Aroostook County High Point Trip Report
Peaked Mtn (2,220+ ft)
Date: November 21, 2003
Author: Clifford Young
I followed Fred Lobdell's directions from State Highway 11 in Ashland. At the fork (1.7 miles) there was a
sign at the edge of the road: "Road Closed per Realty Road Committee". Pretending not to notice the sign,
I continued ahead pretending that the sign probably meant some other road and intending to ask at the
checkpoint for other alternatives. Just before the checkpoint was another sign facing the opposite direction
with the same closed notice. Luckily it was only the five miles or so I had already crossed that was closed.
Entered the North Maine Woods area through the Six Mile Checkpoint. This checkpoint is open 24 hours a
day. The fee schedule has changed. They now charge $5 per day for Maine residents (that would be me),
and $8 per day for non-residents (that would be the vast majority of the people in the world).
Information can be found on their web site.
The roads are passable with any type vehicle, but be aware that these are logging roads used to haul tree
length logs and the guy with the biggest vehicle has the right of way and that's usually the logging truck.
There has been recent logging activity in the vicinity of Peaked Mountain and a new road has been
constructed running north from the Jack Mountain Road. This is at about 0.3 mile east of point 1112 on the
topo map (46° 33' 24.4" N, 68° 47' 57.2" W).
After two and a half days of rain I was a little concerned as this
road was only one lane and turning around could be a problem. I went in about 0.2 mile to a turnout on the
right and parked. There is an excellent view of Peaked Mountain from here as both sides of the road have
been clear-cut for several hundred feet back from the road. The cut-off areas have been replanted and signs
along the road (here and elsewhere) identify the species replanted and the year. It is an interesting diversion
to attempt to guess the age of various stands before reading the signs.
I set out across the clear-cut to the west and entered the woods on the far side crossed the remnants of an
old logging road and came out on the east side of the small pond shown on the topo. Skirting the pond
around to the northeast was the old logging road, which had a series of beaver dams across it such that it
resembled a linear rice paddy more than a road. This forced me to head more southwest than I wanted but
after a bit of wandering to find the driest crossing I gained the logging road shown on the topo at a point
just a bit south of point 1209. Took a GPS reading at this junction to be sure that I had found the right road
and it indicated (54° 46' 34.2" N, 64° 33' 38.9" W) which put me something like 100 miles or so to the
northeast of Churchill Falls, Labrador. Yup, just where I thought I was.
Oh well, might as well climb this mountain anyway.
There was orange surveyor's ribbon coming in from the east and going up the road, so I followed it.
A short distance above was a junction (there many old roads not shown on the topo in this area) where it
turned right and soon left the road and went west up over the side of the mountain. It went west to just
above 1500 feet then turned to the south. I continued to climb to the west-northwest and once again found
the remains of an old logging road. This time I was able to follow it to about 1975 feet where it headed to
the west and I left to the north toward the peak. Up to this point the going was very easy in open
hardwoods, but the last couple of hundred feet was very tough going as the spruce-fir forest took over.
Like others before me, I could find no sign of a benchmark but my GPS (which no longer thought I was in
Labrador) confirmed the location. There is a great view to the southwest from just south of the highpoint.
On a clear day I would expect that Katahdin would be visible.
On the way down the clouds closed in and the compass came out. Heading due east intersected the old
logging road to the north of where I had left it. Took the road south to where the survey tape entered and
the followed the tape back out to the east to the road I had parked on. I came out at 0.5 mile from the Jack
Mountain Road and this would be the place to head in for future adventurers. It avoids the beaver swamp
and believe me that's a good thing. By the looks of the survey tape I believe there is going to be
considerable logging in this area over the next few years.
Highpoint Statistics -
Located at (46° 34' 12" N, 68° 48' 53" W)
Owned by JD Irving Company of New Brunswick, Canada
Elevation gain of 1,120 ft from parking spot on logging road
Prominence exceeds 1,000 feet