ME AT - West Branch Ponds Rd to Katahdin Ironworks Rd - 9/3

[askus3]

Date of Hike: Wednesday, September 3, 2003.

Route: Appalachian Trail - West Branch Ponds Road to Katahdin Ironworks Road.

Pictures: link to Gallery - Maine Appalachian Trail - Album III - (West Branch Ponds Road to Katahdin Ironworks Road) - Pictures 32-62

Total Distance: 14.5 miles.

Difficulty: On this hike we climb to the highest point on the entire trip, White Cap Mountain. The hike starts ascending from the get go with a 2,000 foot climb in the first three miles. Then we make short ascents over Hay, West Peak and Gulf Hagas Mountain before a long and steady descent to the West Branch of the Pleasant River. So this was a more agressive hike than anything we have done to this point. Total elevation gain for the hike was 3150 feet.

Conditions: excellent

Weather: Sunny, upper 60s, chillier at the summits.

Participants: Aaron Schoenberg (leader), Dean Gletsos, Alex Lantino & Chris Connolly. Stelios & Maria joined us as far as White Cap Mountain.

Drive statistics:
0 5:28 AM JoMary Lake Campground (Chris & I take off in our cars)
6 5:42 Jct. JoMary Road & ME 11
17 5:54 Jct. KI Road & ME 11
24 6:04-6:15 Katahdin Ironworks gate
30 6:30-6:33 Gulf Hagas Parking Area (end of hike - leave Chris car here)
37 6:48 Katahdin Ironworks Gate
43 6:58 Jct. KI Road & ME 11
54 7:12 Jct. JoMary Road & Me 11
60 7:23-7:54 JoMary Lake Campground (picked up Alex, Dean, Stelios & Maria)
75 8:34 AM AT crossing of West Branch Ponds Road - start of hike

After hike: The 31 mile drive from the AT crossing of Katahdin Ironworks
Road with Chris driving took us from 5:21-6:10 PM.

The drive from the Katahdin Ironworks Gate to the Gulf Hagas Parking Area is well marked at intersections with signs indicating Gulf Hagas, so there is no difficulty finding where you are to park. The lot is on the right, at the bottom of a hill on a straight away. This is a decent sized parking lot and a blue trail starts here. Note, that the lady at the KI Gate let Chris & I thru without charging. She said she honors the campground pass for JoMary Road here, but that it is inconsistent from one gatekeeper to another as to whether we will get a free pass with someone else.

Hike Statistics:
0.0 1630 8:45 AM West Branch Ponds Road - start of hike
1.6 2450 9:35-9:55 Logan Brook Lean-to - on left
2.0 2810 10:10-10:15 view on right
3.0 3654 11:05-11:15 White Cap Mountain
---- 3540 11:25 North spur of White Brook Trail - on left
4.1 3020 11:50 South spur of White Brook Trail - on left
4.7 3244 12:05-12:20 Hay Mountain
---- 2900 ------------ low point
6.3 3178 1:00-1:10 West Peak
7.0 2450 1:30 Sidney Tappan campsite
7.9 2683 1:50-1:55 Gulf Hagas Mountain
8.8 1960 2:25-2:40 Carl Newhall Lean-to - on right
12.3 1140 4:00-4:10 Junction - Gulf Hagas Cut-off - on right
13.0 1000 4:30 Junction - Gulf Hagas Trail - on right
14.0 780 4:55 The Hermitage - on right
14.3 740 5:05-5:15 fording West Branch of the Pleasant River - after crossing
make left off of AT on blue spur trail to parking lot
14.5 750 5:20 PM Katahdin Ironworks Road - end of hike

Hike Report:

This was a dayhike between two lumber roads in the Hundred Mile Wilderness. Remember it is a misnomer to say this is a wilderness as there are lumber roads criss crossing this area which in my planning I utilized. It is called Wilderness because this is the longest stretch of the AT between two paved roads (100 miles). We passed 17 other hikers some of which were thru hikers going northbound.

I misjudged the timing of the before hike car trip and since I was ahead of schedule (I told everyone we would be back and to be ready by 8 AM), I showed Chris around the Katahdin Ironworks State Historic site. We were all looking forward to a good workout right at the start as we knew we were going to climb White Cap. The weather was nice and cool at the start, so we warmed up quickly with the climb. During the past couple of days, many of the northbounders were telling us to be aware of the hornets nest right in the dirt on the trail a short distance before we arrive at Logan Brook Shelter. We were concerned since most travel is northbound that although they said there was a warning sign placed there, we would not see it due to our southbound route of travel. Our fears were unfounded as there indeed was a warning sign and we detoured a bushwack around a fifty foot section of trail. We did not see any hornet activity nor did we care to. Logan Brook was a nice stop about halfway up with a nice waterfall at the shelter. White Cap was an open and exposed summit, with views and ripe blueberries all around. You can clearly see Katahdin from the summit. Stelios & Maria after climbing White Cap with us, returned the way they came and again saved us extra drive time by driving my car back to the CG. The other summits on this hike gave us views, but nothing near as impressive as White Cap. Although, Gulf Hagas had some impressive views to the west. After Hay Mountain, Dean decided to move along at a faster pace and was unaware that we were taking the blue trail off to the left after fording the Pleasant River, so he added another mile or so and started the climb beyond KI Road, before realizing that he must be off base and did not see Chris's car when crossing KI Road. We met up when we were crossing the Pleasant River and he backtracked to that point. There was a stretch in the vicinity of Sidney Tappan campsite up a distance onto Gulf Hagas Mountain that I did not enjoy. The trail was narrow and the brush was low cut with no trees to provide shade from the bright sun. It appeared that all the growth was third cut, like this was once a major area of logging operations and the campsite may have been a logging camp in years past. The descent of Gulf Hagas on the southwest side was far more interesting as it was freshly cut and ribbon marked avoiding a section that looked like it was worn terribly by erosion. The fording of the West Branch of the Pleasant River was a foot deep but hundred foot wide ford. You have to take your boots off for this one, but at the time we crossed it was refreshing and mild. Especially after 14 miles of hiking.

Planning: One place that we did not go to (except Stelios & Maria) was the Gulf Hagas. The reason was that we included this hike which I heard alot about on last years Baxter Trip. But if you decide to break up your trip with a several night stay at JoMary Lake Campground, an extra days hike to do the Gulf Hagas, I have to highly recommend as a great idea. This is a loop hike of eight miles starting at the Gulf Hagas Parking area on KI Road where we ended this days hike. It is a shame so many thru hikers in their haste to get to Katahdin at this point, bypass the Gulf, as this is a highlight of this area.