January 19, 2008
I usually go on hikes headed up by Ed Hawkins, Dave Langley, or both of them. However, they concentrate on the 'grid'. If I see someone doing a mountain on one of my lists that is not a 4000 footer, I've got to take advantage of it, especially if it involves a bushwhack. This week I'm going on an AMC hike headed up by David Ross and Ed Robertson. So I still hiked with Dave and Ed, just a different Dave and Ed.
I got to the winter trailhead about 6:15. I met David and then heard someone say, "Hi Eric." Well, someone here knows me. I looked around and found out it was Peirce. Peirce and I bagged five Maine peaks together last September. It really helped both of us out since they all involved bushwhacks. It also allowed Peirce to finish the New England 100 Highest list. This trailhead has special significance for Peirce. This is where he got engaged. How cool!
Peirce let me 'borrow' some of the pictures he took today. Those pictures are labeled 'Courtesy of Peirce'. Here I am at the trailhead at dark-thirty (6:30 am).
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There was one other hiker I knew today, Georg. He's a great hiker and in awesome shape. There was also Mike, Joleen, Kathy, Kurt, and Damon. We headed up Sawyer River Road. The road was well packed by snowmobilers so some of us bare-booted it, some snowshoed, and some cross-country skied. The skiers went about the same pace as us, but they would really fly on the way out. Ed was one of the skiers, but broke a ski, leaving Georg as the only one on skis. As Ed was taking his skis off, we used this time to layer down.
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We reached the summer trailhead. At this point, anyone not in snowshoes switched to snowshoes.
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I climbed Mount Carrigain last week, so the road walk and the first 1.7 miles of the trail were a repeat for me. We took a break at the trail junction
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Now it was time to enter new territory, at least for me. We headed down Carrigain Notch Trail.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Carrigain Notch Trail is almost entirely flat.
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David Ross, bushwhacker extraordinaire.
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Time to start the bushwhack. If you want to do this bushwhack, there is a large boulder that you want to look for. Most start the bushwhack either a little before or after this boulder. We walked past the boulder about a minute.
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Peirce, as we are about to begin the bushwhack.
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Georg was getting himself pumped.
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This would be a very, very, very steep bushwhack of about one mile. Most of us left our poles where we left the trail. I decided to just take one. We would need our hands to scratch and claw our way to the top of this mountain. We had 1600 feet of elevation gain in less than a mile with no trail.
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We took turns leading the way. Georg ran into some thick spruce trees, but he gots us through. I took the lead for a while and luck was with me as I led us through some fairly open woods. Then we came across an open boulder field.
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It was time for a break.
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Looking up to Signal Ridge which leads to Mount Carrigain.
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Knowing the summit would be wooded, I wasn't expecting to get any views today, so this was a nice surprise.
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We covered a few more steep sections, then the relentless mountain finally levelled off. We followed it for another tenth of a mile to the top where we found the register.
There were two or three doctors or retired doctors with us.
"Does someone want to sign the register?" someone asked.
"Preferably someone who doesn't have experience writing prescriptions," added Damon.
Someone else asked, "Is there a geocache up hear anywhere?"
"Yes," Ed joked. "It's about 50 feet that way," as he pointed into some thick spruce.
Ed, Peirce, and David on the 3,862' summit of Vose Spur.
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This was #93 on my list of New England's 100 highest (all season). Since Peirce has already completed the list, he is stuck at 100. I'm slowly catching him. Below, that's Mike behind me.
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We began the descent over the same route. Although Georg did a great job pushing us through the spruce on the way up, we decided to try to avoid it on the way down. David and Ed were at the back of the pack. We misunderstood where they wanted us to branch off.
"Damon, are you breaking a new trail?" yelled Ed.
"Yes."
"No, we want to continue down passed the boulder field, then begin a new bushwhack."
We retraced our steps.
"I almost had a mutiny on my hands," said Ed.
"Yes, but there is no plank to walk," I said.
"We have other means. We can place mutineers in spruce traps," he added.
We found our way back to the boulder field. I took a picture of the group, but unfortunately, I had some moisture on the camera lens.
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Damon, who led the bushwhack revolt earlier, redeemed himself by following a ridge with open woods back down to the trail. How nice it was to be back on the trail. Here's the track of the bushwhack part of the hike.
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We made great time getting back to the road. Here, Georg put on his skis, said 'Good-bye' and was gone. It wouldn't take him long to get out. The rest of us finished the hike a little after 4:00.
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