Hiking Day #7 -- Old Hermit Shelter to Baldhead Lean-To
10.9 miles with perhaps 1600 feet of elevation gain
We woke at dawn and left the lovely Old Hermit Shelter. It really is a wonderful place to spend a night out in the woods. Even if you're not hiking the Cohos Trail, I recommend hiking out to it and spending the evening just to experience the peacefulness of the area.
We hiked down to Sugarloaf Mountain Trail and took a right (as per the Databook). We did not take the spur up Sugarloaf as we have been there and done that, and my last weather check informed me of heavy rains on the way for that afternoon. We wanted to make it to Baldface Lean-To before the worst of the downpours reached us.
From here it was a short walk on Nash Stream Road to East Side Trail.
Once down the stone stairs, be sure to stay straight and do not cross the stream (it looks like you are supposed to cross right after you descend to the stream area -- don't -- stay straight).
Always a good idea to sign the registers -- there are a few scattered along the trail north of Stark.
The glacial erratic mentioned in the Databook...
Here's the sharp right to "stay on the main trail, straight ahead to the bog" that is written in the Databook, a mile after the glacial erratic...
Entering the first of the two fields (old logging clearings)...
Note that blazes exist, but sometimes they are hidden...keep an eye out for blazed rocks surrounded by/underneath ferns, or blazes on trees/posts but behind tall vegetation.
Second field...
Bog/pond...
Coming up on the upper headwaters section of Nash Stream Road...
After taking a right...
The gate leading to Gadwah Notch Trail...
...the grass and wildflowers get higher and higher (the wild blooms were beautiful)...
You enter what I believe is Cathedral Meadow...
...stay straight...
...and turn right at Moran Meadow (this turn is not named at the junction, but look for the blazes and follow your Databook and you should be fine).
At this point, to be honest, sitting here on August 24, 2017 writing the recap of this day, I cannot look at the Databook and remember exactly where the below photos were taken. They are between Cathedral Meadow and Baldface Lean-To, but I can't pinpoint the exact turns and the exact locations. I will say there there was a LOT of hiking in waist- to face-high vegetation from this point until we got close to Mt. Baldhead. It is extremely important to look for and follow those yellow blazes...and they are sometimes hard to find in summer's tall and thick vegetation.
This is the trail...straight ahead...there are miles of this kind of hiking on the Cohos Trail...with thorns and snakes and spiders mixed in with the vegetation. This trail is not for wusses.
One of the clearings. There were snakes on the rocks.
One of the longer snakes...
Onward...
Closer to Baldface, the trail resembles trail again...
Soon at the lean-to...
The lean-to! We made it before the rain began.
There is no water at this lean-to, by the way. The closest is a few tenths of a mile back, on the way up the trail. To be safe, on a dry day, you might want to fill up a mile or so back. We had plenty of water with us when we arrived so we did not have a repeat of our Cabot Cabin thirst, thank goodness.
We set up our sleeping area and kept all our belongings to one side of the shelter in case others arrived later in the day; it was barely noon when we arrived and we figured a southbounder might come along later and want to share the space, especially since rains were coming. I discovered I had excellent cell reception here and checked the forecast again...yes, heavy downpours were on the way.
Here's a view from the front of the lean-to...
The heavy rain began a couple hours after we arrived, well before sunset. We went to bed early, snug in our corner of the shelter and happy with the thought that though rain was drenching the ground four feet from our legs, we and all our belongings were nice and dry. The shelter has a solid roof, and we allowed the sound of the rain to lull us to sleep. No one else ever arrived that evening, but if they had, they could have easily and quickly set up on the other side of the shelter, since we left it completely empty just in case.
This was the best night's sleep I had on the trail. I must have slept ten straight hours, waking up just before dawn the next morning.
Tomorrow's post: Baldhead Lean-to to Coleman State Park.
That picture you labeled as Cathedral Meadow is Cathedral Meadow, or at least the location I refer to as Cathedral Meadow in my journal and pictures. It was one of my favorite spots on the trail, although not for any easily describable reason.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised at how much cell reception you got. I got nothing in Stark, and I seem to remember that Baldhead Shelter reception was so weak as to be useless.
The reception at Baldhead Lean-to was so strong I could have watched Game of Thrones if I wanted (I was tempted...but didn't). This was in thick clouds with a storm coming in. I have Verizon, which probably makes a difference. I had reception all afternoon and evening, and in the morning as well.
DeleteI had excellent recpetion in Stark AT THE INN. I also got reception at Panaroma Shelter.