N.Central Maine woods...Memorial Day 2008

[bigbog]

Date(s) Hiked: 5/27/2008

Trails(s) Hiked: No Designation...

Total Distance: ~.5mi

Difficulty: Nothing difficult on foot, ~20yds(total) of mud:3-5"

Conditions: A little wet(occasional sprinkle)...gradually increased to constant rain.

Special Required Equipment: Cepek Mud Country tires, 4wd on occasion, dedicated hiking boots.

Trip Report:
Cloudy, somewhat wet Memorial Day 2008 in the Maine woods....so what else is new? ;-)
Up I-95 to Medway/Millinocket, then westward along the Penobscot's (River) West Branch (NorthEast of the Topo Map), ending up heading southward then hanging a left...eastward from the main road...to the Farrar Mtn. area(E-NE of NE bay of Moosehead Lake..and Kokadjo).
TerraServer Topo:
Geographic Location

Monday...
Memorial Day Album (23 images)

Everytime I get out into the woodlands I end up saying to myself..."You should have a camcorder with ya' man..." Yes, the sounds of the woods are surreal, but the cheap point & shoot images will have to do for a while...;-)
Hope everyone had a nice weekend....
Steve

 

[MichaelJ]

Beautiful! There's nothing quite like hiking along the Penobscot.

 

[bigbog]

..Boy, What a day today would've been!...#$^$&%

It's always fun to get in, burn some gasoline for a while (Arrghh...), but get out into the woodlands MichaelJ, particularly in areas that you know of that are away from the crowd...
*I'll get some other pics up on the other side of Farrar Mtn where it's a little drier...later on when we get some sun!...
Yep, the Penobscot is quite the waterway...

*Also have to mention that although the blackflies are starting to hatch out sporadically here & there....I wasn't bothered at all by them, whereas other people I know were out in different areas(Roaring Brook...or was it the Jo-Mary Lake area..???)...anyways, and claimed to have been Eaten Alive...;-) Go figure...

 

[wa-loaf]

Is this Gulf Hagas? Looks kinda like it and your map covers that area.

 

[bigbog]

...pic and map..

wa-loaf,
That's the gorge section...between Rip Dam and the Big Eddy on the West Branch(Penobscot). You can drive down and park in lot, walk down to the trail that lines the near-edge. It's the road to the hydro station, which is just a little ways downstream from the Dam.
Sorry, had a good time just getting out...got a little hung up on the Farrar Mtn. area...I just used that area from TerraServer's maps....if you back out onto the single main road between Farrar Mtn's lattitude and Big Spencer Mtn(western side of road) it's about..?..~6mi or so up to the Golden Road..then another 8mi+ up to Ripogenus Dam(beginning of last section of West Branch).
I-95 to Medway exit:
*It IS easier to simply drive up I-95 to the Medway exit(if one were to call that long drive easy!;-))..then go westward. The road, albeit not the Autobahn, IS paved all the way up to Ripogenus Dam and a little ways below. The main dirt roads aren't bad at all, but you do have to watch for potholes that take a little time to weave your way thru in areas..but are drying up and slowly smoothing out some
I-95 to Newport exit:
...BUT you get to see more of the area if one were to get off I-95 at Newport and make your way up to Greenville..then up either side(Eastern side is a little less rough) of Moosehead Lake...one will most likely see more wildlife.
DeLorme's state Atlas & Gazateer is invaluable up in the woods of Maine. Just dirt roads and woods(some areas cut, some not)...brooks/streams, ponds/lakes...and there aren't any signs designating the names.
A section of the main road...North/South, up ~5mi miles from Kokadjo..named Sias Hill (Rd)..a rather lengthy descent(~100yds)...is mostly rock(to begin with), but it's hardly grated at all...and gets really rough quickly for any vehicle if you aren't aware of it...

$.01
steve

 

[bigbog]

..Another nice section of the West Branch...

Coming westward from Millinocket, then Abol Stream Bridge...upstream of the Big Eddy section...is a small bridge.. "Telos Rd" heads northward. A small parking lot is on north side of bridge and possesses trails leading down to some "pushy" water ....really refreshing in hot weather. *<<-- and I don't just mean to paddle...;-), nice just to catch the breezes coming from whitewater.

This image is from beginning of section, just below Telos Rd bridge:

one more image from ~60' further downriver:
river #2

 

[MichaelJ]

That section from the dam on down has some excellent whitewater rafting. I even went back for more.

 

[bigbog]

....

Nice pics MJ,
There are some stretches on that West Branch that are Not just your everyday holes/rapids..

 

[Skier75]

Oh, yeah. I remember rafting about 13 yrs ago with my daughter, when she was 13. We did the Kennebec River, it was a blast! Some of it scared the #!rap outta me, then there was some that wasn't as exciting....thank god. When we started out and they we're giving us the instructions on "if you end up in the water" part, I was standing there thinking what am I getting myself into??? I don't regret going.

 

[MichaelJ]

Thanks, Bigbig! Oh, S75, I love the "if you end up in the water" lecture, especially the "break your legs and drown". Somehow, in two trips on the Penobscot and one on the Dead I've managed to never fall out of the raft; I credit that lecture's inspired fear!

 

[bigbog]

...

;-);-)

 

[bigbog]

Gulf Hagas....section of W.Br. Pleasant R.

wa-loaf....
Apologies for dropping the ball on your question of Gulf Hagas! (ie Screw Auger Falls...etc).
It's on the West Br. of the Pleasant River(in its upper stretches)...~15mi due east of Greenville(southern tip of Moosehead Lake)....or...(approaching from the East)...~13mi NW of Brownville (Jct)....along the westward running Katahdin IronWorks road...(very small sign....if you're ever looking for it).
Small trails so you have to watch for em'...and it's a short, and not difficult hike, but it ISN'T flat! The road is on a bluff(sort of)...and the terrain is more of a mild, wide canyon but it begins right there...you immediately head downhill, thus it isn't a place you wanna start out...in mid-afternoon....and it's a good place to possess somekind of headlighting or good-sized flashlight cause it's not that difficult to lose your way...the first time(I can still remember that;-))

$.01
SteveD

 

[wa-loaf]

wa-loaf....
Apologies for dropping the ball on your question of Gulf Hagas! (ie Screw Auger Falls...etc).
It's on the West Br. of the Pleasant River(in its upper stretches)...~15mi due east of Greenville(southern tip of Moosehead Lake)....or...(approaching from the East)...~13mi NW of Brownville (Jct)....along the westward running Katahdin IronWorks road...(very small sign....if you're ever looking for it).
Small trails so you have to watch for em'...and it's a short, and not difficult hike, but it ISN'T flat! The road is on a bluff(sort of)...and the terrain is more of a mild, wide canyon but it begins right there...you immediately head downhill, thus it isn't a place you wanna start out...in mid-afternoon....and it's a good place to possess somekind of headlighting or good-sized flashlight cause it's not that difficult to lose your way...the first time(I can still remember that;-))

$.01
SteveD

No worries. I've been to Gulf Hagas and did the full 8 mile loop. The end was kind of a slog, but it's a beautiful place.