White Mountain surprise

By TOM ATWELL, Portland Press Herald Writer

Copyright © 2003 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

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Trail name: Bickford Brook Trail/Blueberry Ridge Trail Nearest town: Gilead Region: Western Lakes and Mountains Length: 7 mile loop hike from Bickford House to the Speckled Mountain summit. Difficulty: Intermediate. This is a moderately difficult hike. The DeLorme White Mountain Trail Map and Guide calls this a Level II hike, the middle of its three-class system. But I found sections challenging. Hikers should be in reasonably good shape. It took us about six hours, but spending longer might be fun. Elevation gain: 2300 feet Other: $3 for parking at Bickford House. Directions:In Batchelder's Grant and Stoneham in the section of the White Mountain National Forest that bumps into Maine. Trail head is at Bickford House, which is on Route 113, about 10 miles south of Gilead and 20 miles north of Fryeburg. Maps: Get driving directions from MapQuest. View a topo map from Maptech MapServer. Photo by Tom Atwell Christian Ratliff of South Portland crosses Bickford Brook at Bickford Slides.

If I could afford a Harley, I chided myself as I stopped to catch my breath, I wouldn't be spending my midlife crisis climbing this mountain.

I was about an hour into what was supposed to be a three-hour, 15-minute hike up Bickford Brook Trail to the peak of Speckled Mountain. Already I was tired.

Christian Ratliff, my son-in-law, and I were spending about a minute hiking and two minutes resting at this point. And supposedly we had more than two hours to go.

Fortunately, things improved quickly.

We were hiking the Bickford Brook Trail/Blueberry Ridge Trail loop, including a spur to the summit of Speckled, because I hadn't been able to fit in the day-hike last year.

I hiked the Caribou Mountain loop and Roost Trail during a three-day trip to the Maine section of the White Mountain National Forest, but wanted to do this one as well. Here was my chance. But I should have read the description more carefully.

We weren't really climbing Speckled Mountain. We were climbing Ames Mountain, which ascended quickly, and then continued with only moderate grades for the rest of the trip.

Bickford Brook Trail is four miles long and has an elevation gain of 2,300 feet, but most of that elevation gain is in the first mile or so of the hike.

The views up weren't spectacular, partly because of heavy foliage and partly because of haze that had blanketed Maine for 10 consecutive days. We reached the intersection of the Blueberry Ridge Trail and took the spur to the peak of Speckled.

Hiking got steep again, but we knew the end was in sight. It was worth it. We had made it up in two hours, 40 minutes, substantially less time than the trail description said. Not so bad for a 50-something guy. The Harley wish was a distant and foolish memory now. Before us the view was spectacular; we could see almost 360 degrees. We enjoyed a snack as we soaked in our surroundings. The apple and granola bars tasted great with a bottle of water. There were a couple dozen other people up there as well; there was a communal feeling of accomplishment.

The trip down brought renewed doubt on my part.

The Blueberry Ridge Trail is more glorious than the Bickford Brook Trail, because of the outstanding views of bare ledge, Kezar Lake, Mount Washington, Evans Notch and more. But with the intermittent rain, the haze when it wasn't raining, and the moss that had grown during this damp summer, the ledge was slippery.

Christian and I had to catch ourselves countless times when our feet slipped. And we both fell at least twice.

The views, though, were glorious and we took our time, sampling some of the blueberries for which the ridge is named. And it didn't rain too hard, and the sun, when it came out, invigorated us.

It was about an hour and 15 minutes into our hike down to the intersection with the Bickford Brook Trail when Christian checked the Global Positioning System receiver and told me we only had 0.9 miles of the three-mile trail to go before reaching the fork. We had stopped to look at the view, and Evans Notch was still a long way down. It was about to get steep.

Christian went ahead and I went slowly, trying not to slip, and then I caught up with him. He was eating a sandwich and looking down a stream that was making a minor waterfall down a 45-degree pitch. The rocks looked slippery and water was running over them, and it was obvious that this was meant to be the trail.

"I want one last meal and a witness in case I fall," Christian said, half joking. I agreed, and we ate, drank water, planned our descent and went down. Sometimes I slid, sometimes I stepped, but always I was careful, holding with hands as well as feet. I only fell once.

After our own waterfall descent, we reached Bickford Stream at Bickford Slides, a gorgeous waterfall. We hopped from rock to rock across the stream, rested and watched the falling water for a bit, and then walked quickly the half-mile back to the car on the part of the Bickford Brook Trail where we had started. We had completed the descent in two hours, instead of the two hours, 20 minutes the guide said.

It was hot and muggy, and we wanted to swim and cool off. But we had accomplished our goals, the scenery was stunning, and there were beers in our future. Midlife can feel pretty darned good after all.

Tom Atwell can be contacted at 791-6362 or at: tatwell@pressherald.com