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Hikes In Northern New England

Burnt Meadow Mountain Hike Report
We hiked Burnt Meadow Mountain in August 2010. There are now two options. The trail branches at about 15 minutes into the hike. The right branch with blue blazes is called the North Peak trail and is the original trail with the steep climb at the very top. The left branch with yellow blazes goes all the way around the middle peak before ascending to the North peak. It's much longer - maybe twice as long - and does not have the very steep final climb. We went up the blue trail and down the yellow trail. It was a nice day and this was a very enjoyable afternoon hike with good (but not spectacular) views in most directions from the top. I would do this one again.... ~Anonymous (click here to read more)

Bradbury Mountain Hike Report
Bradbury Mountain has never been on my radar to hike. My Maine Atlas and Gazetteer shows it as a 200 foot elevation gain to the summit. Doesn't seem like much of a mountain to me.

But my brother's church is taking a group of kids there next week, and they wanted to explore the place first, so I tagged along; it was a good excuse to visit with Jonathan for a bit.

When you enter the park, if you park in the upper lot, the Summit Trail (the shortest and steepest trail) is right next to you, by the playground. We hiked this trail to the summit. Only took us a few minutes.

I was surprised to find out how utterly flat the horizon line was; not a single mountain in view. Not my idea of a stunning vista, but I suppose that's to be expected when you only hike for a few minutes.

We then went across the bluff trail to another scenic lookout point. and then back down. Near the bottom is a quarry, which you can get to with just a short detour.

Once we got ba... ~dtwitchell (click here to read more)

Angel Falls Hike Report
I only wanted to add to the previous post that climbing to the top is well worth it. Not too difficult, and certainly not dangerous, you start at the left side of the falls and climb almost vertically sometimes. Once up, if you continue on upstream, you are greeted with several small cascade watterfalls that, in the summer, are quite refreshing to wade into. My group found the upstream portion to be as rewarding as the main falls for it's texture and variation.... ~Anonymous (click here to read more)

Mount Redington Hike Report
Redington was on my to-do list because it is (according to the AMC) a 4000-footer. Hiking this one leaves me just four more to go. I wanted to do this one in the fall because I wasn't convinced I'd see many nice views, so I thought we ought to at least get some nice fall foliage!

This is a hike that is quite interesting in a couple different ways. First, it's a rare mountain (here in Maine) that, when you start hiking, you're so far away from the mountain that you can see the peak in the distance. I'll post a picture of that.

Second, when you are hiking Redington, you are in the middle of a bowl formed by Sugarloaf, Spaulding, Redington, The Crockers, and Mount Abraham (Abram). Within this bowl, there isn't a hint of "civilization" beyond that one (horribly maintained) road that goes down the middle of the bowl. The result is, you are in a very natural setting. You won't hear many sounds from the outside world (which can make an eerie sort of silence, if you're ... ~dtwitchell (click here to read more)

Old Speck Hike Report
The first time I hiked Old Speck, it was raining. And the observation tower was falling apart and closed. It was a miserable day, and I said, "Never again."

But a few days ago Bobby said he would like to do it, so I said I'd go with him. The experience this time around was MUCH nicer.

We started out around 9:15 in the morning, and discussed whether we should go straight for the summit, and do the Eyebrow on the way back, or hit the Eyebrow first.

Since the Eyebrow is the steepest part of the trail, and we both prefer going UP over steep parts to going DOWN over them, we decided to do the Eyebrow on the way up.

I think that was a good choice. You won't even be hiking for ten minutes before you hit the branch where you choose the AT, or the Eyebrow trail. Turn right to do the Eyebrow, continue straight to follow the AT.

The Eyebrow trail is marked with red blazes, and it is a fairly steep climb. But it isn't really all that difficult, because th... ~dtwitchell (click here to read more)

Saddleback Mountain Hike Report
I'd hiked 15 different mountains this summer, but none of them were mountains on my "To Do" list (the 4000 footers in the state of Maine). So I really wanted to hit at least two of them before I called it quits on hiking for the year and went back to work.

