Hike Report for Singepole Mountain
Singepole Mountain is located in Maine, United States. It has an elevation of 431 meters above sea level. It is located at the following coordinates: (44.2254, -70.4502).
This hike report was written by Douglas Twitchell, about a hike on Wednesday, February 15, 2006.
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Directions to Trailhead
If you are coming to Singepole from the Norway, South Paris, Oxford Hills area, take route 117 toward Buckfield. Approximately 2.5 miles from Market Square (South Paris village) you will see a road to the right named "Brett Hill". This road is clearly marked with a street sign. Turn onto Brett Hill Road and follow the road until it makes a sharp right turn.
Do not turn right; instead continue straight onto the dirt road. This is the Durrell Hill Road, although it is unlabeled. Drive up this dirt road as long as you feel comfortable doing so; eventually the road ends and turns into the Singepole Mountain Road, which veers off to the left from Durrell Hill Road.
Do not turn right; instead continue straight onto the dirt road. This is the Durrell Hill Road, although it is unlabeled. Drive up this dirt road as long as you feel comfortable doing so; eventually the road ends and turns into the Singepole Mountain Road, which veers off to the left from Durrell Hill Road.
Hike Report
Sunday morning after church Andy asked me if I was feeling adventurous. He wanted to hike Singepole Mountain. I said, "I've never been winter hiking, and I've never been night hiking, but I'm game to give it a try!"
So at about 8:00 Wednesday night we headed out from South Paris. The weather was warm (for mid February!) and the sky was clear, so it was a great night for a hike.
Andy brought some headlamps with him, but there was enough light from the moon that we really didn't need them. Although, if I hadn't had Andy with me I probably would have needed the light a couple times when I wasn't quite sure where the trail went. Actually, if I hadn't had Andy with me, I probably wouldn't have done the hike - or at least - I would have done it in the daytime first to refresh my memory on what the trail looked like!
Since the sky was fairly clear, we even took some time to look at the stars and find some constellations - Orion, the Big Dipper, Pleiades, etc. It's amazing how just a few miles out of town, the stars stand out so much more clearly.
Overall the hike was fairly easy, although a recent spell of warm weather meant that snow had melted and the refrozen as a thin layer of ice in various places. Mostly we kept to the edges of the trail, where it was bare ground. A few slips early on kept me "on my toes" for the rest of the hike. Near the top there is a section of bare rock - only it wasn't really bare; there was a transparent sheet of ice over much of the rocks, so we had to be very careful navigating it!
When we reached the summit we could see lights from the Norway/South Paris area, Shawnee Peak, as well as Hebron, Lewiston, and Auburn. I did bring my camera along - I hoped I might be able to take some interesting pictures of the town lights. Alas, nothing of interest came out (my picture of the moon half hidden behind the silhouette of a row of evergreen trees turned out to be just a white circle on a black background - really very professional looking!)
The trip back down was uneventful (except for a few minor slips and slides on the ice). Overall a nice hike, and a great time to visit with Andy and talk about subjects both serious and silly!
So at about 8:00 Wednesday night we headed out from South Paris. The weather was warm (for mid February!) and the sky was clear, so it was a great night for a hike.
Andy brought some headlamps with him, but there was enough light from the moon that we really didn't need them. Although, if I hadn't had Andy with me I probably would have needed the light a couple times when I wasn't quite sure where the trail went. Actually, if I hadn't had Andy with me, I probably wouldn't have done the hike - or at least - I would have done it in the daytime first to refresh my memory on what the trail looked like!
Since the sky was fairly clear, we even took some time to look at the stars and find some constellations - Orion, the Big Dipper, Pleiades, etc. It's amazing how just a few miles out of town, the stars stand out so much more clearly.
Overall the hike was fairly easy, although a recent spell of warm weather meant that snow had melted and the refrozen as a thin layer of ice in various places. Mostly we kept to the edges of the trail, where it was bare ground. A few slips early on kept me "on my toes" for the rest of the hike. Near the top there is a section of bare rock - only it wasn't really bare; there was a transparent sheet of ice over much of the rocks, so we had to be very careful navigating it!
When we reached the summit we could see lights from the Norway/South Paris area, Shawnee Peak, as well as Hebron, Lewiston, and Auburn. I did bring my camera along - I hoped I might be able to take some interesting pictures of the town lights. Alas, nothing of interest came out (my picture of the moon half hidden behind the silhouette of a row of evergreen trees turned out to be just a white circle on a black background - really very professional looking!)
The trip back down was uneventful (except for a few minor slips and slides on the ice). Overall a nice hike, and a great time to visit with Andy and talk about subjects both serious and silly!
Difficulty
Singepole Mountain Trail is an easy hike with no bouldering; it is a well worn and well traveled dirt road with no steep sections. It is also a very short hike. Although I would not recommend this trip for young children in the winter and at night (as we did) it is certainly a very easy hike for the whole family during the summer months.
Statistics
Singepole Mountain Trail is one half mile in length, with an elevation gain of 500 feet. Hiking in the winter (over alternating snow, ice, and bare ground) at night, it took us probably an hour and half from the time we started hiking until we returned to the vehicle. This included time spent at the summit trying to figure out which lights went with which town!
