| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
White Cap Mountain, North Kennebago Divide, ME |
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 | Trails: |
Bear Pond Road, herd paths, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Thursday, September 16, 2021 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Coming from the south and east, I chose to use the Morton Cutoff option from ME16. Some others have reported using Kennebago River Road from ME16 (sometimes with alternate name for southern section), but in looking at the map, this route meanders with several steep curves and switchbacks, possible forks, many more stream crossings and navigating around and between several ponds. The Morton Cutoff-Lincoln Pond road option to the intersection with KRR seemed more straight forward. Morton Cutoff is very wide and well graded, with that portion of Lincoln Pond road also in very good shape. Note that at the intersection with KRR, Lincoln Pond Road changes names to Tim Pond Road. The northern portion of KRR has a standard sign post, but no sign. There is a handwritten orange sign labeled “Canada Road to Wiggle Brook†nailed to a tree facing eastward, so it is not visible approaching from the west until you are well into or past the intersection and even then you have difficulty reading the writing from the car. The intersection is immediately preceded by passing over a wooden bridge, with parking and picnic facilities immediately following, and 3 fisherman fishing the ponds, all less than 100 yards from the intersection.
KRR from here is narrower and rougher than LPR, but easily passable for all vehicles. The intersection with Wiggle Brook road is easily identifiable and marked. WBR is a bit wider and smoother than KRR, but not as good as LPR. (I followed it to the Snow Mtn access road and then to the junction with Ox Bow express on the way to Porter Brook Road to recon some future hikes.) There are also several camps/cottages along the lake side of KRR so there is likely to be more traffic on this section of road.
Bear Pond Road is the most narrow and roughest of all of these roads, but still passable for most cars. Lower clearance cars will need to exercise great care to navigate through puddles and rougher sections. Shortly before the road is blocked by four boulders, there are two boulders that require some navigation skill to get around. From there it is only about .2 mi or so to the final parking area by the four boulders. If you are going to stop short, please do not park at the two boulders, but use the clearing about another .1mi before the boulders so that those who want to drive to the end are able. At the four boulder parking area, there is only room for 3-4 cars if you allow others room to turn around. If you have a small car, you might be able to squeeze between the two center boulders, but it would not be worth the risk of car damage, as the road is impassable just .4 mi past the boulders. The road walk from the 4 boulders is approximately 2.5 miles judging by the time needed and my walking pace. I didn’t get an exact measurement as there is a section of the second half of the walk where my watch GPS could not connect on both the inbound and outbound walks. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Wet Trail, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
The only true water crossings are on the road walk at the two major washouts, .4 and .5 miles from the parking area and both are rock hoppable. There are several wet areas on the trails, but the only running water is on the steep rocky section of the White Cap summit section. These wet areas lack the rock steps (there are a few) found on maintained trails and some areas lack firm ground, so it is highly likely you will get your feet wet in non-waterproof shoes. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
These are unmaintained trails, so are generally prone to wet areas with no aids to avoid standing water, no erosion mitigation devices, no trail markings and uncleared blowdowns. Most blowdowns were easily stepped over or ducked under and some had short paths skirting them. Only a couple required a little effort due to their size, height above the path way. There were some that had been cut and all of the uncut had at least a short section that had been de-limbed. Generally the primary paths were easy to follow, with some care required in some areas as noted in the comments. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
There is some running water on the White Cap summit section, but this appears to be runoff, so may not be available at all times, but no streams crossing or near the footpaths. Terrain, with perhaps the exception of the slash at the beginning, would be easy for all dogs, but opportunity for wet, muddy fur in spots. Actually dogs may have an easier time navigating the slash than humans. |
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 | Bugs: |
Saw a few flying about, but no landings or biting. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Several herd paths through the col area - as many others have noted over the years. |
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 | Comments: |
White Cap (Seven Ponds, Franklin County), Kennebago Divide (North Peak)
Road walk is a little rough (but generally good) as there are many small to medium size rocks on the tire tracks and the center is grassy and covered with mostly knee high vegetation that was wet early in the morning. It also gains about 600 feet in elevation with some ups and downs along the way, but mostly steadily up over easy grade.
The road apparently ends at the traditional clearing as the old pile of logging slash is still there, but in fact it continues underneath the slash and then through the woods for a ways before it narrows to just a footpath. This trail continues beyond the slash at the far right corner and there is some blue flagging (one very small piece) to mark this point. There are several paths through the slash and some of these have much better footing than staying to the far right, where there are sections of difficult to navigate logs piles. However, if you take these alternate paths, you need to watch out for the trail marker. If you follow these paths to where the paths turn to the left and uphill, you will find some obvious footpaths, but they go through a logging cut that consists of chest high vegetation that is slow going. The much better path is the continuation of the road as mentioned above.
The hike consists of 3 segments: The lower section that starts at the slash and continues to a junction of the two summit trails and then the two summit paths.
The lower section has a few wet areas with significant standing water and a few rocky sections, but also has some fairly dry and relatively smooth forest floor sections. The grade is mostly moderate and steady. From the slash to the junction is a little less than a mile and nearly 700 feet elevation gain. Note: There may be alternate routes that connect the starting point to the col area. The path I followed seemed to be well worn and very easy to follow. There were also several intersecting paths that started our heading more directly to KD.
The junction actually consists of several junctions, all within a few hundred feet of each other. I noted 3 distinct paths exiting towards KD, one marked with flagging, one marked with a cairn and the other with no noted marking. There may be more.
To summit White Cap, continue on the ascending path beyond the junction area. The lower part of this section has some wet areas and some streambed trail conditions, but continues on a fairly straight heading and moderately steep grade. Once past these areas the trail is dryer (damp ground today) but contains many blow downs and duck unders (none a major obstacle) and the trail meanders, especially in the area where the trail flattens, thus making it difficult to follow the path. Difficult may not be the appropriate word, but you do need to pay attention, particularly at the turns and blowdowns. There is a short moderate climb just prior to the summit. The summit is marked with a canister and sign. The distance from the junction area to the summit is approximately .7mi with a little over 400 feet of elevation gain.
The junction area is a little bit higher than the col, so the path I elected to take toward KD descends slightly to a low spot and then climbs fairly steadily to the summit. (If you find yourself descending a significant amount of elevation over steep terrain, you may be heading down an alternate approach rather than headed toward the summit.) I am sure that this low spot was somewhat above the true col. There are at least 3 paths through the col area and I was on all three at various times. The most well-defined one of these is the one that is furthest uphill, but they all seem to become less obvious and braid together shortly after leaving the junction. I encountered another hiker and we compared notes and we had both lost this trail in both directions in about the same spots. Although I have only completed 57 of the HH, he had done 93, so experience doesn’t seem to be the problem. Once I got back on the preferred path near the low point, it was easier to follow to the summit. The ascent was approximately .7mi with a little less than 400 feet elevation gain, but your mileage will vary with the path chosen. As an example, my descent was .8 mi, but I did need to backtrack twice due to missed turns and for a good quarter mile I was on a different track than the ascent. The path does twist and turn a lot and has several sharp turns, and almost switchbacks, so again you need to be vigilant of the footpath. There are several steep pitches, but they are all somewhat short and there are some easier grade sections mixed in. There is some mud on this segment and on some of the steep pitches the top layer created some sliding opportunities, but not the boggy or rocky stream sections like on the White Cap segment. The summit is marked with a glass jar and a sign.
My total hiking distance (not counting the roadwalk) was 4.7 miles, but that could be trimmed by .1-.2 with better trailfinding. Total elevation gain was a little over 1500 feet. |
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 | Name: |
SpartyHikerfromME |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2021-09-17 |
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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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