| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Indian Mountain , ME |
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 | Trails: |
Laurie’s Ledge Trail, bushwhack, Indian Mountain Circuit, Pearl Ponds Spur, Pear Ponds Trail, Mountain Brook Pond Trail, Baker Pond Road, Pear Ponds roadside campsite spurs, Baker Pond Trail, Grassy Pond Trail, Horseshoe Pond Trail, Pearl Ponds Side Trail, logging road, Nation’s Nature Spur Trail, Nation’s Nature Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Wednesday, August 9, 2023 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
$17/day for non-Maine residents to enter the KI Rd and $12/day for ME residents. Cash or check only. Gate opens at 6am and closes at 9pm. There’s a $20 fee outside of these hours I believe. I entered from the Greenville side. Where KI Rd turns right, turn left onto Upper Valley Rd. I got all screwed up here on my way out in the dark… the roads should en in fine shape for low-clearance. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
The guidebook says that Indian Mtn Trail crosses a small stream but I don’t even recall it so it must have been very small. Impressive considering they’d gotten 4in of rain the day before! |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Laurie’s Ledge Trail was primarily marked with orange diamonds but also had some blue and red diamonds higher up mostly as well. The occasional very faded yellow blaze too. Not hard to follow. Indian Mtn Circuit was marked with red diamonds. It was not hard to follow but is VERY overgrown. It also had a bridge collapsed (but I still walked across it “safely”) 5-10min east of the Pearl Ponds Spur Trail. Pearl Ponds Trail was marked with red diamonds. Note that Mountain Brook Trail is signed as Baker Loop Trail. I believe this is because when Baker Pond is frozen, the idea is that you combine it with Baker Pond Trail to make a loop. Baker Pond Trail had some red diamonds but has a VERY overgrown section of road shortly after the spur to the campsite headed down to the pond. This section of trail was not signed and is mentioned in the guidebook as an extension of Mountain Brook Pond Trail. Grassy Pond and Horseshoe Pond Trail are marked with red diamonds. The spur trail to access Nation’s Nature Trail was signed as Laurie’s Ledge Trail too which I thought was odd and was marked with orange diamonds. The loop itself I believe was blazed in yellow. I do not recall any blowdowns! |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
As far as I know, they allow dogs and these would be fine trails for them. |
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 | Bugs: |
I don’t recall them being too bad. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
4th day in New Vineyard after taking Tuesday off due to the severe rain. I took the day to try and redline all the trails around Little Lyford Lodge & Cabins. Two technically separate but much shorter hikes will be posted after this. An attempt to describe this crazy route: Laurie’s Ledge Trail to Indian Mtn —> bushwhack to true summit —> Laurie’s Ledge Trail down to —> Indian Mtn Circuit —> Pearl Ponds Spur —> Pearl Ponds Trail to Baker Pond Rd —> OAB on Mountain Brook Pond Trail (signed as Baker Loop Trail) —> Baker Pond Rd with quick OAB on road campsite spurs from Pearl Ponds Trail —> OAB on Baker Pond Trail to campsite and to Mountain Brook Pond (called an “extension” of Mountain Brook Pond Trail in the guidebook; not signed) —> Baker Pond Rd —> OAB on Grassy Pond Trail —> Baker Pond Rd —> OAB on Horseshoe Pond Trail —> Pearl Ponds Trail (beginning opposite Grassy Pond Trail) —> Spur to Pearl Ponds —> Pearl Ponds Trail —> Indian Mtn Circuit (south) toward Horseshoe Pond —> logging road north as described in guidebook —> Baker Pond Rd and Upper Valley Rd back to parking —> Spur Trail (described in guidebook as access to Nation’s Nature Trail but signed as Laurie’s Ledge Trail) —> Nation’s Nature Loop —> car
A few things to note: Indian Mtn Circuit west of the logging road on Gaia is shown as Horseshoe Pond Trail which is incorrect. Though not described in the guidebook, the Indian Mtn Circuit does go all the way around the mountain (perhaps this is new) and is shown as such on Gaia. I did not hike it. I will thoroughly dread hiking it if it’s added to the next edition as it was overgrown and boring (okay maybe it was THAT bad). Note the confusing signage mentioned above regarding Mountain Brook Pond Trail vs Baker Loop Trail and the lack of signage where Baker Pond Trail continues to the pond and campsite and an “extension” of the Mountain Brook Pond Trail continues south to the pond. I believe this can mostly be explained by the fact that the two trails are meant to be combined in winter by skiing over the pond and forming a loop. A piece of that extension trail and Indian Mtn Circuit were overgrown but the other trails/roads were at least relatively pleasant. The 50yd view spur on Laurie’s Ledge Trail is signed and obvious.
The weather was cool, wet, and windy. So much so that I’d become upset with myself for forgetting to transfer my neck gaiters into my pack to keep my ears warm! That being said, despite this supposedly getting 4in of rain the day before, the trails were in fine shape. Very wet, but no crazy running water or huge puddles, and these are good trails to do in high water as there’s not much in the way of water crossings.
As I thought about whacking to Indian Mtn on my way up, I noted that the woods looked open as the trail contoured NE of the summit. From where the trail ends, the woods are sprucey to the summit so I backtracked a very short ways to where they seemed to open up again and began whacking south. This was a mistake and I should’ve just whacked from the NE. Woods weren’t terribly thick but steep and as I neared the summit it became very bouldery and scrambly to the point of needing to go around things. Cool little area and a bit of a surprise but again just easier if you whack from the NE. Anyway, the highpoint is a ledge and has a very well put together register thanks to the coldrivercampcook who hung when we were in the area a couple months ago together.
Trails were pretty quiet. Didn’t see anybody on most of them. For redlining purposes, when hiking Nation’s Nature Loop counterclockwise and you reach the cabins, GO LEFT past a cabin for a few dozen feet maybe, then turn right to continue between the cabins to the other side. That would seem to be the route of the true trail. Any questions, feel free to email! Gaia had this hike at almost 19mi, roughly 1900ft of gain, and 7.5hrs. |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2023-08-16 |
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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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