North, Middle, South Weeks

Today's hike was the 3 Weeks peaks. We decided to do and out and back from York Pond Rd by the Berlin Fish Hatchery. This brought our list of the New England 100 highest peaks to 84. When we left the Twin Mountain KOA there was a dense ground fog. By the time we arrived at the trailhead it had mostly cleared with the sun coming out shortly after we started up the trail.

Saturday Oct 9, 2004

This is the route we took today up to Mt Weeks.

Directions to the trailhead:From TWin Moutain head north on Rte 3, turning right on Rte 115. Follow Rte 115 until Rte 2 where you take a right. Follow Rte2 to Gorham and take a left on Rte 16. Follow Rte 16 North until Berlin Center and take a left onto Rte 110. The sign for Rte 110 is a little hidden so keep a sharp eye out for it a little ways after Rte 116 splits into a one way road. Follow Rte 110 @ 7 miles until you see the sign for York Pond Rd on your left. There is a large sign for the Fish Hatchery and a hiking trail head sign as well. Take a left onto York Pond Road and follow it to the Fish Hatchery in about 4 miles. Go through the gat into the fish hatchery and folow the dirt road for 2.1 miles. You will come to a fenced raceway and find the trailhead on your left with parking for 3 or 4 cars.

Here is a close up of the route from North Weeks to South Weeks.

This is the profile of the hike from our GPS.

The sign explaining the process of raising fish at the fish hatchery.

The trailhead is off the left of the map by the canal.

Here are two of the raceways where fish are raised.

A view inside the raceway where we say hundreds of fish 4- 5 inches long.

York Pond is on your left as you head towards the trailhead.

The start of the trail. There is a gate to keep out vehicles, but the sign says that foot traffic is welcome.

Getting ready to head out. We arrive 20 minutes later than expected (okay - 10 minutes after we left the campground we had to turn back when we realised we forgot our lunch in the trailer :>) We were meeting Carole on South Weeks in order to give her a ride back to her car. She did a one way from Rte 2 over Mt Waumbek. Carole, who is a grand mother and has been married the same number of years as our friend Julie (aka Cantdog) has been alive gave us a real workout trying to keep up with her. It wasn't until the end of the hike we learned that she enjoys trail running on Mt Major for fun.

Two tenths of a mile later we came to a large opening where the Bunnell trail goes to the right and the York Pond trail straight ahead.

A short time later we came to this bridge.

We encountered two river crossings with no bridges - neither were difficult to get across staying dry - the boys enjoyed watching us as they cooled off.

GEri taking the hard way while Kerry enjoys the water.

There had been a lot of trail work recently over several muddy sections. We even managed to teach the boys to use the bridge work rather than getting muddy!

Kinsale was very proud of learning to cross the bridges.

Geri and Kerry congratulated Kinsale.

Geri rewarded them with a drink of fresh water. Kinsale carries two water bottles and a water dish, while Kerry carries their leashes. Up until this point the trail was fairly gentle and covered with leaves.

We reached the Kilkenny trail in 1 hour.

AS we turned onto the Kilkenny trail the trees changed to pines - no more leaves.

The trail stays pretty steady all the way to the summit of Mt Weeks where there is a sign marking it.

The trail down and up to Middle Weeks is easy to follow with nothing difficult. Soon we arrived at South Weeks and enjoyed lunch. We looked for a cannister but did not find one. Carole had arrived just before us.

Geri enjoying a drink in the sunshine just before starting our return trip. It took us 2:45 to reach the summit of South Weeks.

Back at North Weeks we investigate a herd path to the West and discovered this large bone.

ARen't they cute! Kerry (left) and Kinsale are our neighbors dogs that we take hiking as often as we can. We are their god parents and love them as though they were our own. These guys are great hiking companions, well mannered, and adept at scrambling over rocky areas when needed.

Geri and Carole enjoying a view of Mt Cabot, Bulge and Horn.

A very nice hike - especially when the forecast as late as Friday morning was calling for rain showers. Glad that they missed the mark on this forecast!

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