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<title>BSP 2002, Part 2</title>
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<h1>Baxter State Park in Winter<br />North Brother and Fort</h1>
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<!-- table of contents start -->
<h2><a name="toc" id="toc"></a>Table of Contents</h2>
<p>On this page:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="baxter2002_2.html#tocref5">The Trip</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="baxter2002_2.html#tocref6">Getting Together</a></li>
<li><a href="baxter2002_2.html#tocref7">Day 1: Into the Park</a></li>
<li><a href="baxter2002_2.html#tocref8">Day 2: North Brother and Fort</a></li>
<li><a href="baxter2002_2.html#tocref9">Day 3: Kidney and Daicey Ponds</a></li>
<li><a href="baxter2002_2.html#tocref10">Day 4: Back to
Civilization!</a></li>
</ul></li>
<li><a href="baxter2002_2.html#tocref11">Looking Back at the Trip</a></li>
</ul>
<p>On previous page:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="baxter2002.html#tocref1">Going Beyond the New
Hampshire Fours in Winter</a></li>
<li><a href="baxter2002.html#tocref2">Planning</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="baxter2002.html#tocref3">Itinerary</a></li>
<li><a href="baxter2002.html#tocref4">Gear and
Food</a></li>
</ul></li></ul>
<!-- table of contents end -->
<h2><a name="tocref5" id="tocref5"></a>The Trip</h2>
<h3><a name="tocref6" id="tocref6"></a>Getting Together</h3>
<p>The weather forecast called for rain on Sunday, then reasonable
weather during the week, with substantial rain coming in over the
weekend. Temperatures would start off low, then gradually rise.</p>
<p>I drove up alone on Sunday in intermittent rain, reaching the
motel in Millinocket around 4 PM. My roommates, regular hiking
companions, were already there. Two other members of the group
arrived around 5 PM. The five of us went out to eat at the local
Chinese restaurant, we did not wait for the remaining couple who
planned to arrive late at night. We went to bed early, and met next
morning at 6 AM for breakfast.</p>
<p>It is time to introduce the group. The trip was organized by
Paul and Leslie who, in recent years, have been doing more climbing
than hiking. Paul was the leader of the very first trip I co-led
with the Boston AMC Hiking and Backpacking Committee. I had not
hiked with him in a long time, but Leslie would occasional join us
for winter hikes. My roommates, Gary and Tim, are very strong
hikers with whom I have often hiked. Alan and Linda had not hiked
regularly with any of us, though we had occasionally been together
on hikes.</p>
<p>We did not all have the same objectives for this trip. Gary,
Tim, Linda and Alan wanted ("needed", in peakbagger terminology
<img src="images/smile.gif" alt="Smile!" /> ) the peaks, and for
them the backpack into Baxter was a means to an end. Leslie and
Paul, on the other hand, have no interest in peakbagging, and
organized the trip because they love staying in Baxter in winter. I
had mixed motives; I wanted to bag at least North Brother, but I
also wanted to see how well I would do on a multi-night winter
outing.</p>
<h3><a name="tocref7" id="tocref7"></a>Day 1: Into the Park</h3>
<p>After breakfast we loaded everything into the cars, and drove to
the junction of Telos and Williams Pond Roads. I did not bring my
skis because I did not intend to use them, and Tim decided, from
the weather over the past few days, not to bring his. Williams Pond
Road looked very icy, and Gary decided to leave his skis in the
truck. Leslie, Paul, Linda and Alan all started out on skis, but
soon all, except for Leslie, took them off and walked.</p>
<p>Williams Pond Road has a net elevation gain of about 400 feet
over about five miles, it has many ups and downs so the total
elevation gain is somewhat more. Nevertheless it is a very easy
road to pull a sled up, and we made good time. Once inside the park
the perimeter road goes down for about three miles to Slide Dam,
again with several minor ups and downs. Both the Williams Pond and
perimeter roads were well packed down by snowmobiles, the perimeter
road was, on the whole, icier than the access road.</p>
<p>We reached Slide Dam around 3 PM and, after putting on warm
clothing, set up tents. Alan and Linda shared one tent, Tim and
Gary a second one, and I shared the third tent with Leslie and
Paul. We then started setting up our cooking equipment on the
covered picnic table, and enclosing two of the open sides with
tarps. We were ready to start cooking well before sunset, and were
in our tents around 6:30, as often happens in winter.</p>
<p>While we were setting up camp two groups of hikers came down the
Marston Trail. Both groups were staying together in a heated
bunkhouse at the Nesowadnehunk Field Campground. One group had done
North Brother without doing Fort, as they were interested in the
Northeast 111 list, which only includes 4,000 footers. The other
group had done South Brother and Coe. So we knew that all the
trails, except for the bushwhack from North Brother to Fort, had
been found and broken out.</p>
<p>That first night was the coldest of the trip, with a temperature
of 2° at 6 AM next morning. I was warm in my -20° bag, and
did not feel really cold when I had to get up in the middle of the
night.</p>
<h3><a name="Day2" id="Day2"></a><a name="tocref8"
id="tocref8"></a>Day 2: North Brother and Fort</h3>
<p>We woke up at 6 AM next morning and went through the usual
rituals of preparing and eating breakfast and heating water for the
trip. The fact that we were in remote Northern Maine rather than in
my familiar New Hampshire mountains did not seem to matter
much!</p>
<p>We started the hike a little after 8 AM wearing snowshoes, as
much for the traction as for the flotation. The Marston Trail has
many steep sections, the one from the small pond being the longest.
