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Category: Objects and Landmarks
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Sept, 1-3: Well, we got out of here by 9:00am Monday morning and had a nice trip over via the Moosehead Lake area...
That's Moosehead Lake from Indian Hill in Greenville, Maine.... Rode the East side of the lake up to Kokadjo, stopped in to see Fred and Marie Candelaro but neither were there so we rode the dirt roads (Greenville Rd. & Golden Road) by Baxter State Park to East Millinocket where we got onto I-95 at Medway-Millinocket. Didn't see any moose, bear or anything for that matter - but everything looked the same as the last time we were there....The West Branch of the Penobscot River was just as beautiful as I remembered with no new condo's perched on the hills which was refreshing to see...Got to Oakfield somewhere around 6:30 or so....
My Mom didn't know we were coming so I attribute that to our email service that decides for us who to send mail to and who not to send mail to... but she was pleasantly surprised anyways!
Tuesday was spent working on my Dad's 130+ tree grove, limbing and clearing so Kathy can ride the mower down through without being knocked off into the bushes. It's really sad to see the place go up for sale when so much work has gone into it.
We took my Mom to Madigan in Houlton to see my Dad and it was really good to see him again. His mind seems a lot better now than before and Pete & I took him out on the city streets cruising in his wheel chair. An arborist by heart, he spent most of his time identifying the trees for us. Pete bought him a chocolate milk and he was like a kid at an ice cream stand. He thoroughly enjoyed his trip and thanked us several times for getting him 'out of there'!... He's already made two breaks and I have a feeling a third is in the works... He's got two of the three numbers of the code on the door and he's no dummy...he'll figure it out!
We loaded the flow boat up onto the truck without smashing anything and it's a pretty neat rig...complete with an electric 3.5 hp motor...can't wait to race the kayaks at East Inlet!...Got back to PBurg late and got up late!
Sept. 4: The cats are sticking to us like fly-paper and the day was spent unpacking then we went up to the Prospect Mountain Trail to finish blazing and putting up signs...A wandering ATV rode part of the new trail down and came to the conclusion, perched on a drop-off, that it may be a bit dangerous to continue on so he turned around... we put up 4 posts & a sign stating the trail was for hiking only.
Took a ride to Deer Mountain Campground in the pm to see if Dave and Louise had made it that far yet. No hikers in the campground! Dave and Louise are 80 and 76 respectively and annually hike a section of the trail carrying clippers etc...to help out with maintenance. This year they're leaving Dixville Notch and hiking north to the border and were planning on leaving last Sunday.
Our hiker from Maine didn't show up today so perhaps tomorrow...Deer below the ledge in the pm...(small buck)
John and Kim (Mr. & Mrs. CTskidoo) came up in the afternoon with queen-sized sheets and a CD player... Our plans for running a summer camp for kids and adults may not be too far off with all the beds, bedding and paraphenalia that has been donated. Thanks John and Kim!
Sept. 5: The valley has disappeared this am...
Adam & Biana's trail journal has been posted on their Blog so sit back and take a hike without the bugs, wet grasses and muckholes....Enjoy!
Found out that our hiker from Maine saw a week of sunny weather and switched plans to the Presidentials first, then the Cohos Trail from the Southern end. We should see him in a couple of weeks....Dave and Louise are at Ramblewoods - we picked them up to take them to their car at The Balsams but they wanted to work at the Pittsburg Ridge Runners clubhouse with us...so we all went down to help remove 450 bolts to replace the track on one of the Piston Bully's (groomer)... That was a back-breaking job and with eight of us working, we only got two sides done, with two to go...only 900 bolts holding those things onto the track!
A crew of four came up from Connecticut to finish staining the clubhouse and as we were working, it occurred to us that five workers were from Connecticut and two were from Vermont, but only six of us from Pittsburg. Where are all the locals?...ah, let me guess...at the Lancaster Fair? ....Jules Rancourt (a native Burger) was performing at night and was the opening act for some country singer....
Mo & Barbara, Dean, Heidi & Justin, Bob, Jon & Tammy, and Jeff & Kim are up... Jim & Ginny, plus a whole caravan of campers are at the end of Danforth and when we got back from The Balsams, there was our camper from Quebec setting up in the campground...Chris had so much fun scouting out the Deadwater region in the Spring that he decided to come back and hike it. Saw Oliver at Dube's this am - good to see everyone again!
