Conklin & Diamond Mountains

Conklin & Diamond Mountains, Harriman State Park (12/4/2010)

This is a lollipop hike (with a very short stick) of my own invention comprised completely of Harriman paths we haven't previously hiked, nearly half on unblazed woods roads, with a handful of exploratory out-and-back spurs.

From the Lake Sebago boat launch we crossed Seven Lakes Drive and headed south up Seven Hills trail climbing immediately. We made a left on the Buck trail, a lovely trail filled with Mountain Laurel that traverses Conklin Mountain. We took this east to its end at an inviting intersection with woods roads going in three directions. We took the road to the far right, referred to as Pine Meadow Road West on the Southern Harriman Bear Mountain Trails Map 118 (13th edition), a wonderfully isolated woods road (in very good shape) which skirts the western bank of Lake Wanoksink from high above for at least a mile.

Along this road we saw interesting foundation ruins from an camp through a laurel thicket at the western intersection with another woods road. Then we continued southwest to where the PMRW crosses (on a sturdy marble bridge) a swamp stream formed from run-off from what I believe is a dam near the SW part of that Lake Wanoksink (you can get a glimpse of one of the waterfalls near this inaccessible spot in one of the photos). This is one of the most beautiful spots of the entire hike.

We then backtracked north to the previous intersection and turned west on another woods road (not labeled on the map) and took that shortly uphill to the Seven Hills trail on Diamond Hill. We made a left on that trail and headed west to a beautiful viewpoint overlooking Lake Sebago to the north. After enjoying the view we turned around and took the Seven Hills trail all the way back to the car. Along the way we found more ruins, this time of what appeard to be a furnace still in good condition, on a small trail not on the map. We also visited Monitor Rock, a huge quartz boulder just off the trail, and enjoyed the beautiful cascades of Diamond Creek.

Total distance hiked today was 6.3 miles, with lots of exploring, in just over 4 hours.

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