NE 100 Highest - Snow Mountain (Chain of Ponds), Maine

Friday, July 20, 2018 - A good night's sleep, and a morning swim in Flagstaff Lake:

then shower, shave and shine, and 7 AM breakfast at the Looney Moose Cafe. Got to the end of a LOOOONG dirt road, and started the hike just after 9:


The map from The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer (DeLorme, 2007) seems pretty straight-forward (park at the green X):


and the description from the Maine Mountain Guide (Appalachian Mountain Club, 2012) also seems pretty straight-forward:

So how did I turn a 6.6 miles Round Trip hike into 11.76 miles which took me 6 hours 21 minutes!!!


Next time - in unfamiliar territory - USE THE COMPASS a lot more. As soon as I had turned southeast, then east, I should have stopped and backed up to the dotted-line which is more west (and on the north side of "the brook"). I wound up bushwacking south, then north, around Snow Mtn Pond (yes, very pretty):


and by continuing around the Pond I found the "small wooden sign on a tree with an arrow pointing to the right":


I then followed a pretty-well-defined trail up the mountain:

except for having to go around some blow-downs.

A-little-more-than halfway up I lost the trail, and went kind-of-straight when I should have taken a hard/sharp left. I kept climbing up through very crowded trees, on a thick mossy floor:

Sometimes they were so thick that I could not even squeeze between them. I went left (but not enough), I went uphill, I went right, and then finally went down and west - that was enough for one day. 1 hour and 30 minutes after I started bushwacking, I popped out onto THE TRAIL:

I wanted to go down, but I knew the summit was only 1/2 mile up the trail - so I turned up the path.

28 minutes later I was at the summit:


Thank you God for allowing me to do this!

Needless to say, put a firetower-with-a-ladder on a mountain-top, and people are going to climb it! The views are pretty terrific (starting with looking down on Snow Mtn Pond):







(See my boot at the bottom of the photo?)

I headed back down, and less than an hour later was saying goodbye to Snow Mtn Pond:



The logging road was pretty wet:

but even with my (wrong) twists and turns, I made it back to the car at 3:20 PM.

I wound up drinking a couple of cans of iced tea/lemonade from a couple of gas stations. I wanted to take "the scenic route" home, so I headed west on ME-16:

which turns into NH-16 South when it crosses over into New Hampshire. (yes, "that 16 South", which goes all the way down to I-95) IT IS BEAUTIFUL!! The road is NEW BLACKTOP, and runs right alongside the Androscoggin River:






Burger King dinner in North Conway (kind of hobbling because I think I pulled a muscle in the back of my right thigh). Home at 11. WOW - THANK YOU GOD again for this great MAINE adventure!

Today's driving music was the 8th group of the "G" songs from my big iPod (finished the G's, and started the H's). I made it through 96 songs (click here for the list of songs), beginning with:

Dave Matthews Band - "Grey Street" from the album Busted Stuff, 2002


and ending with:

Patty Larkin - "Hallelujah" from the album Watch The Sky, 2008


highlights include:

The Rascals - "Groovin'" from the album Time Peace, 4 weeks #1 in 1967


Bruce Springsteen - "Growin' Up" from the album Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J., 1972

The flag of piracy flew from my mast,
my sails were set wing to wing

Miranda Lambert - both "Guilty In Here" and "Gunpowder & Lead" from the album Crazy Ex-Girlfriend 2007

Is it guilty in here
or is it just me

Crosby, Stills & Nash - "Guinnevere" from their first album Crosby, Stills & Nash, 1969


And finally in the H's:

Jeff Buckley - "Hallelujah" from the album Grace, 1994


But remember when I moved in you
And the holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

The Gulf Hagas Area, Maine

Thursday, July 19, 2018 - Up and at 'em in the early morning light:


A final look at First Roach Pond:

and then a really nice look at Moosehead Lake:



After two days in a row, today is a non-mountain-climbing day. The New England Waterfalls book makes a specific mention of The Gulf Hagas Area (hay-gas, not the Scottish food):

It is known as the "Grand Canyon of Maine". I've seen the "Grand Canyon of Arizona", so I am excited! And it is right in this area:

especially when seen in the context of today's entire drive:


Got to the parking area at 8:30:


I don't know if you can read the sign at the bottom, but it says "Do not underestimate this trail. This is a tough, rigorous hike" - Just what I want on my "day off"!

You hike down a trail, then wade through the West Branch Pleasant River, looking across:

looking upstream:

looking downstream:

and then once across, looking back across the River:


The first mile is actually the ubiquitous Appalachian Trail. I had a nice hike with a guy who was going north:


You then cross over Gulf Hagas Brook:

to hike the Rim Trail:

It's 9:30, and Screw Auger Falls is in the dark/shade. I'll see what it's like when I return at mid-day.

Except for when you encounter the half-dozen viewpoints:

the Rim Trail is a twisty-turny up-and-down mountain trail, in excellent condition


You occasionally get a "View of the Gulf":



And then you get to some real waterfalls:
Buttermilk Falls:

Billings Falls:


and Stair Falls:



After all that excitement, it's nice to see the calm up at the Head of the Gulf:



Before we leave the "Grand Canyon of Maine", I think this is one of my favorite upstream shots - a ledge/overlook, with the forest crowding in on the canyon and the River below:

And a favorite looking downstream:


I headed back east on the Pleasant River Tote Trail, and took the Appalachian Trail Cut-Off - it was a little more wild:


I went south on the AT to my afternoon shot of Screw Auger Falls:


Looking North/upstream - sorry I missed the noon lighting.

I finished hiking 10.93 miles in 5 hours 5 minutes - WAIT, I thought this was going to be my DAY OFF:



It was 3 PM when I made it back down to Jamos Pizza for my final sub there, and I had a nice phone chat with Wendy, then headed down the road to Sratton, Maine and Cathedral Pines Camp Ground, where I got all set up before dinner at the White Wolf Inn:

final evening shot of where I will be going for a morning dip tomorrow:


THANK YOU GOD again for this great adventure!

Today's driving music was the 7th group of the "G" songs from my big iPod. I made it through 68 songs (click here for the list of songs), beginning with:

Dave Matthews - "Gravedigger" from the album Some Devil, 2003


and ending with:

Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds - "Grey Street" from the album Some Devil [Live] [Disc 2], 2003


highlights include:

Pink Floyd - "The Great Gig In The Sky", 2 versions: The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) and Pulse [Live] (2 cds) (1995)


Wynton Marsalis - "Green Chimneys" (the 15:49 version) from Live At The House Of Tribes, 2005 (from 2002 concert)


Donald Fagen - "Green Flower Street" from the album The Nightfly 1982


Booker T. & The MG's - "Green Onions" from the album Atlantic Rhythm & Blues 1947-1974 Disc 5, 1962 single


John Coltrane - "Greensleeves" from the album Standards, 2001 (originally on his Africa/Brass 1961 album)