WEST PEAK (PE1905)
State: ME
County: Hancock
Quad: Southwest Harbor
Location: N 44° 18.152' W068° 22.334'
Elevation: 1070 ft.
Designation: WEST PEAK 1934
Setting: Outcropping Bedrock
Type: Triangulation Station
Year: 1934
Established By: NGS
Recovered: 09 September 2007
Rich and I found this mark's original to-reach to be quite confusing. I have a good feeling that the "town dump" is long gone, and I also wonder what kind of a "traffic circle" ever existed in this maze of unimproved narrow gravel roads. In the interest of time and sanity, Rich and I decided that we would not attempt to confirm or correct the to-reach this time, but would simply find our own way to the peak. The West Ledge Trail appeared to be somewhat longer (which generally means less steep) than the South Face Trail, and so our game plan was devised. We parked at a small 2-vehicle turnout along Western Mountain Road, almost to its western terminus at Seal Cove Pond, and found the West Ledge trailhead directly across the road.
When we emerged from a forested part of the trail, just a few hundred feet from the tri-station coordinates, we saw on the rock ledge before us four iron rods set out in a square, and a ring set into the rock at the midpoint. Could this have been the remains of the "small summer house built of native timber and chained to the rock"? The proximity to the station disk, and the fact that the direction checks as well, is strong evidence that it was. How neat! We were both thrilled to have discovered such an "artifact" and, thanks to the datasheet, to know what once stood there.
Rich and I walked right up to the station disk and found it to be in good condition, as was RM1. They were both on bare rock, so they were obvious finds. RM2 required a fair amount of measuring and digging, but Rich eventually uncovered it. I wanted him to rest his knees while I took my photos of the marks; he rested for a minute and ate some peanut butter crackers, but was on his feet again soon to offer a helping hand with the photos. We have so much fun doing this together!
A report on the condition of this mark has been submitted to NGS, along with the following recovery note:
The station and both reference marks were recovered in good condition. The marks are located on Bernard Mountain in Acadia National Park. The station was reached via the West Ledge Trail.
The summer house mentioned in the 1934 note no longer exists, but its anchors are still evident on the bedrock ledge.
Autonomous (non-corrected) handheld GPS coordinates for RM 1 are 44 18 08.9(N) 068 22 20.0(W). Autonomous (non-corrected) handheld GPS coordinates for RM 2 are 44 18 09.1(N) 068 22 20.1(W).
Zhanna
NGS Official Description, 1934 (see datasheet for recent updates) :
DESCRIBED BY COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 1934 (KGC) ON THE HIGHEST POINT OF THE MOUNTAIN KNOWN AS WESTERN PEAK OR BERNARD MOUNTAIN WHICH IS THE MOST WESTERLY OF THE RANGE OF MOUNTAINS ON MOUNT DESERT ISLAND. AT THE TIME THE STATION WAS ESTABLISHED THE LAND WAS IN THE PROCESS OF BEING TRANSFERRED FROM PRIVATE TO GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP. STATION AND REFERENCE MARKS ARE STANDARD BRONZE DISKS WEDGED IN DRILL HOLES IN OUTCROPPING BEDROCK. THE STATION MARK IS ON THE VERY HIGHEST POINT OF THE SUMMIT, ON A FLAT BARE LEDGE AND ABOUT 125 FEET N OF A SMALL SUMMER HOUSE BUILT OF NATIVE TIMBER AND CHAINED TO THE ROCK. REFERENCE MARKS NO. 1 AND NO. 2 ARE ON THE SAME BARE LEDGE AS THE STATION, NO. 1 BEING S AND NO. 2 WSW OF THE STATION. TO REACH THE STATION FROM THE JUNCTION OF HIGHWAYS 198 AND 102, GO S ON HIGHWAY 102 ABOUT 5-1/2 MILES AND TAKE PAVED ROAD RIGHT AT SIGN GREAT POND CAMP CCC. ZERO SPEEDOMETER HERE AND PROCEED AS FOLLOWS--AT 0.6 MILE TAKE RIGHT FORK. AT 1.0 TAKE GRAVEL ROAD LEFT AT SIGN TOWN DUMP. AT 1.1 KEEP RIGHT FORK AT SIGN TOWN DUMP. AT 1.2 KEEP MAIN LEFT FORK. AT 1.7 STOP AT TRAFFIC CIRCLE. FROM HERE WALK ABOUT 100 YARDS W ON THE ROAD TO A SIGN POST WITH SEVERAL SIGNS MARKING THE VARIOUS TRAILS. FOLLOW THE GILLY TRAIL TO ITS JUNCTION WITH THE CIRCULAR TRAIL. FOLLOW THE CIRCULAR TRAIL TO A SIGN MIDDLE SUMMIT AND TAKE THE TRAIL LEFT AS INDICATED BY THIS SIGN TO THE SUMMIT. HEIGHT OF LIGHT ABOVE STATION MARK 7 METERS.
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...NGS Triangulation Station WEST PEAKN 44° 18.152' W068° 22.334' |
...Eyelevel view of the station disk set into bedrock. |
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...This summit sign is right along the trail, and the mark is just a few feet beyond it (mark indicated). |
...Our measurements and observations make us almost certain these are the anchors from the old summer house mentioned in the description. |
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...NGS Reference Mark Disk WEST PEAK RM1N 44° 18.149' W068° 22.333' |
...Eyelevel view of the reference mark disk set into bedrock. |
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...Looking SSE toward RM1 (on the small outcropping in the distance) from the summit sign near the station. |
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...NGS Reference Mark Disk WEST PEAK RM2N 44° 18.151' W068° 22.335' |
...This RM was difficult to find because it was buried beneath several inches of moss. Once we determined the proper location from the box score data, we rolled back the moss carpet (not as easy as it sounds) and Rich spotted the mark underneath. |
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...Looking W toward RM2 from the summit sign near the station. |