This week’s hike is Friday, June 26th and there are two hikes scheduled, both in the Evans Notch area but their trailheads are five miles apart.
The choices: The Roost or East Royce
The Roost is relatively easy:The Roost (1,364 ft), Evans Notch, ME – 1.3 mi RT on the trails with 514 ft elevation gain. RT hiking 1 hour. RT driving 2 hours.
While, East Royce is kind of difficult: Difficult– East Royce (3,114 ft), Evans Notch, NH – 2.8 mi RT, 1,316 ft elevation gain. RT hiking 4.0 hours. RT driving 2.0 hours.
The East Royce Trailhead is located on the west side of Maine Route 113, precisely at the highpoint of Evans Notch. Although East Royce and West Royce sit right on the New Hampshire and Maine state border, the primary roadside parking lot and trailhead for accessing East Royce directly are physically located just over the line in Batchelders Grant, Maine. Decimal Degree coordinates for lot: 44.30503, -70.989883. [note: cell phones and GPS will not work up there to download maps somake sure you acquire the map prior to leaving covered areas]
The Roost trailhead is along Route 113 (closed in winter), 2.8 miles south of Route 2 in Gilead, Maine. Hikers can park at the small gravel pull off by the trail sign, or at the larger Hastings trailhead .2 miles south of there where Route 113 meets Wild River Road. Coordinates are: Latitude: 44.35679855 Longitude: -70.99183089
Thhe two parking lots are exactly 5.0 miles apart.
Here are Allen’s descriptions of the trails from the last time he hiked them:
“The Denmark Mountain Hikers try to climb the Roost in Evans Notch about once a year, usually in the summer so that we can take advantage of the swimming hole where the Wild River and Evans Brook join.
“In the past we’ve done the loop trail in the clockwise direction, starting at the trailhead near the old logging town of Hastings, hiking down to the Evans Notch road and walking back along the road to where we left our cars at Hastings. Perhaps we’ll do that this year or perhaps we’ll reverse directions.”
The Roost
The Roost is a small peak, only 1,374 feet in elevation, but after a short sometimes steep climb, hikers emerge on a ledge facing southwest. There is no view from this ledge but a Forest Service sign “Scenic View” and arrow directs the hiker to a more exposed ledge only 0.1 miles down the mountain to the west. From this second ledge there are expansive views of the western mountains of the Wild River Wilderness – well worth the side trip.
The Roost
East Royce:
The first time the Denmark Mountain Hikers climbed East Royce in Evans Notch was on August 2011 and since then we have climbed it a total of 7 times including our 2023 hike. I swear the climb has gotten harder, rockier, steeper, and longer every time since our first hike 12 years ago.
As I have grown older the trails that I climbed in the Whites 60 years ago have grown longer, and steeper, and much more difficult. Even when hiking familiar trails my mind easily remembers the spectacular views and pleasant stretches but blocks out the steep and rocky scrambles and the tricky stream crossings along the way. East Royce was no exception.
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