Agamenticus, Second Hill 2/9/08

I haven't been hiking at all in about 6 months. After a pretty good summer last year I decided snowshoeing was next. I bought some MSR Denali Evo Ascent Snowshoes and today I'm going to see how my investment is going to pay off

I arrived at the Ring Trail trailhead on Mtn Rd. in York and quickly noticed that the trail was well broken out and snowshoes were not needed. I guess I'll have to test my investment another day. I started on the trail and in no time, I took the Rocky Road Trail to Porcupine Trail to Second Hill. On the bottom of Second Hill, there was all kinds of animal sign, mostly deer and you could tell they were pawing for food.

Second Hill is 548' tall and is part of the three peaks that make up the Mt. Agamenticus recreation area. The trail to second hill was not broken out and this would have been a good opportunity to try the snowshoes if I had brought them. There isn't much of a view from the top of Second Hill, but I can see Mt. Agamenticus from here. This is my next destination.

I started down the trail I just came from and soon hit the Chestnut Oak trail. This trail is windy and the terrain is beautiful. I then hit the Ring Trail Again and found the Sweet Fern Trail a hundred feet or so later. At the base of Sweet fern are the ruins of an old ski tow system. There are so many ski areas that have shut down since they were first built. I can't imagine going skiing on little ski areas like this for a few cents a day. I think Sugarloaf is $50 a ticket now. There is still a little place in South Berwick called Powderhouse Hill. I think it's like $5 a day and they aren't always open, but it's a nice little ski run and a good place for kids with a sledding area next to the slope.

I hiked up the Sweet Fern trail to the Summit of Mount Agamenticus. At 692' this is not a high summit, but you can see the ocean and the towns of York and Ogunquit, and on a clear day you can see Mt. Washington.

On the top of Mt. A, there are all kinds of buildings and towers. I am not sure if they are all in use or not. There used to be an army Signal Station here years ago, and I am sure some of the Towers are left over from that. There is a building for someone who watches over the mountain to live. There is also a lookout tower which shows you the views to the north and northeast.

It was time to head down. I took the Blueberry Bluff trail down but soon lost the trail. The terrain here is fairly wide open so I "Bushwacked" through the open space down to the ring tral and on the road back home I was. This is my second time up this mountain. I came here a few years back with the family and did some geocaching. There are two geocache's here if I remember right and we found them both.

This is a great little mountain for families and such and on a clear day the views are great. On days where I want to hike but don't feel like driving far, this is the place to go.