Penobscot County Highpoint Trip Report

East Turner Mtn

Date: January 5, 2005
Author: Cliff Young

An article in Maine newspapers today has some relevance to our hobby. If the proposed deal goes through, East Turner Mountain may change ownership. Roxanne Quimby has for several years been acquiring large parcels of land in the northern Maine forest. I haven't seen the map of the proposed land swap but I suspect it could well include East Turner. Katahdin Lake, mentioned in the article, is south of East Turner and Wassataquoik Stream is to its north. This is very good news as it would mean that the area would be preserved in its natural state and open to the public for recreational purposes. It would also preserve East Turner's well deserved reputation as one of the more difficult to reach eastern county highpoints. The article can be read here.

Input from another ascender: Before dawn on Friday Oct 1st, I set off with a local fellow to reach the summit of East Turner. We approached from Roaring Brook campground within Baxter State Park and started off-trail from the summit of South Turner. This one is not for the faint of heart. The bushwhack itself took us about 8 hours, plus 3 more on the trail.

Based on that description I would have to say that my route was considerably easier than the "traditional" route from Roaring Brook. I do want to do the "traditional" route for myself sometime just to compare.

My trip report from 2003 on cohp.org describes my hike through this area to summit East Turner. I have posted a few pictures on Webshots. The views of Katahdin from Katahdin Lake are spectacular (the views, not necessarily my photos).