We camped the night at Rangely Lake State Park, a nice little spot in Northwestern Maine. I picked the area because it was close to many of the 111er peaks in Maine, and I wanted to try and do one the next day. After scanning through my guidebook for a while, I settled on Old Speck mountain, a wooded 4,180 foot peak not far from the border of New Hampshire. The trailhead is at Grafton Notch State Park.
Roland and Francois were not that interested in doing another peak, so we decided to split up and go our separate ways.
The day was another hot and humid and hazy affair. The notch itself was shrouded in cloud as we started, but fortunately we were able to climb above the cloud and get some neat views looking down on it from lookouts higher up. The trail up to the summit of Old Speck is actually in pretty good condition and offers pretty good footing most of the way up. In combination with the previous day's Katahdin hike, this weekend was turning out to be one pretty good workout!
Above the clouds in Maine.
Summit visible in distance
After a good rest, lunch break, and examination of the lookout tower on the summit, we briskly headed back down to the trailhead, hoping to make good time so as to ensure a good return time back in Ottawa. We arrived back at the trailhead at 12:30 (good going, guys), and, by 5:45pm, we were back in Ottawa. I didn't realize Maine could be so close!
Interactive Trackmap & Photo Points - Old Speck - Click map to expand
Hike Data Summary - Old Speck from Grafton Notch
Start Time:
7:03a.m.
End Time:
12:27p.m.
Duration:
5h23m
Distance:
10.79 km
(6.71 mi)
Average Speed:
2.0 km/hr
(1.2 mph)
Start Elevation:
1524ft
(464m)
*
Max Elevation:
4195ft
(1279m)
*
Min Elevation:
1524ft
(464m)
*
End Elevation:
1680ft
(512m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Total Elevation Gain:
2604ft
(794m)
*
Total Elevation Loss:
2464ft
(751m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Elevation Graph
Old Speck - Elevation over Distance
Old Speck - Elevation over Time
Old Speck - Annotated Topo