Beyond that point the trail flattens, and soon reaches the upper
junction with the Coe Trail, which goes to South Brother and then
Coe. We rested and ate at that junction, and continued, initially
going down to the col between the two Brothers.</p>
<p>From the col the trail rises very steeply, and soon breaks out
of the trees. It was neither <i>really</i> cold nor <i>really</i>
windy, but the combination was quite chilly. We just touched the
summit cairn on North Brother and descended the other side, heading
towards Fort. The cairns which mark the herd path in summer were
invisible, so we headed in the direction of Fort. We were going
over moderately steep snowfields, but the compacted snow had a
consistency that allowed the crampons of our snowshoes to get a
really good grip.</p>
<p>Once into the trees we hit a short patch of dense growth, but
quickly got through it. We were delighted to observe that the snow
had become very compact, and that the going was very easy. We often
were able to see the summit of Fort through the open trees, and
soon reached the col between it and North Brother. To our joy the
blowdowns that infest that col in summer were completely covered
with snow, and soon we were ascending Fort.</p>
<p>Once again it was quite chilly above the trees, so we just
touched the summit and immediately started the return journey. The
steep section above the pond clearly demonstrated the value of
aggressive snowshoe crampons, those of us who had them just walked
down, while those with less aggressive ones had to be very
careful.</p>
<p>We reached camp just in time to start cooking dinner before
dark. It had been a tiring hike, and at dinner Paul and Leslie told
us that they would not join us for South Brother and Coe next day,
exploring the ponds instead. I decided to wait until the morning
before deciding what to do. We were in our tents around 7 PM, and
the night was slightly warmer than the previous one, with an early
morning temperature of around 10°.</p>
<h3><a name="tocref9" id="tocref9"></a>Day 3: Kidney and Daicey
Ponds</h3>
<p>Once again I slept well, and was up before 6 AM. Once again the
morning routine went smoothly, and I was happy to realize how
groundless my fears had been. I started out with Linda, Alan, Tim
and Gary, but at the first steep pitch my legs told me clearly that
they did not want to go up that steep trail again. So I turned
round and got to camp as Leslie and Paul were getting ready to
start their exploration of the ponds.</p>
<p>We had a wonderful day! We walked down the perimeter road, and
had excellent views of Coe, OJI with its slides, the long Barren,
Owl, and of course mighty Katahdin on one side of the road, and of
Doubletop on the other. We had lunch by Kidney Pond, then continued
to Daicey Pond. The view of Katahdin over Daicey Pond is one of the
best I have seen in our New England mountains. Then a leisurely
trip back to camp, our peakbaggers had made it to the peaks and
back before we did.</p>
<p>Over dinner Gary and Tim announced that they wanted to leave
next day, and soon after Linda and Alan made the same decision.
Paul, Leslie and I initially planned to stay one more day and do
South Brother and Coe. As time went by Paul (our effective leader)
decided that we should all go out together.</p>
<h3><a name="tocref10" id="tocref10"></a>Day 4: Back to
Civilization!</h3>
<p>Temperatures warmed up even more for our last night, and a few
snowflakes fell. Next morning we broke camp, packed our sleds, and
started the trip home. The snowfall had improved the skiing
conditions a bit, but only Leslie decided the ski out. The trip out
was uneventful, though the sleds somehow seemed heavier than they
had on the way in! We reached our cars around 1 PM, and soon were
on our separate ways home.</p>
<h2><a name="tocref11" id="tocref11"></a>Looking Back at the
Trip</h2>
<p>On my first winter backpack, in April 1999, I discovered how
much I love an occasional night out in winter. Though I do a fair
number of overnight trips every year, I had never thought of doing
a multi-night trip before, as it seemed to me to be so much more
difficult. My greatest joy on this trip was to discover how
wonderful it is to spend several winter nights in a row in the
outdoors.</p>
<p>I did not regret my decision not to do South Brother and Coe.
For me peakbagging is a small part of the overall hiking
experience. Yes, I enjoy bagging peaks, and do like to see the list
of peaks bagged grow. But it is more important for me to enjoy the
hike. There are days when I find it a pleasure to push my limits,
on others I prefer to listen to my body. I enjoyed the trip so much
that I hope to return many times, and when I do so the mountains
will still be there.</p>
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