*Sentinel Mountain (Baxter State Park): 8/17/2015

Sentinel Mountain

Location: , Maine
Mileage: 5.6 Miles
Elevation Gain: 1445 Feet
Trails Used: Sentinel Link, Sentinel Mountain Trail, Sentinel Loop Trail
Views: Views from Ledges Around Sentinel Mountain
Difficulty: Moderate

Hiking Lists: None

My original plan was for Desi and me to hike Doubletop Mountain in Baxter State Park, but after our exhausting trek up Mount Katahdin, I knew Desi and Becky would be sore. Joe had wanted to do this mountain, maybe on Sunday, when Desi, Becky, and I did Mount Katahdin and Hamlin Peak, since his knee was bothering him and he was still recovering from an ankle fracture.

He was worn out from hiking to and from Chimney Pond on Sunday, so we decided to wait until Monday for this hike. At first, he planned to go solo, but I was still feeling good despite the tough trek the day before, so I joined him. Desi and Becky opted to explore the various ponds nearby instead and didn’t join us. The day was hot and humid when we set out, and the mosquitoes were buzzing like mad.

Sentinel Mountain is located in the T3 R10 Wels Township and in Baxter State Park. It stands to the southwest corner of Baxter State Park and offers good views to the west side of Mount Katahdin and the surrounding peaks in the area from the ledges around the summit area.

The trailhead for Sentinel Mountain starts at the Kidney Pond Campground, where there’s a spacious parking area that can accommodate about 10 or more vehicles.

The first half mile of the Sentinel Link trail winds around the edge of Kidney Pond, with rocky and rough terrain that slowed Joe down a bit.

Early in the day, the summit of Mount Katahdin was shrouded in clouds as we admired the view of the peak from the shores of Kidney Pond.

The impressive view of Doubletop Mountain from the shores of Kidney Pond.

At the junction of the Sentinel Mountain Trail and Sentinel Link. It would be a 2 mile hike of minor ups and downs before the Sentinel Mountain Trail got steep towards the summit.

The Sentinel Mountain Trail has quite a few ups and downs along the trail and it didn't really make much sense why they built the trail this way. Going through woods like this makes up for it though.

There was quite a few neat rocky areas like this, where boulders that came down from the mountain are now overgrown by trees and vegetation.

The last rocky push towards the summit area of Sentinel Mountain. It seemed like the last half mile was the steepest part of this climb.

We took the left branch of the Sentinel Loop Trail and got these views of Jo-Mary Mountain, Saddleback Mountain (the 2000 foot peak), Little Boardman and Big Boardman Mountain, Big Shanty Mountain, Little Spruce Mountain, Whitecap Mountain, and Hay Mountain from the eastern ledges of Sentinel Mountain.

Big Spencer Mountain and Little Spencer Mountain in the distance, from some ledges on the southwest side of Sentinel Mountain.

The views looking towards Doubletop Mountain and Squaws Bosom Mountain from the Sunset Ledge view area just below the summit of Sentinel Mountain.

The views looking towards Mount O-J-I and Barren Mountain (behind the tree top) from the Sunset Ledge view area just below the summit of Sentinel Mountain.

The short spur path to the Sunset Ledge views, where the two pictures above were taken.

 We got the best views from the northern ledges around the summit of Sentinel Mountain of Mount Katahdin, which is out of the clouds. The Owl sits right in between Barren Mountain and Mount Katahdin and just off of Witherle Ravine.

More views from the northern ledges around the summit of Sentinel Mountain of Doubletop Mountain, Mount O-J-I and Mount Coe.

At the Sentinel Loop Trail and Sentinel Mountain Trail junction. It is about half a mile of ledge walk around the summit of Sentinel Mountain (elevation:  1870 feet).

The variation in trees, terrain and vegetation made this an interesting woods hike, even if the Sentinel Mountain Trail was a bit of a pain.

There were several sections, mainly towards the start of the Sentinel Mountain Trail, where there were bog bridges placed so be careful of your footing. There was one fairly good sized stream crossing that was easy to rock hop, but could be difficult during periods of high water.

The final view of Mount Katahdin from the shores of Kidney Pond on our way back to the car.

A nice hike to end our short stay in Baxter State Park. It was hot and humid when we started and it only seemed to get worse as the hike went along but the views from the summit and around the pond made this worth the effort. I think if Joe had been in better condition, I probably could have managed to convince him to do the Doubletop Mountain hike, which is what I originally had as a potential day two hike. This is a good alternative to the hectic areas of the park as we saw only two people total for this whole hike.