Yes, I know 'Mountain News' is sparse lately but it's been a busy place around here. I listed my parents house on Craigslist and sold their motorboat for them, trying to raise enough money to move both of them to the Portland, Maine area where they'll be closer to the family. My mom isn't physically able to handle another northern Maine winter and my sister, Kathy, is getting worn out from the burden so November 15th, my mom is moving down with my sister Sharon and Bill until the house sells and then we'd like to find an elderly home for both so that they can be together. That's the ultimate goal.
Up for sale is their log cabin 2-bedroom ranch sitting on 100 acres of prime land - 50% wooded and 50% fields. It has 2 bathrooms, den, living room, dining room & kitchen with a full drive-in basement. Wall-to-wall carpeting throughout and the kitchen, living room and dining room are designed open-concept with a three-place brick chimney to the cathedral ceiling with open beams and chandeliers. There's an air-tight woodstove on a brick hearth in the living room and another woodstove in the cellar and the main heat is oil.
Also included is a 3-bay detached garage for 'the toys' and a log-sided lighted tool shed - a small apple orchard with plum, cherry, and pear trees - multiple perrenial flower gardens, 130+ mugho and red pine trees line the paved driveway creating groves on both sides.
A nice woodsroad takes you way down to the lower field which served as a potato plantation for decades and a snowmobile/ATV trail runs on the east side of the field, through the property which takes you to the Oakfield Hills, Lake Mattawaumkeag and Pleasant Lake. Also access to ITS 86, I believe. From the house you could access the Moosehead Lake region, Island Falls and beyond, and into Canada (New Brunswick) and even Pittsburg, NH - Ha!
Asking price is $500,000 but if someone was to sub-divide it into (10) 10-acre lots for 70,000 each, it would pay for itself plus. The property sits in Oakfield, Maine 15 miles south of Houlton - two miles from I-95 on the Ridge Road.
Sept 8: Another cool morning - everyone has gone home and Pete's back to work with Dennis at a place in Stewartstown.
Played with Real Estate most of the day, listing the house wherever I could then went down to work on the road, raking and raking until the rake broke in half...Ha!...my arms were tired anyways!
Sept. 9: Left early and helped Pete in Stewartstown with the new septic system... built a big rock well around a maple the landowner wanted to keep then came back to mow down by the road and campground. A 4-pt buck was laying under a spruce near the driveway and watched me for a minute or so until it dawned on him that I wasn't going to be leaving soon so he got up and walked off into the woods.
Ruth and Linda C. came up in the afternoon, curious about The Cohos Trail and the new sign at the bottom of the drive on Danforth Rd. They're both Pittsburg natives and were quite thrilled to know a trail exists to the top of the mountain.
Heard from John (Hydiseka) and Norma (Mrs. Hood) and they'll be up to Snowfields October 2nd. I'm so excited about seeing them again I'm postponing my trip to Oakfield until the 3rd. There won't be any 'Mountain News' for a week or so unless Ridgerunner decides to post something.
Sept. 10: Another sunny, comfortable day...
Pete dug in the upper pond then brought the pond-muck down to tentsite # 2 via cart.... totally rebuilt the two platforms...
Sept. 11: Troy (Tomcat) left for the border at daybreak to tie the known record of hiking the Cohos Trail in 9 days although actual time spent on the Cohos Trail is probably 8 days seeing he did Mt. Adams and stayed at The Lake of the Clouds hut on Mt. Washington the first day. We'll be picking him up at the border later on....
To kill time, we took a trip up to 2nd Lake and found that we could walk out to the islands, the water was down so low...
Sept. 12: Brought Troy to Newry, Maine where he started hitching towards Skowhegan and we figured his actual time spent on the trail was 7 days, 23 hours...breaking all known records...
More hikers coming in today possibly - they were two days behind Troy so I'd better get out and clean the Bungalow...
Cleaned the Bungalow then weedwhacked around the spruces and all the dead carcasses of chipmunks the cats are dragging home and hiding up there...Boots had a chunk taken out of his face by one and that mellowed him out but Paddles, in his natural cami's, is in full hunt mode.
