[at-l] Aug.23-27: Hiking along the Maine and New Hampshire border with Canada

[Papa Bear]

Hello Friends

Last Monday I got home after 5 full and tiring days in the border area of far western Maine and far northern New Hampshire.  I was continuing my Border Peakbagging that I had started in July 

After taking a bus to the Boston area and spending the night with my son and his family, I made the long drive up to Maine and then into Quebec on Wednesday. I spent part of Wednesday afternoon climbing a boundary peak near Mont Gosford.  Thursday I spend more time climbing Mont Gosford and one of its sub peaks.  Friday I spent a long day on the woods roads, boundary swath and bushwhacks going from Le Petite Lac at the foot of Marble Mountain, to Twin Peaks (bushwhack), Barker (bushwhack) and all the way along the border to the Galloway Road.  That afternoon I drove over to Chartierville Quebec, then down and into the US at the point-of-entry in Pittsburg NH.

On Saturday morning Oncoman (aka Pierre, a hiking friend) met me at lake Francis State Park where I had spent the night and spent the day off of East Inlet Road.  Together we bagged the Crown Monument, Mount d'Urban and on to Boundary Pond.  Oncoman then went on to bag Trumbull and Salmon while I took the 5 mile short cut  back to the car via East Inlet Road.  Sunday morning, with rain threatening, we hiked along the border from Route 3 to Prospect Hill, and then went our separate ways home.

The weather could not have been better.  As the lower parts of New England got rain most of the weekend, there were cool temperatures, low humidity and a mixture of sun and clouds in the north country.  Only on Sunday did we fail to see the sun. And of course there were no bugs whatsoever.

A few thoughts:

The Boundary
The border between the US and Canada (and I suppose Mexico as well) is a line defined by treaty with an area to each side which is called the "boundary swath" which is (supposedly) kept clear.  This section of the border was defined by treaty in 1842 and was first laid out by the newly established International Boundary Commission (the "IBC") in 1845.  The IBC is still in operation and they are tasked with maintaining the boundary monuments and the boundary swath.  OTOH, the border patrol polices the US border to keep folks on one side or the other.  You don't generally see the border patrol in this area.  For that matter you don't generally see anyone in this area.  On the Mexican border I've heard things are a little different <-:  

Hiking along the boundary is not like hiking aslong a trail. Let me just say the terrain is highly variable - from easy flat walking, to unclimbable cliffs. And from trail-like conditions to very wet bogs, to piles of boughs and branches, and to sections that are so overgrown that you wouldn't even know you were on the boundary.  It is slow and tiring hiking from the steepness of the terrain, from the work of stepping over old dead wood and more recent cut branches, and from trying  to stay dry when crossing a boggy section.  

But I love it.  It is so remote that I met not one other human in the 5 days I was out. I did however see several moose and a porcupine. I climbed peaks few know are even there and seen views no one except another crazy like me has seen.

Goals reconsidered
When I was planning this trip I guess I was still in my obsessive peak climbing, list completion mode and had laid out lots of peaks to climb and had lined up a full schedule for each day.  Well, I managed to accomplish at most half of my plan, due to reasons of time, overly ambitious plans, dense bushwhacks, natural obstacles (rocky roads), man made obstacles (washed out culverts), stupidity and just plain exhaustion.  I guess I get tired faster than in some other years because I'm a bit out of shape and dare I say it - I'm older than I used to be!

But I also came to the realization that I'm out there to enjoy myself and to enjoy the great outdoors, and not because something or some place is on some list.  The list, like a compass, is just a tool - one that helps to motivate you to see new places, or to see old places that are worth revisiting. The list is not the goal. I expect to be doing this for many years, so there's no point in hurrying. 

Enjoy the reports and photos.  There's a few photos in-line, a number of links to other photos and plenty more in Albums.

Compete report by day: http://www.viewsfromthetop.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14033
Complete photo albums for all 5 days: http://gallery.backcountry.net/papabear_August_2006_Boundary]Albums


Best regards
Papa Bear