| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Elephant Mountain, ME |
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 | Trails: |
Logging road, bushwhack, herd path |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, September 1, 2019 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Elephant Mountain road is in the same condition as previously described. Deep ruts, need high clearance, but manageable until the washout with exposed culvert. After this washed out section, road is in fine condition up to the traditional parking area. A jeep could manage this, but we didn't risk it with our SUV. We u-turned at the washout and parked at small clearing just below and walked 2 km to the start of the herd path. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
With recent trip reports of the slashing activity, we (my wife and I) planned for the worse. We had scoped a narrow drainage on satellite imagery about 150 yards into the grassy logging road after the start from the usual parking area. The previous post (from Dexhiker) indicates that he left a small cairn noting the start of this drainage - this was still here. This drainage was relatively easy to follow. At around 2980', we reached a clearing which was to our right - here we could see evidence of the slashing - whacking across this clearing was tempting, but we stayed true to the drainage, continuing to avoid the slash. The drainage bears a hard left at 3000' and then veers right to continue uphill. At 3150', the drainage peters out (as described by Dexhiker), but to the right, a semblance of a drainage path can still be followed. So instead of bearing uphill, we traversed to our right at 3200', bearing roughly towards a marker I had placed at 3400' on the traditional herd path. This path had a mix of spruce/balsam pine, at times tight. Also needed to whack through some tight sapling patches, but this eventually gave onto a large clearing at 3240', completely slashed. We traversed this until we reached our maker at 3400' and easily found the herd path. At this point, we were above the slash. There was orange surveyor's tape most of the way up. First stretch of the herd path was relatively easy to follow, until we neared the col, where boggy terrain forces hikers in all directions. We found our way across the bog and reached the col, which is cleared from old logging activity. Set a bearing for the summit, and easily found the herd path when we exited the clearing. On our way down, we tracked back on the same line using my gps device, and made our way down with ease.
Additional notes:
- moving time: 1h20 up; 1h down
- My feeling is that this could develop into the new herd path; regardless, i would highly recommend this route
- For more details, including the gps track, see the activity link below |
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 | Name: |
Paul heron |
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 | E-Mail: |
pheron14@hotmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2019-09-02 |
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 | Link: |
 https://www.strava.com/activities/2671844635 |
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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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