By Deb Carroll

The dashboard thermometer in my car read 14° as I made the left turn onto the road that leads to Grafton Notch. Being so excited to see my friends, I forgot to look at the temperature when I got that the trailhead.  So let’s just say it was cold… Really cold. And windy.

Within a few minutes of arriving at the parking lot the four of us were bundled up, wearing our packs, and heading for the trail.  A fresh layer of snow – about three or 4 inches of fresh powder over several inches of base – had fallen the night before.  Although someone had been on the trail in previous days and done the hard work of packing the base, we were the first people out on that particular day.

Once we got into the woods, the wind all but stopped. We walked along the Appalachian Trail through the lovely winter landscape and took the second right turn, almost a mile in, onto the blue blazed side trail that led to Table Rock.  We were surprised that the skies were relatively clear when we eventually emerged onto Table Rock.  Old Speck was visible, beautiful, and covered with snow. The wind wasn’t as bad as we had expected, but it was still cold.  We lingered on the rock’s exposed the ledge for a few photos and a few laughs, and then headed back down the mountain.

Although there were two cars in the parking lot other than ours, we didn’t see anyone else on the trail, and so we assumed that they were climbing Old Speck.

The 2.6 mile round trip hike to table rock was a great way to spend a crisp but sunny mid-December morning. It was a great day for the first Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust Next Century winter series hike.

See you on the trail!

Maine A.T. Land Trust had our latest (and final of the season!) hike up the Baldpates in Grafton Notch on Saturday and as you can see from the photos, it was spectacular and almost every way.  The weather, although not sunny, was warm enough and the rain held off until the evening.  The fall foliage was at peak and despite the predictions of prognosticators that this year there would not be much in the way of good color (due to drought conditions), there was plenty.

The group met at the Grafton Notch parking area and hit the trail at about 9:30am.  Most of the group had climbed the Baldpates at one time or another (like a “failed” attempt last year), but everybody was looking forward to climbing these lesser traveled peaks that are often overshadowed by Old Speck, just across Route 26 to the west.  One of the group, Sue, is working on becoming a trip leader for the Appalachian Mountain Club and this was a practice hike of sorts for her.

We made good time to West Baldpate (3,662 feet) and headed down to the bog area between the peaks.  This is one of the highlights of the hike, as there are views in all directions and the terrain is unique.  After the bog, we reached the steep ledges on the final ascent to East Baldpate (3,812 feet).  It took everybody a few minutes to adjust to this open, exposed terrain, but it was more exciting than scary.  We reached the summit at about 1pm.  There were great views in all directions and though there was a chill in the air the lack of sunshine was a welcome feature of autumn.

On the way back down, we encountered several groups going up or down, and everybody remarked at how great an experience hiking the Baldpates is.  It was a great way to end the warm-weather of our Next Century Hikes program!

Stay tuned for our updated calendar for the fall and winter season!  Make sure those snowshoes are operational by December.

By Deb Carroll

On Sunday, September 25, the Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust joined forces, once again, with my other favorite (NH based) hiking group.  For most of us, our hike up Pleasant Pond Mountain was preceded by a day of whitewater rafting, so our collective spirits were high.  11 women, some seasoned and some inexperienced hikers, met in Caratunk at about 9:30AM and hit the trail shortly thereafter.

Directions to the trail head for Pleasant Pond Mountain can be found in the Maine Mountain Guide and are pretty accurate, with one exception. As you get close to the trail head, don’t take the obvious right hand turn onto the decently maintained dirt road.  Rather, keep going another hundred yards or so until you get to a rutted right turn with a brown AT parking lot sign on the tree.  The trail to the top of Pleasant Pond Mountain is just 1.6 miles long and follows the Appalachian Trail the entire way.  It’s a 3.2 mile, “out-and-back” hike, with 1,077 feet of elevation gain.  Even with one novice hiker in our group, for whom this was a “first time on the AT” experience, the trip took only about 2.5 hours. It was cold, so we chose not to stop at Pleasant Pond for a swim.

We found the trail to be in excellent condition, though well-trodden due to frequent use.  Although there were some leaves falling from the trees, as evidenced by the lack of color change we found that most trees had yet to realize that autumn had arrived.

Surprisingly, this late in the year, we ran into a 6 thru hikers – with names like “Falcon” and “Brother Blood,” a couple and a lone young lady – still making their way north to Katahdin.  Overall, though they were pleasant and conversant when engaged, they looked tired.

Reaching the moderately treed and lichen speckled summit, we found just a small cairn marking the top.  The views to the south and west, however, were extraordinary for the effort expended to earn them.  With rain in the distance, and a cool autumn wind swirling about, we didn’t linger long on top.

The Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust had a GREAT outing for the Great Maine Outdoor Weekend on Saturday, September 17th.  The weather was perfect, we had a great (very large!) group and we accomplished our goal of getting up the first signs for the Berry Pickers’ Trail.

We met at Edmunds Market in Phillips and proceeded to break into groups according to planned hiking agendas for the day.  One group was planning to go up to the summits of both Saddleback and The Horn, one was going to accompany Dave Field on a loop hike over Saddleback to Eddy Pond and back to the car spot on the Fly Rod Crosby Trail, and one was just going up to the junction with the Appalachian Trail between Saddleback and The Horn, where the Berry Pickers’ Trail ends.

After re-meeting at the ATV gate on the Fly Rod Crosby Trail – which is a multi-use trail, allowing hikers, bikers, ATV riders, cross country skiers and snowmobilers – we proceeded up to the actual trailhead of the Berry Pickers’ Trail, which is located at a bridge crossing Winship Stream.  Betsy and Bud, who live in the area and have used some incarnation of the Berry Pickers’ Trail for thirty years, met us on their fat tire bikes!  We – actually one volunteer (thanks Rob!) – carried a post to put up at the trailhead, with a sign that has the following text.

Since there were 19 hikers who were all excited about the opening on this trail, we had many hands to make the work light.  Dave Field dug the post hole with some help from Deb Carroll, Maine A.T. Land Trust board member.  Hikers Kimberly, Charlie and Terri helped gather stones to put around the post once it was up. When it was standing, Dave Field read the text and put the sign board up.  Applause!

Back to the hiking, where we proceeded in a long line up to the ridge to Saddleback Mountain.  People went at different paces, but everybody was having a good time and meeting new people.  Betsy and Bud had lunch with the big group and went back down to their fat tire bikes.  We made it to the A.T. junction at about 1pm and Dave Field took out another, identical sign board, which he then hung at the intersection of the A.T. and Berry Pickers’ Trail.  Mission accomplished!

At the junction, everybody took in the views and then proceeded on their different hikes.  One large group headed up Saddleback, where five individuals went down to Eddy Pond.  Nine would backtrack and then head over to The Horn, before backtracking again down the Berry Pickers’ Trail.  And a last group lingered at the junction spot for a long time, watching the others head up, before heading back down.

It was a great day on the trail and we want to thank everybody for coming out for the Great Maine Outdoor Weekend and helping us to finish the work on the Berry Pickers’ Trail.  And most of all, thanks to Dave Field and Maine Appalachian Trail Club for trail work to get it open.

Check our website for updates on our next hike up Pleasant Pond Mountain on September 25th!