| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Black Mountain - East Peak, Black Mountain (Sumner-Peru), ME |
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 | Trails: |
Black Mountain Trail, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Friday, July 14, 2023 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parking is as described in the guidebook. You could get further up along the road with 4WD and high clearance but the guidebooks directions seem to want you to stop right after the T-intersection. There is a small pullout here. Immediately after there’s some decent washout (mid-clearance should be okay) and another pullout just ahead. To get to the first pullout, I think low clearance cars would be fine. I was the only car 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: |
None other than a little water flowing down the washed out old roads. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Perhaps this isn’t clear to readers so I should explain that many of the “trails” described in the MMG are 1) not official trails and are merely routes named after the mountain (as seen here) and 2) often do not resemble trails but rather routes up obscure old roads and such. This “trail” is a prototypical example of this. There is no blazing and all of the markers described in the guidebook seem to be no longer except for the occasional flagging and cairn but I only noted these once a decent ways into the hike. I do not specifically recall any blowdowns on the footpath or roads. Perhaps most important, is to note that the old skidder roads that the route follows down low and for most of its length are VERY overgrown and tick filled. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
I wouldn’t recommend it given the ticks. |
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 | Bugs: |
Lots of bugs and ticks. I found a half dozen plus on me or in my car after the hike. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
2nd hike of the day after Mt Tire’M. This would be an EXCELLENT candidate for EXCLUSION in the upcoming edition of the MMG. Beyond some surveyors tape (some of which was on the ground and I carried out) the trail is not marked which makes it VERY difficult to follow through the skidder roads which make up the majority of the hike. Follow the guidebook’s directions carefully. In particular, early on when you come to the open space in a logged area, turn left and cross a brook on a culvert as the guidebook says, but then immediately turn right and head UP a skidder road; don’t continue straight on a skidder road. I was lucky to find a track on All Trails, which I rarely use, that helped guide me down low. Further along the skidder roads, they became a little easier to follow as some flagging and cairns did appear. Note the right hand turn OUT of the woods and onto another old road (washed out with water flowing down some slab) as this turn is VERY east to miss heading downhill. In fact, I very foolishly missed this turn on my descent, continued down the old road, then when it reached the footpath in the woods again I turned left on it to ascend back UP and thus made a little loop…oops. There are small sections of trail down low that are in the woods but these are also often obscure with ill marked turns. Of course with how overgrown the old roads are, I also got drenched with the recent rain.
Anyway, once finally off of the tick filled skidder roads, the footpath was quite pleasant. Steep at times and has an obscure turn or two but way more enjoyable than the skidder roads down low. The ledge around the summit was quite nice but there really wasn’t any open view to speak of. It seems that the trees have grow up as I only had restricted views to a few peaks. As the guidebook says, there’s paths up here going every which way so perhaps you could scope something better out.
Once on the eastern summit, I had the bright idea to check to see if the main peak was on the NE2K list (thanks a lot coldrivercampcook ;P) as it certainly seemed to have the prominence to be. I had service and checked, and sure enough it was so off we went on a N/NW bearing toward the main peak. There are some herd paths around the summit, but they eventually end, and I was whacking through the shrubbery around the summit. Cool vegetation and scenic bud not necessarily the most pleasant to whack through. I again got my pant legs soaked. I crossed the obvious drainage shown between the two peaks high up which was east to hop across. The footing in this area wasn’t too wet although it was further west toward the true col. Grades were flat/very gradual.
On the other side of the drainage things turned to woods, and mostly softwoods. Maybe a little thick but not too bad and the grade steepened but not but again not bad at all. I hit the summit ridge a little east of the true high point and walked it through somewhat thick woods to the true high point. It was not hard to find. There was no register but a cairn a few rocks high. It would get covered up in winter though as it wasn’t much more than a foot high. On my return trip, I aimed a little more westerly toward the true col/higher up the drainage and found much thicker woods/spruce. Nothing too terrible or long-loved though. I crossed the brook a little higher up and on the other side found “spongy” footing so headed a little more easterly, to avoid the wet footing as soon liked up with my route in, then headed back to the eastern peak around roughly the same line.
I followed the route described in the guidebook back down the mountain. Gaia had me at about 5mi, 1500ft of gain, and a little less than 3hrs. Keep in mind that some of that distance and gain is not only from the buswhack but also from my silly little loop where I missed a turn, then turned the wrong way back UP the mountain. |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2023-07-16 |
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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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