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October Colors around a few ponds, NE of Moosehead Lake(Maine)

bigbog

Active member
Joined
Feb 17, 2004
Messages
4,882
Points
38
Location
Bangor and the state's woodlands
Date:...................10/6/2013

Total Distance:.....~2miles

Difficulty:............trails, some steep but short, essentially leading to views.

Conditions:.........~low50s to low 60s(early AM to ~2pm), clear blue sky...with a few clouds creeping in later in day, on the drive home.
Special Equipment Required: None(just hiking boots)

Trip Report:

Started out from Bangor(~5am), drove up on LilyBay Rd(up Moosehead Lake's eastern shore) to Kokadjo(little stop ~10 north of Moosehead L., at First Roach Pond/Roach River) and eventually into Third and Fourth Roach Ponds to check out an area I had never driven in to(as well as scouted out the area for a girl associated with a group from an
AMC chapter...via paddling.net). AMC chooses some pretty inaccessible spots for campsites...think I'd enjoy more
grass to pitch tents on though....Whew, and in bear country to boot...
Located between 4-5 small, but built on hard bedrock, mountains....made for a rough drive in...but would make for some interesting x-country & additional AT gear, sidecountry-style, assaults on the peaks.
No insects, no deer/moose(all back into deeper woods...at least during daylight hours), no bear....but some birds on the move south and some(Grouse) staying put.
The dozen or so miles around all these mountains made for dry and solid ground = majority birch, some aspen, some looked like elm(I think), whereas a few miles in other directions dropped elevation a little and the pines, firs, spruce took over the majority of growth. A great day for photography(uploaded a couple), but I'm almost set for colder temps.
What started as a doom & gloom, rocky ~10' wide, overgrowth of branches...road...took me to what looks like very accessible backcountry skiing, with use of snowmobile.
By the end of the day I'd call this a successful day for scouted out territory....
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bigbog

Active member
Joined
Feb 17, 2004
Messages
4,882
Points
38
Location
Bangor and the state's woodlands
Hey Nick...anyone better with the camera(which can regarded as a "superset";-) compared with my skillset) would've gotten some terrific birch shots on high ground as I climbed a few bluffs upwards towards the peaks of a few of these smaller mountains. Just so nice areas to ski IF Enough Snowcover would happen...was kind of taken back at the descent possibilities that I really forgot to get pics.
Have to get back to see what it all looks like with vegetation frozen down...ie see what width underfoot I'd need to clear it all without mach speeds = which would probably end in death...lol.
I am so ready for the resorts to start making snow...
______________________________________________
page showing area: So the road I came in was a familiar one(highlighted in BLUE). With the small
mountains encircling from the SW side to eastern side....the thinned out camping areas's turf had
the consistency of sand on bedrock, as did the road from eastern end of 2nd Roach to the labeled
first trail in...NOT friendly with normal tires is an understatement. If this is where the AMC wanted to
escape civilization....I think whoever found it, did a great job....AMC signs up in a couple places...but
anything else pointing to exactly where is a mystery. Maybe on one of their webpages they have more details... Exiting northward was much easier...$7 at JoMary gate, but might be worth it..;-)

https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Lily+Bay+Rd&daddr=Unknown+road&hl=en&sll=45.638017,-69.222751&sspn=0.022835,0.034246&geocode=FROmtQId8B3a-w%3BFfRFuAIdA9rf-w&t=h&mra=dme&mrsp=1&sz=15&z=15


*Just a pasted link..so if there's any issue, feel free to either delete post or shoot me a PM.
 
Last edited:

tomcat

New member
Joined
Nov 12, 2010
Messages
258
Points
0
Location
Dover Foxcroft ME
Website
tomcatoutdoors.blogspot.com
I've been up at Moosehead several times in recent weeks mt biking and was impressed with the color on my most recent ride last weekend. I never been up 3rd & 4th Roach Ponds by car, I live on a crappy enough dirt road that I try not to seek them out. The Views in that area must be good of the White Cap and Lily Bay Mountains. There is good XC skiing at the AMC trails in that area.
 

bigbog

Active member
Joined
Feb 17, 2004
Messages
4,882
Points
38
Location
Bangor and the state's woodlands
Yes.....was my first drive over that way, bedrocked roads/terrain all around the E-SE area from 2nd Roach with more than a few of the smaller mtns encircling. Once the road reaches Trout Mtn and Long Ridge & beyond it gets narrow and is total rock of all sizes, embedded and loose for ~2mi. Might just have seemed rougher cause of my mudtires...y/n? ...but I wouldn't want to drive it with anything else...
Agree...the area seemed really nice for XC & BC..lots of snowmobile-access territory unless its plowed. There were a few+ private camps around on the end of 3rd Roach, so maybe there's hope....but the high & dry terrain gradually dropped a bit to more conifer-soil = did make for some nice views.
 
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