Date Hiked: 11/18/07

Conditions: Lower portion of the old Baldpate Mountain Trail is in fairly good condition; upper portion is eroded, poorly laid out (runs right next to or in a streambed) and hard to follow at the top. Multiple stream crossings require some care on icy rocks. Snow on the trail from the beginning, with depths up to nearly 1' in shady locations and some deeper drifts near the summit. The summit looked and felt like winter!

Special Required Equipment: Some traction aid is essential for the many icy ledges near the summit; we used instep crampons.

Comments: A very enjoyable hike up a trail that apparently sees little use. The waterfalls and cataracts at the beginning are beautiful and starting to ice up. The upper portion of the Baldpate Mountain Trail is a bit of a mess; I suspect that there may be an effort to discourage its use as the junction with the AT was unmarked and I saw no blazes for approx. 1/4 mile below that junction. We ended up bushwhacking a bit in that area as the apparent location went right up a wet streambed.

Submitted by: Jay Meyer, Adrian Kendall & Tom Jeter