| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Chairback Mountain, Columbus Mountain, Third Mountain, ME |
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 | Trails: |
Spur Trail-Gulf Hagas Loop, Appalachian Trail, East Chairback Pond Spur, bushwhack, West Chairback Pond Spur, Third Mountain Trail, Gorham Loop Trail, road walk, Henderson Brook Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Wednesday, June 21, 2023 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Long drive down KI road to Gulf Hagas parking. $17/day for non-Maine residents. They only accept cash. Over $100 ($120 maybe?) for season pass which is only good for this and Jo-Mary Rd. The road is well taken care of and may be bumpy with some small rocks protruding but any car should be okay with care. We first spotted a car at the northern end of Third Mtn Trail on Chairback Mtn Rd for Zachary first. No cars parked there and room for only a few. The roads to get here were a little narrower and slightly tougher than KI Rd but low clearance cars should again be okay with car. Just watch out for some washout turning off of KI Rd. Room for closer to a dozen cars at Gulf Hagas but we seemed to be the only ones there. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
The outlet of West Chairback Pond was rock hopable but probably wasn’t 24hrs before with all the recent rain. Everything else was pretty easily rock hopable except for the crossings on Henderson Brook Trail which were trickier. The first/westernmost was the only one I got my feet wet on (submerged rock hop) but the others were not necessarily easy either. There was rope at two of the three crossings on Henderson Brook but I did not use them or see how they’d be all that useful in most situations. The trail crosses then recrosses the brook almost immediately on its first two of three crossings if heading west to east so if water was high you could bushwhack here. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
I don’t recall if the spur trail at the start was blazed or not. The AT was of course blazed in white. Third Mtn Trail was blazed in blue except for where it turns left off of the “road” toward Indian Pond where it is blazed in yellow. Gorham Loop Trail is marked with red diamonds like a ski trail. I think Henderson Brook Trail only had the very occasional and very old and faded light blue blaze. Other than this trail, all the trails were almost surprisingly well blazed. There were some blowdowns but I don’t recall exactly where and overall the blowdown situation was pretty good. The biggest trail maintenance issue I’d say is the fact that portions of Third Mtn Trail (southern section) and Gorham Loop Trail are VERY overgrown and should be cut back. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
I believe dogs are allowed and most hiking dogs should be able to handle these trails. Scrambling is pretty minor on the AT. |
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 | Bugs: |
They were very bad even with bug spray. Mostly mosquitos. No ticks today despite some very overgrown and brushy trails. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
I picked up what I thought was a water bottle but later realized was someone’s fuel that they’d lost in an MSR canister. |
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 | Comments: |
2nd and last full day spent in Old Town. A fantastic hike with the one and only zporterColdRiverCampCook! We spotted his car at the northern end of the Third Mtn Trail, then started at the Gulf Hagas lot and traversed the AT over Chairback, Columbus, and Third mountains with OABs on spurs to East and West Chairback Ponds along the way. Zachary’s working on the Maine 2000 footers so we were sure to bag all highpoints along the way. The summit of Chairback was right on trail (ledge) and the summit of Columbus is on the southern knob and off trail almost 0.1mi through okay woods. There’s a USGS marker there. Zachary regretted not bringing a jar.
Where the AT crosses Third Mtn Trail, Zachary continued on to Fourth Mtn and I did an OAB on the long southern section of Third Mtn Trail. Zachary reported that the AT no longer goes close to the summit of Fourth Mtn and it’s now a longer whack to the summit. He then continued down to the northern end of Third Mtn Trail to his car and then headed over to hike Indian Mtn. Meanwhile, after I did an OAB on the southern section of Third Mtn Trail, I continued down the north end of it to the road, then back up to redline Gorham Loop Trail, then a road walk to Henderson Brook Trail, which I hiked east to where it crosses KI Rd, then walked the road the final few tenths of a mile back to my car and the Gulf Hagas Lot.
The AT was of course wet, muddy, and steep in sections but overall was a beautiful and very pleasant walk which we both throughly enjoyed. Some wonderful views from the many ledgy areas as well. The ponds were beautiful. The southern section of Third Mtn Trail continues to climb steeply at first, then traverses a beautiful area through the col before descending, steeply at times, into the drainage. Once in the drainage, it’s a long, awkward, walk with some ups and downs toward the pond. It is also totally overgrown at times so I would not recommend it for people not experienced in following obscure trails (although it’s not really obscure so much as just very overgrown…and the blazing is consistent and frequent enough). The road that the guidebook says it joins no longe resembles a road but the turn OFF of it right onto the footpath on the way back UP to the col is COMPLETELY OBSCURE. Just retrace your steps when the trail disappears and look for it. Also, the route to the pond turns off the “road” marked by a small cairn and is blazed in yellow. The yellow blaze is very obvious but considering there’s no trail sign and the color of the blazing changes from blue to yellow and yet it’s the same trail, this could be very confusing. Furthermore, the “road” continuing ahead had an old blue blaze on it…
The northern section of Third Mtn is obviously much better travelled and pleasant. Fun to meet Fred and Adam and his wife and chat. A huge thanks to Adam for the extra water!! Gorham Loop Trail was not what I expected. While parts of it are quite scenic and pleasant, the southern section is very overgrown through brush and I’m surprised I didn’t pick up a bunch of ticks. Several other sections of trail are very overgrown as well but were in the forest and were more pleasant. The trail also has some very poor footing on this southern end and one small section of boulders that had me wondering if I was on the Ice Gulch Trail in Randolph NH. One of them even moved quite a bit! Lots of PUDS as well. Henderson Brook Trail also had some PUDS and ladders as the sides of the brook are quite steep sided at times.
Gaia had me at 21.75mi, about 4250ft of gain, and 11.25hrs. |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2023-06-23 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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