Sept. 13: No one else showed up so they're probably at Lake Francis Campground...
Armand is picking up the snowmobile bridge planking and railings from Stark on Tuesday for the Camp Otter Trail and Sandy gave us the go-ahead on the Moose Alley Trail. The paperwork for the Covell Mtn. Trail got lost in the shuffle of new ownership and needs to be re-done so that trail is still on hold as well as the Round Pond Brook Trail.
Pete dug in the pond some more while MtnGoat cleaned off the long ledge running down the driveway. Moved the lupines to another flower bed and leveled out the path... Dave and Joy showed up mid-project and they've been up since Friday kayaking East Inlet. They saw two moose yesterday, both in the water and saw three Cohos hikers working their way up Rt. 3 today...
Sept. 14: Cloudy out this am...
The sun came out early morning after the fog lifted so MtnGoat asked Ridgerunner what the plans were for the day...On high-alert, he said 'Nothing in particular, probably dig in the pond - What are you going to do?' --- Well, how about going up into Covell and re-flag seeing the flagging is missing.... So that's what we did....
We left the parking area on the northeast end of Round Pond and followed the woods lane up about 1/4 mile then struck off into the woods to the left. In several areas we had to scout out around to find the flagging but eventually made our way to the top of Covell. MtnGoat had brought 6 rolls of flagging and even a 5-yr. old could find the trail now. We GPS'ed the route again and took pictures of key areas. Didn't see any moose or bear but the evidence of both were everywhere...
Ridgerunner in a Hobbleweed Grove
Hydiseka from Pennsylvania may recognize this place - Ha! (Does 061 ring a bell?)
Moose Highway
The Top of Covell Mtn.
Came back and dug in the pond 'til suppertime and MtnGoat waited for the Charley Horses to begin....had one small round that lasted 5 minutes or so and spent the night in paranoia while muscles twitched, moaned & groaned waiting for me to make the wrong move - so I didn't move a cotton-pickin' inch most of the night! (Didn't get much sleep either!)
Sept. 15: Rained some during the night and the fog is lifting out of the valley floor up the mountain... Pete's working with Dennis this am. finishing up the septic in Stewartstown... Several campers coming into the Campground this weekend to do some hiking and fishing...
Dug in the pond some more and there are some pretty big boulders packed into clay on the bottom...This human excavator business is getting tiresome!
Sept. 16: Sunny out but cool...
Dropped our Covell Mtn. and Round Pond Brook Trail Reports off at Sandy Young's and Joe Daley's then Pete went back to splitting wood and MtnGoat went to the campground...Tentsite #2 isn't drying as fast as we thought but hopefully by Friday it'll be solid enough to pitch a tent on.
Sept. 17: Cloudy out but cold...
The campers have cancelled - they're staying someplace warmer and I really don't blame them... weekend lows are going to be down in the 20's...
The game cameras are going up all over and Hydiseka sent these photos of deer posing for their nighttime photographs...
Sept. 18: Cloudy out and threatening to rain...
Rained off and on most of the day with some heavy downpours so we took a ride to Ocean State Job Lot... saw a bull moose on the way down and another on the way back. The second one was by the 1st Clarksville Store and he was huge - big bodied and a big rack!
Sept. 19: Cloudy, windy and cold... going to the Lumberjack Fest at the Balsam's this am....
Had a good time and of particular talent was the springboard contest where contestants had to notch the post, insert their 'springboard', climb up, notch it higher, insert another springboard, then climb to the top and chop through the white pine round at the top...
The rest of the photos are of the highlights of the day... and only two braved the log-rolling contest...
....after the shock of falling off the log, he dried off and went back for more!
Took a walk in the pm to see how the archery crew made out next door. They have lots of photos on their game cameras but nothing hanging on the game posts. The 5-pt buck was standing in Mark's driveway when we came home from the log fest...Ha!
Sept. 20: Frost hit last night but we covered the squash, tomatoes & green peppers...
Dug in the upper pond most of the day getting ready to create a diversion pond so that the lower pond doesn't silt up. We'll find out, come spring, whether it works or not...
Sept. 21: Happy Birthday, Brad! (14)...
Trenched out the Moose Trail and widened the brook in key places...
