Ascent of Mars Hill on 2018-08-01| Others in Party: | Karen Musser
----Only Party on Mountain | | Date: | Wednesday, August 1, 2018 | | Ascent Type: | Successful Summit Attained | | Motorized Transport to Trailhead: | Car | | Peak: | Mars Hill | | Location: | USA-Maine | | Elevation: | 1748 ft / 532 m |
Ascent Trip ReportKaren and I drove to Mars Hill/Blaine...easily found the ski resort and parked. The signs leading to the parking area and International AT are easy to find but the actual blue trail markers were not. The small blue blaze markers that people mention are not like a blue strike in a tree, they are actual small signs in blue and white that have the initials of the IAT on them but the indicator arrows are broken off on some making the actual direction unclear. The trail also meanders in and out of the ski runs so it is not always intuitive. We missed the markers going up and ended up following snow cat trails and ski runs to the top. We found the trail well signed on the way down and followed it perfectly to the bottom so our up route to the left (track) is a steeper track and the track to the right on the USGS map is following the IAT and its signs.
Nice views and a lot of prominence. Wind turbines do not bother me the way they do others. For some reason, I find radio towers and antennas far more disturbing but certainly it takes away from the outdoor experience; but then again, so does the ski runs. The entire mountain is disturbed. Well everyone gets a piece of the action here, the power companies, the ski companies etc... but at least the most prominent peak in this county has been spared some sort of lame no trespassing sign and we can hike up the IAT to the top and at least bag it. We still have Baxter State Park that has done an amazing job of leaving Maine wild.
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| Summary Total Data | | Total Elevation Gain: | 1098 ft / 334 m | | Round-Trip Distance: | 2.8 mi / 4.5 km | | Grade/Class: | 1,1++ | | Quality: | 4 (on a subjective 1-10 scale) | | Route Conditions: | Maintained Trail, Unmaintained Trail, Open Country | | Ascent Statistics | | Gain on way in: | 1098 ft / 334 m | | Distance: | 1.3 mi / 2.1 km | | Route: | see GPS mostly ski trails | | Start Trailhead: | Parking near IAT 650 ft / 198 m | | Descent Statistics | | Distance: | 1.5 mi / 2.4 km | | Route: | see GPS but mostly International AT |
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