2/24 The road less traveled:
The Mainiacs (OneStep, Q-wave and I), met the Green Mountain boys (PigPen, Oldmountaingoat, and Jaegermeister) at the Terrace shortly after 10 a.m. to caravan over the Golden and Telos Roads to the parking lot at the beginning of the Williams Pond Road. After loading the sleds, we began the pull into Nesowadnehunk through 3 to 4 inches of new fluffy snow. A trail junction just past the 2-mile mark didn't quite look familiar (? widened during recent logging ?). The broader, more traveled road led left, and we took it. Unfortunately it gradually turned north rather than eastward toward the Park. Retracing our steps, the righthand fork headed in a more appropriate direction, and we arrived at the cabin a little over three hours after leaving the cars. The new cabin is clean and bright, but certainly a tight fit for a group of six. Thermoregulation actually became the most difficult cabin issue; we finally got it right by the last night and weren't either roasting or too cool.
2/25 Spruce Traps !!!!:
After a 4 AM wakeup call, we hit the perimeter road for the trek down to the Marston Trailhead. Again there was 3-4" of fresh snow which doubled in depth as we ascended, but last week's crew packed out a firm base and made our lives much easier. At the upper trail junction we had the first of many magnificent views of Katahdin! Although the trail to N Brother had largely blown in from last weekend, the nice base was a huge plus. At the summit we were greeted by clear blue skies, crystal clear visibility to the horizon in all directions, a temperature of 27 and winds of 22 mph. The fun began in earnest shortly after Pigpen entered the treeline on the bushwhack over to Fort - one minute he was cruising merrily along only to suddenly drop up to his shoulders. These spruce traps are quite hilarious as long as it is someone else doing the floundering around. Even following in the tracks of those ahead of us was no protection. More often than not at least two of us were simultaneously mired in these deep holes. After a while it really was fun! Although we must have surely set a world record for the most spruce traps in a one mile whack, we finally staggered to the summit of Fort ,2 hours after leaving N Brother. Thankfully,the return leg only took an hour even though we still fell into a few more holes. The deep soft new snow provided perfect snowshoe glissading conditions, and we enjoyed some long curving slides down the south side of N Brother and the steeper sections of the Marston Trail. The slog back up the perimeter road wasn't quite as rapid as the morning's trip. Early to bed!
2/26 Crossbills, crossbills and more crossbills! :
The old guys needed a rest day after yesterday's adventure... Bright red plummaged male white-winged crossbills and their olive yellow counterparts called and sang as they darted between the spruces around our cabin. In a while they seemed to accept our presence and often came within a few feet of us as they pecked at gravel under the cabin, ash from the woodstove and urologic waste products at our designated pit stop. After a lazy day enjoying the warm sun, clear skies (again!) and great views of Center Mt , OJI, Coe and S Brother, that night we were treated to the delightful hooting of Northern saw-whet owl only a few yards from the cabin!!
2/27 Endorphins! :
Another 4 AM wake up , down the perimeter road in the dark and faster trip up the newly tramped out Marston Trail as we prepared for S Brother and Coe. Would this be as challenging as the the route to Fort? Could we follow the trail? Surprisingly, we made easy progress to well past the S Brother spur, only bogging down a little in the deeper snow on the traverse over to the Coe Ridge. Breaking trail was a blast and we were richly rewarded by the fabulous panorama from the Coe summit, which alot of us believe is the finest in the Park. Q wave even spotted a moose low on a slide leading into the Klondike. After a prolonged break on the warm, windless summit we returned to the spur trail and ascended the remaining Brother. One of us was so ecstatic that the full monty was briefly performed on the summit boulder! After another fanastic summit experience we happily glissaded down the spur and the Marston. Today was quite a bit easier overall than the N Brother/Fort day and the trip up the perimeter road (again!) was much more pleasant!
2/28 Men of Winter! :
We had planned on leaving the cabin at 10 AM for the trip out, but we all woke up early and were surprised to find ourselves at the cars by 10 ! No wrong turns on the way out! We savored a last meal together at the Appalachian Cafe and headed home... No lost tempers, cooperative decision making, unselfish teamwork, brotherhood - a first class trek!
Special thanks to:
-Percevil Baxter, the founder of our feast, true genius and amazing generosity
-BSP staff, for making this magnficent place available for winter use
-The Town of Barnjum, for its moral and financial support
-The Mainely Manly Men, for their exuberance and uncanny route-finding skills
-Michael's crew from the prior weekend, for packing out the trail to N Brother
-Oldmountaingoat, still blasting up peaks in his mid-sixties!
