Opening Day for Baxter Summer Resevations Sunday January 14th

Wow - Look like the folks at Baxter have made it easier to make opening day on weekend day.

The crowd was a lot smaller at the door last few years, fewer tents in the parking lot.

IMHO, no need to get there at the crack of dawn unless you like the tradition or want a very specific spot on a very specific weekend. I have gone later in the morning a couple of times and got my first choice with only a few campgrounds blocked out on very popular weekends. So it comes down to if you want a specific cabin at Kidney and Daicey on a popular long weekend then an early arrival may be a good idea, otherwise as long as you make it up there sometimes during the day, you have high likelihood or getting a prime spot. Last year I booked Bear Brook 3 group site for Labor Day weekend and when I left the other two sites were open and I believe they ended up going to the rolling reservations schedule.

I did a run up to Millinocket today for opening day reservations. The weather was hard to beat compared to the days before. The snow pack also took a hit up north which defined the ravines on the south side of the mountain making the view of the mountain driving in from Medway to the headquarters quite nice. I never camped out but did go up overnight at least once and got in line around 4:30, as the years have gone by it became obvious that there is no need beyond bragging rights as long as someone is at all flexible. I pulled in around 11 AM, and all the tents were down. I got #77 and the were just calling the high fifties. They did have one of the new park and mountain raised relief maps on display. Quite impressive and quite a bit of detail.

I asked around about the best person to talk about getting to Klondike Pond, I got referred to Mark the most senior ranger there. He really isnt an advocate of visiting it due to its remoteness. I plan to stay at Davis Pond this summer so I am about as close as I can get. He was not really forth coming on details. I did confirm that the normal approach is east of the pond following a drainage down into feeder streams that feed the pond. He did state that there are many spots where its steep and easy for someone to get stranded on the ascent. He was more open about other bushwhacks. He also was careful to state that for some reason the hiking public has the idea that bushwhacking is not allowed or discouraged, he said to the contrary they have no issues with bushwhacking as long as the hiker checks in with the ranger and leaves a detailed itinerary. He is currently working along the east border of the park adjoining the monument, he confirmed some info about access to Traveler Pond which has piqued my interest as a nice place to go. The potential access from the monument side is pretty well grown in so the going may be slow. I also asked about the Dudley trail. Apparently the damage was initially quite severe and there was subsequent damage. In addition to the Dudley trail the side trail to the Pamola caves is wiped out. Its not going to be rebuilt as much as a major reroute that may take a couple of years. We also talked about the prior plan to build new trails, he speculated that unless they get a break on severe weather events ruining existing trails that its unlikely these new ones will go in.

Unlike past years when reservation day was during the week there were far fewer rangers present. Friends of BSP used to have a formal presence but they were not there today. Both last year and this year I got the impression that in general the staff is less enthusiastic then prior years. Both the ranger and two newer employees seem to be working on the same script that this opening day event is not a given and may be on borrowed time. One fairly new employee stated this was the last one but backpedaled once I asked a few questions.

My number came up around 1 PM. I got my first choices and quickly hit the road. Plenty of signs of flooding along the way and some very impressive ice jams.

By the way, very few snowmachines in the various hotel parking lots and businesses that cater to them. I was surprised as this normally is peak time