August 30, 2008
Today the forecast wasn't so great. It was overcast and a 50% chance of rain in the afternoon. I decided on a small hike to Mount O-J-I. If the weather cleared, I would continue on to Coe and South Brother. If you are wondering about the unique name: O-J-I, the mountain gets its' name from slides that had formed on the side of the mountain which resembled the letters O-J-I. The slides have since grown in with vegetation and the letters are no longer visible. There were just four of us today: Darcy, Al, Mike, and myself. We left from the Marston Trailhead.
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Up we go
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We then took the trail toward Mount Coe.
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Darcy heading up the Coe slide.
We came to the O-J-I link trail.
I climbed Mount Coe last year with Mike. We both had been looking for this trail junction and missed it. I'm not quite sure why. It wasn't that hard to spot. Anyway, now we now where the trail is. We went back into the woods for a minute before coming out onto the slide again.
Mike in front of the slide
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I thought this vegetation was kind of cool, sort of like a red carpet.
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Closing in on the summit
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Mount Coe from O-J-I
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The actual 3410' summit was in the trees. This was a new summit for all of us except for Darcy.
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The trail continues across the ridge to Old Jay Eye Rock.
We continued across the ridge to the end of the trail getting another view of Mount Coe.
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Looking back to the summit of O-J-I
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Looking over to Doubletop Mountain
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I looked down to a rock a little further down the ridge. I also saw a blaze or two. I figured we weren't quite at the end of the trail yet so I told the group I was going to investigate. The trail brought me back into the woods were I had to do some scrambling and then out to a large rock which must have been Old Jay Eye Rock. The trail went around the rock with a steep drop off to the right before turning up to the top of the rock. For a video clip click here. A couple minutes later I was joined by Darcy.
Looking back up to where the rest of the group was.
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Darcy and I then scrambled back up.
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We got some light drizzle as we worked our way back across the ridge and down the O-J-I link. This was enough for me on a rainy day, same with Mike. We headed back while Darcy and Al continued on to Coe, South Brother, and North Brother. I hiked them all last year and so no immediate need to rehike them on a day when I most likely would not get a view. Coe and South Brother were new peaks for Al. Mike and I got back to the trailhead and hitched a ride back to the campground.
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That evening we had some trouble with the campfire because of damp wood.
With a little ingenuity, Mike and Bob got things going.
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More fun around the campfire
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Tomorrow: Katahdin and the Knife Edge
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