Sunday November 14, 2004

Boundry Bald & Coburn

Today we hiked two peaks outside of Jackman Maine.

This is the route we took today up to the summit of bbald-coburn.

Directions to the trailhead: From Jackman, ME head towards Canada on Rte 201 for @ 8 miles. Just past a picnic area on the right will be a logging road with a white sign for "Bald Mt. Hiking Trail". Follow the signs and drive as far up the road as your dare :>

Time to summit: 2:00

This is the profile of the hike to the summit from our GPS.

A 3-D view of our hike.

We followed the logging road for @ 1 mile until we reached the trailhead on the left. We started barebooting, but changed to snow shoes after 1/2 mile.

Today the temp was about the same as yesterday - 12 degrees.

The trailhead is well marked, as is the trail.

The trail has some narrow spots with rock ledges to negotiate. There is a small ladder at one location that was easy to negotiate even with snow shoes on. Here we are breaking through the tree line.

The wind was blowing at 40+ mph, creating very interesting cloud formations.

The views were breathtaking.

We continued on towards the summit over the rocks.

Where protected by trees the snow depth was 2 - 3 feet.

The wind was gusting to 50+ mph - enough to make us be very carefull.

Due to the wind we took our time and enjoyed the views.

Here is Papa Bear and Geri making there way towards the summit. Richard added layers ust below the treeline.

Not sure if this is a carin or not, but it looked nice :>

In the distance we spot the summit which has a small building with an antenna on it.

Just before the summit the trail passes through a section of tall trees that provided a good wind block.

Check out the clouds!

The building on top of the summit.

It appears as though the building is powered by solar panels.

Papa Bear hanging onto the carin for balance that marks the summit - notice the draw srings of his hood.

Julie, Richard, and Geri together for a very quick pic before we head back down.

A look at the building from the back. There are signs asking that you keep away from it.

One last look. On the return trip to the car we met a group of 8 French Canadians on there way up the trail.

Next - we headed south of Jackman to hike Coburn peak which is on the 50 finest list. This is the route we took today up to the summit.

Directions to the trailhead: From Jackman, ME head towards sotuh on Rte 201 for @ 14.5miles from the intersection of Rtes 15 and 201. Turn right onto a logging road that is marked by a telephone pole at the entrance with 2 support guy wires, one with a white plastic sleeve, the other with a white one. The small metal identifier numbers on the pole are: 550/234/1270. (thanks to Bigmooose for the directions) At 2.2 miles there is a clearing with a four way intersection. Continued on this road up another precarious rocky stretch, curving uphill to the left where you will reach a fork where snowmobile trail arrows pointed left and right. The left path had a small sign that said "Coburn Summitt." Park here (if you made it this far) and start hiking towards the summit.

Time to summit: 1:07

This is the profile of the hike to the summit from our GPS.

A 3-D view of our hike.

The trail follows a logging road which had been well traveled by ATV's packing down the snow.

In 30 minutes we came to a small building.

A view of our destination behind the building.

Beyond the building is a gate which marks the start of the trail which is marked with pink ribbons and easy to follow.

The trail had not been broken yet and covered with a foot of snow.

Although there were some blow downs the forest is open and easy to negotiate around them.

67 minutes from the start we reach the summit.

Papa Bear (Richard) heads up the small platform for a view.

Our 4th peak in two days and once again we are rewarded by great views.

And of course more wind :>.

A view of the building at the top of the peak.

No idea what we were seeing, but we could see a long distance.

This building had both solar panels and propane tanks. From here it took us 45 minutes to descend back to the car. Another great hike!

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