I have some friends who are in pretty good shape, so I asked them if they would be willing to do TWO 4000 foot peaks in one day with me. They were willing (though afterward they informed me that next time THEY were picking the mountain!)

The reason I wanted to do two is, Saddleback Horn is only accessible by way of either Saddleback or Saddleback Jr. In other words, you can't get to it without hiking ANOTHER mountain first.

We started about an hour after daybreak on the Appalachian Trail. The AT is not really well maintained here (as of 2008); it was surprisingly muddy, and many of the log bridges over the mud were quite rotten.

Bring an extra pair of socks or two with you, because if you accidentally ... ~dtwitchell (click here to read more)

Table Rock Hike Report
Table Rock isn't actually a mountain - it's a plateau that's sort of on the way to the summit of Baldpate.

Bobby, Tom, and I did this in the morning on a fairly nice, somewhat clear day. Much better weather than the last time I hiked it, which was in mid-October last fall.

We were surprised to find that there is a $2.00 fee for using the trail through Grafton Notch. In the parking lot by the mountain there is a metal tube you can drop you fee in, though there is no one there checking to make sure you do it. Not all of us had $2.00 with us, because we didn't know the fee was there (I think it's only in effect for part of the year). Please remember to bring your fee - those fees, even though they are on the "honor system" are important to keeping the trails maintained!

After you've crossed Route 26 on the AT, a few minutes later you'll come to a fork in the trail. This is where you decide how adventurous you are. The Appalachian Trail goes left. Take this if y... ~dtwitchell (click here to read more)

Aziscohos Mountain Hike Report
Initially, we were going to have four of us going on this hike, but two had to cancel, so it was just me and Alex. Because of all the rain we've had this summer, the first part of the trail was quite muddy (though we met someone along the way who said it was MUCH muddier last summer). Apparently muddy is common for this trail.

Once you get beyond the muddy part, the trail gets a bit steeper, and there are a few places you have to climb up over some boulders, but I've definitely done much harder hikes this summer.

There are no forks in the trail until you get almost to the summit. Just before the summit the trail hits a fork where you can go either left or right. Right is the "North Trail", which takes you back down somewhere else on Route 16 (though I don't know where that other trail head is). Left takes you directly to the summit.

I think, when we broke out of the trees and onto the summit, our exact words were "Wow!" and "Holy smokes!"

Beautiful vi... ~dtwitchell (click here to read more)

Mount Cutler Hike Report
My friend Nate and I started this hike with little information besides what the Maine Atlas and Gazetteer said, and it turned out that information wasn't entirely useful.

We were pleasantly surprised, as we started hiking, to be joined by a local dog who tagged along with us the whole way to the summit - even over the steepest of sections.

The trail is quite clear, and fairly well marked with red blazes on the trees and occasionally on the rocks.

The hike up is very rugged. You'll get about 2/3 of the way up the mountain and you'll come out onto some ledges where you get nice views of the village below you.

Continue on and eventually the hike gets less steep. You will probably wonder a few times if you're actually at the summit of the mountain, because it looks like the trail continues downward.

What we eventually realized is that the mountain actually has two summits with a bit of a ravine in between them. The best views are on the second summit, ... ~dtwitchell (click here to read more)

Tumbledown Mountain Hike Report
My friends Ben and Melissa did this hike with me, We hit the trail at about 11:10 in the morning. We hiked for just a few minutes before we came to the fork between the Tumbledown Trail and the Little Jackson Trail. We went left here, and did a bit of downhill (who wants to do that when you're just starting out a hike?). We came to a stream that we had to jump across rocks to cross, and then we began the uphill.

At first the slope was gradual, and it was a pleasant and easy walk through the woods. After about a mile, though, the incline started to increase dramatically, and the going gets a bit tougher.

Pay close attention to the blue blazes; they're there, but they're not always close together, and sometimes there are a couple ways that look like they might be the right way to go.

When you start to come out of the trees and up onto the boulders, be sure to look behind you; there's a great view of Webb Lake and Mount Blue.

From this point on, you'll c... ~dtwitchell (click here to read more)

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