Sept. 22: Cloudy out but no rain yet...
That's Moosehead Lake from Indian Hill in Greenville, Maine.... Rode the East side of the lake up to Kokadjo, stopped in to see Fred and Marie Candelaro but neither were there so we rode the dirt roads (Greenville Rd. & Golden Road) by Baxter State Park to East Millinocket where we got onto I-95 at Medway-Millinocket. Didn't see any moose, bear or anything for that matter - but everything looked the same as the last time we were there....The West Branch of the Penobscot River was just as beautiful as I remembered with no new condo's perched on the hills which was refreshing to see...Got to Oakfield somewhere around 6:30 or so....
My Mom didn't know we were coming so I attribute that to our email service that decides for us who to send mail to and who not to send mail to... but she was pleasantly surprised anyways!
Tuesday was spent working on my Dad's 130+ tree grove, limbing and clearing so Kathy can ride the mower down through without being knocked off into the bushes. It's really sad to see the place go up for sale when so much work has gone into it.
We took my Mom to Madigan in Houlton to see my Dad and it was really good to see him again. His mind seems a lot better now than before and Pete & I took him out on the city streets cruising in his wheel chair. An arborist by heart, he spent most of his time identifying the trees for us. Pete bought him a chocolate milk and he was like a kid at an ice cream stand. He thoroughly enjoyed his trip and thanked us several times for getting him 'out of there'!... He's already made two breaks and I have a feeling a third is in the works... He's got two of the three numbers of the code on the door and he's no dummy...he'll figure it out!
We loaded the flow boat up onto the truck without smashing anything and it's a pretty neat rig...complete with an electric 3.5 hp motor...can't wait to race the kayaks at East Inlet!...Got back to PBurg late and got up late!
Sept. 4: The cats are sticking to us like fly-paper and the day was spent unpacking then we went up to the Prospect Mountain Trail to finish blazing and putting up signs...A wandering ATV rode part of the new trail down and came to the conclusion, perched on a drop-off, that it may be a bit dangerous to continue on so he turned around... we put up 4 posts & a sign stating the trail was for hiking only.
Took a ride to Deer Mountain Campground in the pm to see if Dave and Louise had made it that far yet. No hikers in the campground! Dave and Louise are 80 and 76 respectively and annually hike a section of the trail carrying clippers etc...to help out with maintenance. This year they're leaving Dixville Notch and hiking north to the border and were planning on leaving last Sunday.
Our hiker from Maine didn't show up today so perhaps tomorrow...Deer below the ledge in the pm...(small buck)
John and Kim (Mr. & Mrs. CTskidoo) came up in the afternoon with queen-sized sheets and a CD player... Our plans for running a summer camp for kids and adults may not be too far off with all the beds, bedding and paraphenalia that has been donated. Thanks John and Kim!
Sept. 5: The valley has disappeared this am...
Adam & Biana's trail journal has been posted on their Blog so sit back and take a hike without the bugs, wet grasses and muckholes....Enjoy!
Found out that our hiker from Maine saw a week of sunny weather and switched plans to the Presidentials first, then the Cohos Trail from the Southern end. We should see him in a couple of weeks....Dave and Louise are at Ramblewoods - we picked them up to take them to their car at The Balsams but they wanted to work at the Pittsburg Ridge Runners clubhouse with us...so we all went down to help remove 450 bolts to replace the track on one of the Piston Bully's (groomer)... That was a back-breaking job and with eight of us working, we only got two sides done, with two to go...only 900 bolts holding those things onto the track!
A crew of four came up from Connecticut to finish staining the clubhouse and as we were working, it occurred to us that five workers were from Connecticut and two were from Vermont, but only six of us from Pittsburg. Where are all the locals?...ah, let me guess...at the Lancaster Fair? ....Jules Rancourt (a native Burger) was performing at night and was the opening act for some country singer....
Mo & Barbara, Dean, Heidi & Justin, Bob, Jon & Tammy, and Jeff & Kim are up... Jim & Ginny, plus a whole caravan of campers are at the end of Danforth and when we got back from The Balsams, there was our camper from Quebec setting up in the campground...Chris had so much fun scouting out the Deadwater region in the Spring that he decided to come back and hike it. Saw Oliver at Dube's this am - good to see everyone again!
