September 30, 2007
We had a long drive on a logging road to get to today's starting point,
but it was a beautiful autumn morning.
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We drove up Bear Brook Road which kept going and going. Each year as the logging road gets extending, the starting point for these peaks gets closer to the summit. We parked at an elevation of about 2600'. A four wheel drive vehicle could have gone another tenth of a mile or two. Here's today's track.
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Today we will go after North Kennebago Divide (NKD), then Whitecap, and hopefully Boundary Peak. Although the above track gives away that yes, we did bag all three. Under different circumstances I would recommend getting to Boundary Peak first, but at this point we weren't sure we could get all three, and we were going to make sure we got NKD so Peirce could finish his list. We began hiking up the road.
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The road turned into a wide herd path.
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It was a little after 8:00 am, and the moon was still out.
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At about 3200 feet we found a small herd path cutting to the left. We followed this. We lost it a couple times, but Peirce has an eye for picking it up again. A little over an hour later, we were at the 3775' summit. Peirce went over to the cannister.
"Excuse me," I said.
"What?" asked Peirce.
"You aren't at the top yet," I said while pointing to a spot about 2 feet higher.
"This is #100 for you, unless you want to come back you've got to hit the top."
Peirce humored me and stood at the top.
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Peirce by the cannister on his 100th New England 100 highest.
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We both signed the log.
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I was quite happy bagging my 82nd, but it was exciting to be there as Peirce finished the list.
As I put this journal entry together, I noticed in the picture above that although we signed the log we didn't date it. Guess what Peirce! We have to go back. (just kidding).
Peirce said it was a little anticlimatic finishing on a viewless peak, but that's where most finish. It seems that the last peak for most usually ends up being a bushwhack to a viewless peak. I'm down to 18 peaks, who knows which one will be last. I do know it won't be White Cap, because we are on our way to bag that now. We began following the herd path down when we got a view of White Cap.
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There are at least four mountains in Maine named White Cap. The others have distinct stony, alpine tops. This one does know so I'm not sure why it was named White Cap. We made our way back down into the col and then up the other side. Here's a view back to North Kennebago Divide.
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We wacked our way up to the 3856' foot summit (although the cannister had 3815' written on it).
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This was #83 for me. I joked with Peirce that this was #101 for him. Now it was time for a peak that I had no intention of hitting this weekend until Peirce mentioned it Friday night. We are now off to Boundary Peak. As the name suggests, it is on a boundary. Which boundary? The peak is right on the border of the United States and Canada. Peirce told me there was a 30 foot wide boundary swath that followed the border. The word 'swath' was new for me. It means the space covered by the cut of a mowing machine. I'm assuming this is to make the border visible from an airplane. So I learned a new word this weekend, although I didn't really gain anything. I think I am beginning to forget words quicker than I learn them. We got a bearing for the swath and headed into the col. Part way down we got a view over to Boundary Peak and into Canada.
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After an hour of bushwhacking we reached the U.S./Canadian border which was marked every so often with one of these pillars.
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We would follow the U.S./Canadian border for the next three miles.
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We noticed a hunting stand on the Canadian side.
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Looking into Canada
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From here you could clearly see the path cut along the border.
In the lower left, Peirce points to Boundary Peak.
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It was a long way to Boundary Peak.
There was another 'smaller' mountain we had to go over first.
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Another hunting stand
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O Canada! Our Home and Native Land!
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O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave
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Peirce near another hunting stand
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Another border marker
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We met a couple of Canadian hunters who Peirce spoke to for a few minutes in French. It sounded good to me, of course I don't speak any French and even my English is questionable. Peirce said he wanted to do two things before turning 50. The first was hiking the New England 100 highest which he just did. The second thing was to learn French. He says he's got a month to learn it.
Looking back
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It became more of a fernwack than a bushwhack.
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There it is!
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The Canadians we saw earlier past us on ATVs. We caught up to them to find them stringing up a moose.
Peirce and I were amazed at the size of the animal.
"I guess that's why you don't when them crashing through your windshield," said Peirce.
Another hunting stand. A moose doesn't stand a chance if he tries to cross the border.
We saw at least a dozen tree stands along this 3 mile section of the border, all of which were on the Canadian side. Are our neighbors to the north mounting an offensive???
Boundary Peak is getting closer.
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I turned around to get a look back. Although you can't see it in the picture, I could see across a small portion of Canada, back into the U.S., and could make out Mount Washington in New Hampshire.
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We reached the 3855' summit where I found this survey marker.
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We found the cannister and signed the log.
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This makes #84 for me. I kidded with Peirce that I was now catching up to him since he will be forever stuck at 100. Although he did climb a couple of peaks that were on the 100 highest and are now off the list, so I guess in one sense, he has climbed over 100 mountains on the 100 highest list.
Peirce took my picture by this rock cairn on the summit.
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I wasn't expecting views, but because of the wide boundary swath, there were great views today. We now had to make the long, long hike back out. Three miles back down the swatch, then another 1 mile bushwhack back up to White Cap. Peirce checked the log to see if anyone else had come up within the last few hours. Nope. We bushwhacked our way back to the col and followed the herd path back to my truck. What an awesome weekend! I had no intention of bagging 5 peaks. Thanks a million Peirce. I still can't believe he hiked all the way back to Boundary Peak to help me out.
I made two quick stops while driving home.
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There were some displays explaining the history of logging in Maine. Despite decades (perhaps centuries) of extensive logging, the state is still 90% covered with trees, making it the state with the highest percentage of tree cover.
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Looking over Rangely Lake
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I made another stop at the Height of the Land which overlooks Lake Mooselookmeguntic.
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What a beautiful sunset!
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I made it home about 8:00 PM. Special thanks again to Peirce for all his help and the use of his navigational/bushwhacking skills.
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