6/16/07
Mount Flume 4328’

11.2 miles 3150’ Elevation gain

Kevin Judy and Emma

After spraining her ankle last Sunday on the Hancocks, Jude limped around all week, then made this eleven mile hike like it was nothing. Of course there are different degrees of sprain, but having seen the initial pain she was in, then the tennis ball size swelling and the myriad of colors it turned over the week, my bet would have been we weren't going to the summit of this mountain today. I would have bet wrong. We climbed to the summit of Mount Flume, taking the Wilderness Trail from Lincoln Woods, then the less travelled Osseo Trail to the summit. Our luck has been holding out as far as the blackflies this year. This week they were present, but not annoying enough to drive us out of the woods. I think they are getting worse, though, and the next few weeks will be miserable. The cool, wet spring apparently has delayed their usual cycle of misery. When we stopped for snacks, about a mile before reaching the summit, the problem was horseflies, not blackflies. On the summit it was blackflies, but not real bad, just mildly annoying. Along the trail the wildflowers were fading. The Trillium was gone, the False Lily of the Valley was fading and we didn't see anything else until well into the hike. The switchbacks start on this trail about 2 miles from the Wilderness Trail, 3 1/2 miles into the hike, and that is where I spotted the first Pink Lady Slipper. As we climbed we began to see Goldthread everywhere, and here and there were some Starflowers. After the switchbacks come the stairs and this is where we saw the first Trillium that wasn't completely faded. As we quickly gained elevation from here we came across some Rhodora that was now falling from the bushes, and some Labrador Tea that was just coming out. Here also we found some Bunchberries which were just flowering while the Goldthread held steady all the way to the summit. On the summit, growing from cracks in the rocks, the Mountain Sandwort was sprouting. It will be a few weeks until it blossoms. The skies threatened all while we ate lunch on the summit, and we got a light sprinkle as we descended, though it didn't last very long. Somewhere there was some weather going on, as we could hear the rumble of the thunder on our way out of the woods. The weather was quite warm and we were all drained when we were through. It's a good kind of drained.