Balancing on Bald Mountain

May 14, 2011

    Life is all about balance. Since I just spent a week in New York City, and then two days working, it was time to get out in the woods. I didn’t have all day to hike so I needed something close by.  I have been wanting to hike in to Little Concord Pond for a while to check the terrain and see what it would be like to carry a canoe in so I can fish.  I hiked in there nearly twenty years when My daughters were small. We climbed Bald Mountain and the pond is on the way so I decided to kill two birds with one stone. Hike the mountain and check out the pond on the way.
    There is an old road to the pond but it is closed to motorized vehicles. That helps protect the pond and guarantees a more peaceful hike since the trail coincides with the road all the way to the pond. It is nearly 2/3rds of a mile to the pond and for most of the distance is level or slightly uphill. There is a little over a tenth of a mile near the pond that is moderately steep and will prove taxing while carrying a canoe.
    When I got to the pond. In a sheltered spot near the put in, there was a 50 foot long patch of snow, a foot and a half of snow!

With the cool weather forecast, it will last at least another week.  Today would have been  a nice day to fish but my canoe weighs 83 Lbs. No matter how bad I wanted to fish I would not lug that in here.  I walked

around the West side of the pond and discovered 7 canoes and boats a short distance  from the landing and I could see an eighth across the pond. I took a few photos and  then headed back to climb  Bald Mountain.
    The trail to Bald and Speckled Mountains diverges right from the road to the pond, within sight of it and begins immediately  to climb the west ridge of Bald Mountain. The trail climbs moderately but steadily over ledges and through woods to the rocky summit in about 3/4s of a mile.

There is a nice overlook facing West and looking over Shagg pond and Washburn pond. The mountains to the West were obscured by lowering clouds. I followed the ledges east and upon seeing the top of Speckled Mountain in the clouds, I decided to head down rather than hike another couple of miles for no view.

It was 9:40 when I began going down. I met a group of three rock climbers headed up to climb the cliff that forms the South side of Bald Mountain and gives it it’s name. I made it back to my vehicle in about 50 minutes.  Except for a couple of minutes as I passed by the rock climbers, I had the place to myself. Exactly what I was looking for after the hustle and bustle of the big city and a couple of busy days at work.