March 16, 2009
Streaked Mountain is "my" little mountain. It's very close to home, just about 10-12 minutes away. I'm fortunate to have this little mountain so close. It is available any time I want to get out for a quick hike with an awesome view. Jeremy Clark who I have had the pleasure of hiking with a few times this winter will be joining me. I've written reports on this hike at least a couple times, but since I would have Jeremy's company and the fact that I took a few sunset pictures I decided to document this hike one more time. Jeremy and I have at least a few hiking characteristics in common. We both document our hikes and have websites. To check out his visit FranklinSites.com We also both like to climb a lot of little mountains that some peakbaggers would pass up.
After meeting at McDonald's in South Paris at 5:45 p.m. we carpooled over to the trailhead. This trail wastes no time in going up. One great thing about this hike is after just a short 5-10 minutes in the woods you are on open ledges for the rest of the hike with constant views. Up we went to the top. The top is littered with towers and antennas but is pretty nonetheless. The sun was beginning to set so I took this picture.
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I pointed out a couple peaks that I could identify such as the Presidentials, Kearsarge North and nearby Singepole and Pleasant Mountains. Then Jeremy went on to show me up on my own mountain by pointing out Old Speck to the north and many peaks in the Whites including Carrigain, the Tripyramids, Chocorua, and several other peaks. We explored the area a little and returned to the summit.
Now it was time to show off the big prize I found a couple years ago. We walked two tenths of a mile south to open ledges with an outstanding view and no antennas, radio towers, and cables to obstruct our view. I placed my poles down to take a few pictures as the sun set behind the Presidential Range over in New Hampshire.
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Jeremy took my picture.
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Jeremy on the south ledges
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A couple more shots as the sun set.
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Before we left I checked on my geocache that I planted here last summer. I checked the log and someone had been here the day before. Someone had also been here in January. They had dug through the snow with their snowshoes until they found the cache. We headed back over to the summit.
"That's three times we've been to the summit," said Jeremy.
We began our descent. As we neared the woods for the remaining few minutes I realized I goofed. I left my poles back on the southern ledges. Uggh!!! I would leave them at the furthest possible point.
"Hey, at least you didn't leave them on Owl's Head," said Jeremy.
Jeremy was a good sport and didn't mind heading back up this little mountain again. Up over the summit and then over to the ledges where I had left my poles. I'm kind of glad this happened. I've been up here at dusk but never this late. To the west we could see the lights of the small towns of Norway and South Paris. To the southeast we could see the lights of the larger towns such as Auburn and Lewiston. It was quite pretty. We headed back to the summit for the 5TH time and then back down. Thanks for joining me Jeremy and letting me show of "my" little mountain.
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