| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Old Speck Mountain, ME |
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 | Trails: |
Firewarden's Trail, bushwhack, Old Speck Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, April 21, 2013 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parked at the Old Speck parking lot (plowed). |
|
 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Snow/Ice - Monorail (Unstable), Snow/Ice - Postholes, Snow - Spring Snow |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
On abandoned Firewarden's Trail, solidly bridged. On Old Speck Trail, bridged, but probably not for much longer. |
|
 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Some hand sawable blowdowns. Upper portion of Old Speck Trail is very brushy. |
|
 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Madison had fun. |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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|
 | Comments: |
Ascended via abandoned Firewarden's Trail...walked down Route 26 to an old roadbed (blowdown obscuring it), which leads direct to the snowmobile trail. Just to the right, there's an old outhouse. The trail is sort of behind that, but is vague at first. Once you get up the initial 50 or so vertical feet, it becomes increasingly obvious. Consistent snowpack started at this point, so we donned snowshoes. We saw quite a bit of evidence of downhill skiers using this trail at some point this winter/spring.
The trail corridor was pretty obvious all the way up to the site of the firewarden's cabin (flat spot, but didn't see any remains). Lots of old AT blazes still visible, probably more so than the current AT.
We dropped down and crossed the brook (snow bridge) and followed the blazes up the next steeps, taking the sharp right turn as described in old guidebooks. We had it for awhile after this, but then lost it in open woods. Snowpack was probably 3-4 feet at this point.
We continued up in mostly open woods until we hit scrub/snowfields, which could warrant crampons and an ice axe in less than favorable conditions. Superb views.
A little thick above these, but we eventually walked into the current trail just shy of the summit. The snowpack is still quite deep up here, with blazes a few inches to a few feet above it.
The Old Speck Trail on descent was generally monorail that was supporting snowshoes and to some extent booters. Any warmer and posthole city will grow. Consistent snowpack goes all the way down to the snowmobile trail crossing (near where we took off our snowshoes). |
|
 | Name: |
rocket21 |
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 | E-Mail: |
rocket21@franklinwebpublishing.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2013-04-21 |
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 | Link: |
 https://www.franklinsites.com/hikephotos/Maine/oldspeckmtn-2013-0421.php |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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