North Brother Winter Access

Pat, or anyone else who has wintered in BSP or to North Brother, is there access to the park through Nesowadnehunk Field CG? How long is The road to Slide dam, about 5 miles?
If this route doesnt work, what have you used to access the route to NB?

Thanks!

Search the archives (and google maps) for Williams Pond Rd. You may need more relevant, local knowledge. But, I would certainly have a backup plan and a shovel no matter what info I receive.

we've stayed at Nesowadnehunk bunkhouse in Winter ... six mile approach from Telos Road with < 300' gain to Nesowadnehunk ... from there it's about 3.5 miles along the Tote Road to Marston Trailhead ... easiest Winter approach for the Brothers ...

BSP HQ has recommended against people accessing Nesowadnehunk from Telos Road, due to risk of having your vehicle snowed in while you're in the park ... not sure if they still recommend that ? may be moot with Winter pulling a no-show this year ...

a quick check on BSP website shows Nesowadnehunk reserved two weekends in february ... Kidney and Daicey are booked most Winter weekends ... have fun !

.

arm said:

we've stayed at Nesowadnehunk bunkhouse in Winter ... six mile approach from Telos Road with < 300' gain to Nesowadnehunk ... from there it's about 3.5 miles along the Tote Road to Marston Trailhead ... easiest Winter approach for the Brothers ...

BSP HQ has recommended against people accessing Nesowadnehunk from Telos Road, due to risk of having your vehicle snowed in while you're in the park ... not sure if they still recommend that ? may be moot with Winter pulling a no-show this year ...

a quick check on BSP website shows Nesowadnehunk reserved two weekends in february ... Kidney and Daicey are booked most Winter weekends ... have fun !

.

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Thanks, Telos road was exactly what I was looking at and hoping would work. Im happy to shovel a parking space or dig my car out if we get a snowstorm. IN FACT< ID BE THRILLED to do that since that would mean we actually HAVE SNOW!

I dont think I'd do reservations. In and out in a day would be the plan, but making a $20 LT rez isnt a bad idea even if it doesnt get used.

We stayed at Slide Dam 2 nights this past December and did the 4 peaks there. From Telos Road to Slide Dam is roughly 9 miles, and from there to N. Brother is 3.7 miles. That is a 25.4 mile round-trip, so I wouldn't recommend it as a day hike. A couple of nights at Nesowadnehunk or Slide Dam would help your chance of success. Added to that is that the area near the N/S Brother col is often drifted and difficult; also that section of the BSP Perimeter Road doesn't get as frequent snowmobile traffic as the lower section and may be unbroken. The Williams Pond Road also gets infrequent traffic, so just getting to the trailhead can be quite a chore for a single day.

I believe that the Williams Pond Road may have some cutting going on this winter, though I don't know when it will start. So that could change the conditions of that road. When we were in there, it was obvious that the improved part of the road on which they may be cutting went 2-3 miles in, so there is a chance it may be plowed that far, but may have truck traffic, and they may not want you to drive in and park there. If you park at the mouth of the Williams Pond Road, you would want to be sure not to block truck traffic. You'd want to check on that before planning your trip. Good luck!

The Williams Pond Rd approach is not usually broken out, and so usually won't support the single-day (and sometimes also multi-day) option. One time, a friend of mine reported being confronted with 6 miles of unbroken, belt-high powder and his group simply laughed and aborted. The one time I stayed at Nesowadnehunk, the rangers happened to be doing a construction project on the northern tote Rd, and WPR was completely broken out by snomos. We felt extremely fortunate -- until we discovered that the snow on the upper Marston was neck-deep.

The rangers can give you pretty good advance intel on the likely approach conditions, but don't usually have info on the western mountain trail conditions. So all you can do is combine the info from any trip reports with subsequent weather reports to form a guess at what the trails will be like at elevation. Hit it right, and you can enjoy a smooth, pleasant MicroSpike walk either atop firm boilerplate or a multi-party snowshoe track. Unfortunately, that's not the norm. It's a big plus if your schedule will permit you to react quickly to such a trail report.

Alex

Umsaskis said:

We stayed at Slide Dam 2 nights this past December and did the 4 peaks there. From Telos Road to Slide Dam is roughly 9 miles, and from there to N. Brother is 3.7 miles. That is a 25.4 mile round-trip, so I wouldn't recommend it as a day hike. A couple of nights at Nesowadnehunk or Slide Dam would help your chance of success. Added to that is that the area near the N/S Brother col is often drifted and difficult; also that section of the BSP Perimeter Road doesn't get as frequent snowmobile traffic as the lower section and may be unbroken. The Williams Pond Road also gets infrequent traffic, so just getting to the trailhead can be quite a chore for a single day.

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I realize the logistics seem a little daunting but I've been putting in two to three 20+ mile single days each week all winter in the NH 4's. So right now, that's right in my wheel house. I'd also ski the 9 miles of road each way. Like i said I'll prob make a rez as a back up, and carry my bivy sack in the event that I need to sleep in the snow.

The trail to the mountain could be unbroken, but with the way this winter has been I'd be surprised if its belt deep as alex has encountered previously.

Thanks for the beta guys!

A final caution (and the rangers usually have the Intel): the tote road can get so icy (and occasionally even bare) between snows that hiking becomes the preferred mode of travel.

On a related note, my own to-do list features a similar day ski/hike in Baxter - but to the Katahdin summits. The planning is a notch more complex for this, as the park requires a reservation (with associated lead times) for above tree line travel (actually, NB is substantially above tree line as well, but doesn't seem to be regarded that way by the rangers). Roughly 9 miles of approach/exit and 12 miles of true hiking with ~5K elevation gain. In the event that schedules line up, a like-minded group has an advantage over solo, in that trail breaking becomes less of a potential showstopper. I invite anyone who shares this goal and has the necessary mountaineering skills (Abol Slide) and stamina to say hi via PM.

Alex

alexmtn said:

A final caution (and the rangers usually have the Intel): the tote road can get so icy (and occasionally even bare) between snows that hiking becomes the preferred mode of travel.

On a related note, my own to-do list features a similar day ski/hike in Baxter - but to the Katahdin summits. The planning is a notch more complex for this, as the park requires a reservation (with associated lead times) for above tree line travel (actually, NB is substantially above tree line as well, but doesn't seem to be regarded that way by the rangers). Roughly 9 miles of approach/exit and 12 miles of true hiking with ~5K elevation gain. In the event that schedules line up, a like-minded group has an advantage over solo, in that trail breaking becomes less of a potential showstopper. I invite anyone who shares this goal and has the necessary mountaineering skills (Abol Slide) and stamina to say hi via PM.

Alex

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Basically the way the Lincoln Woods wilderness trail has been all season!
I PM'd you about Abol slide. Im hoping to do that with NB in a 3 day weekend

Tahoma said:

Basically the way the Lincoln Woods wilderness trail has been all season!

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Ha! Indeed! I'm hoping for some improvement in time for a Bonds ski/hike that's on for the 20th!

Thanks for the PM - see my reply.

Alex