Adventures
Trip report from our Memorial Day weekend backpacking to Horns Pond in the Bigelow Mountains of Maine.
The hiking:
- 4.1 miles one way.
- We started on the Fire Warden's Trail that starts at Stratton Brook Pond (you don't want to know how buggy that area is in May) then took the Horns Pond Trail at the junction. The bugs diminished the higher we hiked.
- The second day we hiked 1 mile up to the peaks of the South and North Horn, for a total of 2 miles of hiking. It was a nice rest day with naps and reading in the afternoon.
- This campsite and pond is also a great location for a day hike.
The accommodations:
- Free! No site fees, what a deal for such a great spot.
- No fires. Bummer.
- We used the shelters that were located there and left our tent at home. Probably not the smartest thing to do. The site caretaker told us that last Memorial Day weekend the whole campsite was full to capacity (58 warm bodies). The weekend of our trip was much quieter in comparison.
- There are 2 lean-tos or shelters that sleep 8 each. Lots of campsites and an area for groups.
- This site is on the Appalachian Trail and I suspect is fairly hopping later in the hiking season with both north and south bound thru hikers. Our family loves meeting section and thru hikers and connecting with people at campsites is a bonus for us.
The view:
- The views going up were quite lovely, when we had one. The view from the North Horn down is gorgeous.
- The Horns Pond is a sweet little pond. Reportedly moose visit but we didn't see any. Some people fish in the pond for little brook trout. On a really hot day I'm sure it would be a refreshing swim but it wasn't really hot when we were there.
- There is no view from the shelters, they are located away from the pond for environmental reasons. This was a bit disappointing but understandable. The privies however have a great view of the mountains to the south, including Sugarloaf USA Ski Resort (a view I personally did not appreciate).
Please see our family's home blog FIMBY for more photos of this trip. Also:
We are pleased to announce that we now have a photo blog! This blog will feature photos from our one-day-a-week adventures, as well as anything else that strikes our fancy. We figured that since Renee typically snaps several hundred photos on any given weekend outing, that we could probably scrape together a few good ones to post throughout the following week.
The photo blog has it's own page and RSS feed. Photos posted there will not show up on the main page or in the main RSS feed. So, if you are an RSS junkie add the feed to your reader to keep up-to-date. If you don't have a clue what RSS is, then you might want to learn more, or check photo blog page regularly for updates.
Spring in Maine is a wet hiking season. Maine is blessed with many lakes, streams and rivers to start with. Add to that the seasonal snow melt and flooded and wet trails are not uncommon.
Last week's hike (which I didn't blog) was so wet in fact that 3/4 way up the mountain we were forced to turn back around because the kids' feet, which had been soaked for at least an hour, were uncomfortably chilly. So this week we scrounged through the adventure and clothing cash envelopes as well as asked the kids for a contribution of their own money and ordered Sealskinz socks.
We all wear gaitors to help keep snow out of our shoes.
The socks worked to keep the kids' feet dry but this week's hike wasn't as wet to begin with so they weren't tested to their full capacity. But I'm sure someday they will be.
The ice formations on this hike were so beautiful.
This week's trail up Blueberry Mountain in Brickett Place, ME was surprisingly free of snow and slush. We did cross several streams but nothing like the brook we walked through for nearly a mile last week at Tumbledown. At one point the trail became a stream but we were able to walk along the edge to stay dry.
Not only that but while we were unloading from the car and gearing up we saw a moose! Our 2nd ever sighting of the Maine icon in the 8 years we've lived here. We were all pretty excited even though it was 1/4 mile or so down the road from us.
This hike was full of beautiful scenery in addition to the moose. On a small scale there was the gorgeous trail ice melting and forming icicles and small cathedrals (as I call them) coming up from the ground. There was also the lovely vista of Baldpate Ridge from the blueberry bush covered ledge. On our way down the Stone House trail section we visited Rattlesnake pool, one of the most spectacular parts of this relatively easy hike (4 miles round trip, 1,150 feet elevation).
It was a beautiful sunny and brisk day to enjoy the waters of spring, with comfortably warm feet. What a wonderful day in the woods.
