| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Red Rock Mountain, Butters Mountain, ME |
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 | Trails: |
Miles Notch Trail, Red Rock Trail, Great Brook Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Monday, August 13, 2018 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Not bad once we found it. Grassy parking area for several cars. There was some road work being done, and the workers were kind enough to pull over and let us by. Both trails start from the parking lot and have signs. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Easy. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
A lot of this was in the Caribou-Speckled Wilderness, so this was no easy path followed by millions. Plan accordingly. WMG and other places say the trail may be hard to follow. I would have run into a few rough spots if it weren't for Prema, who has the best "woods eyes" of anyone I know. I would recommend looking at trail reports of this if you are interested in doing it, particularly One Happy Hiker and Mountain Wandering from May 2011. That photo of the old US Forest Service sign may stop folks from making the wrong turn. There are faded blazes on the descent on the Great Brook Trail. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
Plenty of spider webs. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
A truly educational hike! Lessons learned: 1. Start earlier; this is not an easy out under the lights. 2. Pay even more attention than usual with the trail descriptions, this would have saved some minor aggravation at the end.
Miles Notch Trail was a mycologist's heaven! I have never seen anything like it for the variety, number, and size of mushrooms! Some looked like coral, some were the size of dinner plates. I saw varieties I did not even know existed. This trail is so lightly used that it was like a carpet with its moss. Since we're in August, I did not get the views looking up at Red Rock that you would get earlier in the year. Red Rock Trail was fun, a lot of it was a long, relatively flat ridgewalk with nice open woods. We sat on some of the ledgy parts and had nice views, but not for too long as I was nervous about following the path in darkness. We both travel with at least two head lamps apiece, but I find them to be somewhat distorting on trails of this type. Great Brook Trail was steep and then gradual when it got to the cascades. The fun started when we got to the brushy clearing. There was actually a little sign somewhere that said Easy St (Prema saw it, I did not) and I thought, "Yeah, a nice easy forest service road." But in the words of the late great Jerry Garcia, "When you get to Easy St there is danger at your door (Uncle John's Band)." Well, not so much danger as a lack of simple paying attention. There was the wider road and then there was a narrow brushy one forking off from it. This is NOT the one you want, but after following it through overgrown vegetation and other entertainment you will come to a wide road with an arrow marked TRAIL. Oh good, that'll take us back. Well, not the back we wanted, just a circle heading back to where we were. So we turned around and it took us back where we were before and five minutes later we were at the gate marking the end of Hut Road, so in a really short time we were back at the car. I did not consider us being lost, just making a wrong turn and correcting it. I was happy to get back to the Basin Campground and into my sleeping bag (we just got back from vacation, hence this late report).
This is a beautiful area, I would just recommend folks get an early start. Give yourself plenty of time; both for the beauty and interesting sights and for following the trails and correcting mistakes. Also, arachniphobes should either have trekking poles or find a stick for all those webs! |
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 | Name: |
Beckie and Prema |
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 | E-Mail: |
beckiejani@yahoo.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2018-08-18 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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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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