The Mainiacs (OneStep, Q-wave and I), met the Green Mountain boys (PigPen, Oldmountaingoat, and Jaegermeister) at the Terrace shortly after 10 a.m. to caravan over the Golden and Telos Roads to the parking lot at the beginning of the Williams Pond Road. After loading the sleds, we began the pull into Nesowadnehunk through 3 to 4 inches of new fluffy snow. A trail junction just past the 2-mile mark didn't quite look familiar (? widened during recent logging ?). The broader, more traveled road led left, and we took it. Unfortunately it gradually turned north rather than eastward toward the Park. Retracing our steps, the righthand fork headed in a more appropriate direction, and we arrived at the cabin a little over three hours after leaving the cars. The new cabin is clean and bright, but certainly a tight fit for a group of six. Thermoregulation actually became the most difficult cabin issue; we finally got it right by the last night and weren't either roasting or too cool.
2/25 Spruce Traps !!!!:
After a 4 AM wakeup call, we hit the perimeter road for the trek down to the Marston Trailhead. Again there was 3-4" of fresh snow which doubled in depth as we ascended, but last week's crew packed out a firm base and made our lives much easier. At the upper trail junction we had the first of many magnificent views of Katahdin! Although the trail to N Brother had largely blown in from last weekend, the nice base was a huge plus. At the summit we were greeted by clear blue skies, crystal clear visibility to the horizon in all directions, a temperature of 27 and winds of 22 mph. The fun began in earnest shortly after Pigpen entered the treeline on the bushwhack over to Fort - one minute he was cruising merrily along only to suddenly drop up to his shoulders. These spruce traps are quite hilarious as long as it is someone else doing the floundering around. Even following in the tracks of those ahead of us was no protection. More often than not at least two of us were simultaneously mired in these deep holes. After a while it really was fun! Although we must have surely set a world record for the most spruce traps in a one mile whack, we finally staggered to the summit of Fort ,2 hours after leaving N Brother. Thankfully,the return leg only took an hour even though we still fell into a few more holes. The deep soft new snow provided perfect snowshoe glissading conditions, and we enjoyed some long curving slides down the south side of N Brother and the steeper sections of the Marston Trail. The slog back up the perimeter road wasn't quite as rapid as the morning's trip. Early to bed!
2/26 Crossbills, crossbills and more crossbills! :
The old guys needed a rest day after yesterday's adventure... Bright red plummaged male white-winged crossbills and their olive yellow counterparts called and sang as they darted between the spruces around our cabin. In a while they seemed to accept our presence and often came within a few feet of us as they pecked at gravel under the cabin, ash from the woodstove and urologic waste products at our designated pit stop. After a lazy day enjoying the warm sun, clear skies (again!) and great views of Center Mt , OJI, Coe and S Brother, that night we were treated to the delightful hooting of Northern saw-whet owl only a few yards from the cabin!!
2/27 Endorphins! :
Another 4 AM wake up , down the perimeter road in the dark and faster trip up the newly tramped out Marston Trail as we prepared for S Brother and Coe. Would this be as challenging as the the route to Fort? Could we follow the trail? Surprisingly, we made easy progress to well past the S Brother spur, only bogging down a little in the deeper snow on the traverse over to the Coe Ridge. Breaking trail was a blast and we were richly rewarded by the fabulous panorama from the Coe summit, which alot of us believe is the finest in the Park. Q wave even spotted a moose low on a slide leading into the Klondike. After a prolonged break on the warm, windless summit we returned to the spur trail and ascended the remaining Brother. One of us was so ecstatic that the full monty was briefly performed on the summit boulder! After another fanastic summit experience we happily glissaded down the spur and the Marston. Today was quite a bit easier overall than the N Brother/Fort day and the trip up the perimeter road (again!) was much more pleasant!
2/28 Men of Winter! :
We had planned on leaving the cabin at 10 AM for the trip out, but we all woke up early and were surprised to find ourselves at the cars by 10 ! No wrong turns on the way out! We savored a last meal together at the Appalachian Cafe and headed home... No lost tempers, cooperative decision making, unselfish teamwork, brotherhood - a first class trek!
Special thanks to:
-Percevil Baxter, the founder of our feast, true genius and amazing generosity
-BSP staff, for making this magnficent place available for winter use
-The Town of Barnjum, for its moral and financial support
-The Mainely Manly Men, for their exuberance and uncanny route-finding skills
-Michael's crew from the prior weekend, for packing out the trail to N Brother
-Oldmountaingoat, still blasting up peaks in his mid-sixties!
