btausend
New member
Date of Hike: July 31, 2014
Trail Conditions: The Marston Trail is very different from what we encountered on our hike to Katahdin. It is a nice dirt trail up to the second Mt Coe trail intersection. There are rocks and roots too, but not excessive. It made for good footing and a nice quick pace. There are several water crossing which were easy to cross. There are some places with mud and standing water. This section of trail also doesn't get a lot of direct sun light so the trail was damp. You are more apt to slip on this trail than trip. There is a long flat second before you get to the second Mt Coe trail intersection which has several foot bridges.
The last 0.8 miles of the trail to the summit of North Brother is very different. The trail gets very wet. The trail basically turns into a stream for 0.1 miles or so. There are sections with a lot of erosion and the trail is over grown. I think it rained the night before in the park. By the time we got through this section we were soaked. This section started to get rocky with some boulders. The final 0.2 miles is above the treeline and a lot easier going.
Special Equipment Used: We used trekking poles. Bugs were not an issue on this hike.
Comments: I hiked this with my son Nicholas. It was another nice day in the park with great views including Katahdin. The gate to Baxter State Park opens at 6 am. I got there at 5:57 am and the gate was still closed. The Ranger basically was looking at his watch waiting for 6 am before he opened the gate. From the gate to the Marston trail head is 13 miles with a speed limit of 20 MPH so it took another 35 to 40 minutes to get to the trail head.
Brian
Trail Conditions: The Marston Trail is very different from what we encountered on our hike to Katahdin. It is a nice dirt trail up to the second Mt Coe trail intersection. There are rocks and roots too, but not excessive. It made for good footing and a nice quick pace. There are several water crossing which were easy to cross. There are some places with mud and standing water. This section of trail also doesn't get a lot of direct sun light so the trail was damp. You are more apt to slip on this trail than trip. There is a long flat second before you get to the second Mt Coe trail intersection which has several foot bridges.
The last 0.8 miles of the trail to the summit of North Brother is very different. The trail gets very wet. The trail basically turns into a stream for 0.1 miles or so. There are sections with a lot of erosion and the trail is over grown. I think it rained the night before in the park. By the time we got through this section we were soaked. This section started to get rocky with some boulders. The final 0.2 miles is above the treeline and a lot easier going.
Special Equipment Used: We used trekking poles. Bugs were not an issue on this hike.
Comments: I hiked this with my son Nicholas. It was another nice day in the park with great views including Katahdin. The gate to Baxter State Park opens at 6 am. I got there at 5:57 am and the gate was still closed. The Ranger basically was looking at his watch waiting for 6 am before he opened the gate. From the gate to the Marston trail head is 13 miles with a speed limit of 20 MPH so it took another 35 to 40 minutes to get to the trail head.
Brian
