. Today, Madison and I will be climbing Deer Hill and Little Deer Hill. We started off on Deer Hills Trail.
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After about a half a mile I reached the side trail for Deer Hill Spring. If I have time, I'll check it out on the way back. |
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ There are a lot of short trails in this area with lots of trail intersections. I could head up to Deer Hill from here, but I decided to take the long way along Deer Hills Bypass.
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I had some smooth trails today.
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I actually met some hikers today. There was a man with 4 teenage boys. They had been backpacking for three days. This was a nice surprise. I have been hiking almost every weekend, and I hadn't seen any hikers for over a month. I talked with them for a couple minutes before heading on.
Looking across to New Hampshire.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I followed Cold River for about a half a mile.
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The trail was super smooth as I followed the river.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I reached the other end of the bypass and was back on Deer Hills Trail.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ But before I headed up, I decided to check out a small dam along the river.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ One of the trails goes right across the dam. There was a small steel bridge/platform in the middle.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I walked back across the dam, and headed back to Deer Hills Trail. I realized that while checking out the dam, I had crossed into New Hampshire.
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I crossed my only section of bog bridging for the day.
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Next was the biggest climb of the day. It wasn't a huge climb after all I was climbing hills today not mountains. It was steep but in less than a mile I reached the summit of Little Deer Hill. For having an elevation of only 1080 feet, it offered a gorgeous view of the Baldface Range over in New Hampshire.
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I used the self-timer function to get a picture of myself with Madison although she didn't seem to want her picture taken.
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She was definitely being camera shy.
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We headed off to Deer Hill. It was only a little over a half a mile away. We reached the top at 1367 feet. There was no view at the summit, but just south of the summit there was a great view to the east and to the south.
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I could also see down to Deer Meadow Bog. There is a wildlife blind there. If you go in the summer around dusk, it is almost a guarantee that you will see a moose.
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As we made our way down the hill we got another great view to the south.
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I had time to spare so I decided to check out the spring. There was a sign there stating it was a natural occuring Artesian spring. The bed of sand was a result of years of erosion. I could see the spring bubbling in the middle. Apparently it brings sand to the top a couple of grains at a time. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I didn't mean to contaminate the water, but before I could stop her, water-loving Madison jumped in. The sand looked somewhat solid, but when Madison stepped on it, it acted like quicksand. She sank up to her chest. It wasn't deep so there was no danger of her sinking any further. It was a little bit of a struggle though as she tried to work her way out of the 'quicksand'. From here we headed back to the truck.
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