Yes, I know 'Mountain News' is sparse lately but it's been a busy place around here. I listed my parents house on Craigslist and sold their motorboat for them, trying to raise enough money to move both of them to the Portland, Maine area where they'll be closer to the family. My mom isn't physically able to handle another northern Maine winter and my sister, Kathy, is getting worn out from the burden so November 15th, my mom is moving down with my sister Sharon and Bill until the house sells and then we'd like to find an elderly home for both so that they can be together. That's the ultimate goal.
Up for sale is their log cabin 2-bedroom ranch sitting on 100 acres of prime land - 50% wooded and 50% fields. It has 2 bathrooms, den, living room, dining room & kitchen with a full drive-in basement. Wall-to-wall carpeting throughout and the kitchen, living room and dining room are designed open-concept with a three-place brick chimney to the cathedral ceiling with open beams and chandeliers. There's an air-tight woodstove on a brick hearth in the living room and another woodstove in the cellar and the main heat is oil.
Also included is a 3-bay detached garage for 'the toys' and a log-sided lighted tool shed - a small apple orchard with plum, cherry, and pear trees - multiple perrenial flower gardens, 130+ mugho and red pine trees line the paved driveway creating groves on both sides.
A nice woodsroad takes you way down to the lower field which served as a potato plantation for decades and a snowmobile/ATV trail runs on the east side of the field, through the property which takes you to the Oakfield Hills, Lake Mattawaumkeag and Pleasant Lake. Also access to ITS 86, I believe. From the house you could access the Moosehead Lake region, Island Falls and beyond, and into Canada (New Brunswick) and even Pittsburg, NH - Ha!
Asking price is $500,000 but if someone was to sub-divide it into (10) 10-acre lots for 70,000 each, it would pay for itself plus. The property sits in Oakfield, Maine 15 miles south of Houlton - two miles from I-95 on the Ridge Road.
Sept 8: Another cool morning - everyone has gone home and Pete's back to work with Dennis at a place in Stewartstown.
Played with Real Estate most of the day, listing the house wherever I could then went down to work on the road, raking and raking until the rake broke in half...Ha!...my arms were tired anyways!
Sept. 9: Left early and helped Pete in Stewartstown with the new septic system... built a big rock well around a maple the landowner wanted to keep then came back to mow down by the road and campground. A 4-pt buck was laying under a spruce near the driveway and watched me for a minute or so until it dawned on him that I wasn't going to be leaving soon so he got up and walked off into the woods.
Ruth and Linda C. came up in the afternoon, curious about The Cohos Trail and the new sign at the bottom of the drive on Danforth Rd. They're both Pittsburg natives and were quite thrilled to know a trail exists to the top of the mountain.
Heard from John (Hydiseka) and Norma (Mrs. Hood) and they'll be up to Snowfields October 2nd. I'm so excited about seeing them again I'm postponing my trip to Oakfield until the 3rd. There won't be any 'Mountain News' for a week or so unless Ridgerunner decides to post something.
Sept. 10: Another sunny, comfortable day...
Pete dug in the upper pond then brought the pond-muck down to tentsite # 2 via cart.... totally rebuilt the two platforms...
Sept. 11: Troy (Tomcat) left for the border at daybreak to tie the known record of hiking the Cohos Trail in 9 days although actual time spent on the Cohos Trail is probably 8 days seeing he did Mt. Adams and stayed at The Lake of the Clouds hut on Mt. Washington the first day. We'll be picking him up at the border later on....
To kill time, we took a trip up to 2nd Lake and found that we could walk out to the islands, the water was down so low...
Sept. 12: Brought Troy to Newry, Maine where he started hitching towards Skowhegan and we figured his actual time spent on the trail was 7 days, 23 hours...breaking all known records...
More hikers coming in today possibly - they were two days behind Troy so I'd better get out and clean the Bungalow...
Cleaned the Bungalow then weedwhacked around the spruces and all the dead carcasses of chipmunks the cats are dragging home and hiding up there...Boots had a chunk taken out of his face by one and that mellowed him out but Paddles, in his natural cami's, is in full hunt mode.
Sept. 13: No one else showed up so they're probably at Lake Francis Campground...
