[This is a photo of The Featherbed pond, also at 1,000 ft. elev., but on Cadillac Mountain west ridge, taken in October '08.]
A couple years ago we were cycling and had paused at the Deer Brook Bridge when three teenagers rode up, threw their bikes down on the side of the road, and started bounding up the Deer Brook Trail. We asked them where they were going and they said "Swimming in Sargent Pond. It's at the top of the trail."
We started out at the overflow parking lot near the boat ramp at the Jordan Pond House. We walked around Jordan Pond and started out at the bottom of the Deer Brook Trail at pond's end. Unbeknownst to us, we were about to climb 800 ft straight up. It was rough going and strenous, to put it mildly. Much of it was hand-over-hand climbing over boulders. But we made it and it was worth it, as it always is. I don't think I'll be doing it again anytime soon though! The entire hike was four miles and took about three and a half hours.