Armand is picking up the snowmobile bridge planking and railings from Stark on Tuesday for the Camp Otter Trail and Sandy gave us the go-ahead on the Moose Alley Trail. The paperwork for the Covell Mtn. Trail got lost in the shuffle of new ownership and needs to be re-done so that trail is still on hold as well as the Round Pond Brook Trail.
Pete dug in the pond some more while MtnGoat cleaned off the long ledge running down the driveway. Moved the lupines to another flower bed and leveled out the path... Dave and Joy showed up mid-project and they've been up since Friday kayaking East Inlet. They saw two moose yesterday, both in the water and saw three Cohos hikers working their way up Rt. 3 today...
Sept. 14: Cloudy out this am...
The sun came out early morning after the fog lifted so MtnGoat asked Ridgerunner what the plans were for the day...On high-alert, he said 'Nothing in particular, probably dig in the pond - What are you going to do?' --- Well, how about going up into Covell and re-flag seeing the flagging is missing.... So that's what we did....
We left the parking area on the northeast end of Round Pond and followed the woods lane up about 1/4 mile then struck off into the woods to the left. In several areas we had to scout out around to find the flagging but eventually made our way to the top of Covell. MtnGoat had brought 6 rolls of flagging and even a 5-yr. old could find the trail now. We GPS'ed the route again and took pictures of key areas. Didn't see any moose or bear but the evidence of both were everywhere...
Ridgerunner in a Hobbleweed Grove
Hydiseka from Pennsylvania may recognize this place - Ha! (Does 061 ring a bell?)
Moose Highway
The Top of Covell Mtn.
Came back and dug in the pond 'til suppertime and MtnGoat waited for the Charley Horses to begin....had one small round that lasted 5 minutes or so and spent the night in paranoia while muscles twitched, moaned & groaned waiting for me to make the wrong move - so I didn't move a cotton-pickin' inch most of the night! (Didn't get much sleep either!)
Sept. 15: Rained some during the night and the fog is lifting out of the valley floor up the mountain... Pete's working with Dennis this am. finishing up the septic in Stewartstown... Several campers coming into the Campground this weekend to do some hiking and fishing...
Dug in the pond some more and there are some pretty big boulders packed into clay on the bottom...This human excavator business is getting tiresome!
Sept. 16: Sunny out but cool...
Dropped our Covell Mtn. and Round Pond Brook Trail Reports off at Sandy Young's and Joe Daley's then Pete went back to splitting wood and MtnGoat went to the campground...Tentsite #2 isn't drying as fast as we thought but hopefully by Friday it'll be solid enough to pitch a tent on.
Sept. 17: Cloudy out but cold...
The campers have cancelled - they're staying someplace warmer and I really don't blame them... weekend lows are going to be down in the 20's...
The game cameras are going up all over and Hydiseka sent these photos of deer posing for their nighttime photographs...
Sept. 18: Cloudy out and threatening to rain...
Rained off and on most of the day with some heavy downpours so we took a ride to Ocean State Job Lot... saw a bull moose on the way down and another on the way back. The second one was by the 1st Clarksville Store and he was huge - big bodied and a big rack!
Sept. 19: Cloudy, windy and cold... going to the Lumberjack Fest at the Balsam's this am....
Had a good time and of particular talent was the springboard contest where contestants had to notch the post, insert their 'springboard', climb up, notch it higher, insert another springboard, then climb to the top and chop through the white pine round at the top...
The rest of the photos are of the highlights of the day... and only two braved the log-rolling contest...
....after the shock of falling off the log, he dried off and went back for more!
Took a walk in the pm to see how the archery crew made out next door. They have lots of photos on their game cameras but nothing hanging on the game posts. The 5-pt buck was standing in Mark's driveway when we came home from the log fest...Ha!
Sept. 20: Frost hit last night but we covered the squash, tomatoes & green peppers...
Dug in the upper pond most of the day getting ready to create a diversion pond so that the lower pond doesn't silt up. We'll find out, come spring, whether it works or not...
Sept. 21: Happy Birthday, Brad! (14)...
Trenched out the Moose Trail and widened the brook in key places...
Sept. 22: Cloudy out but no rain yet...
Past Winners of Mountain Trivia
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