Maine Huts and Trails

On Saturday night during Gathering 12.0 in Eustis, Jamie Corriveau who is the Operations Manager for Maine Huts and Trails came by to give us a quick info talk on the Maine Huts and Trails organization.

Currently they have two huts open and operating, Poplar Stream Falls and Flagstaff Lake huts. The third hut, Grand Falls, is under construction and should be ready by September 2010.

Stan, Joyce, Peakbagger, and I stayed at the Flagstaff Hut on Sunday night after the main gathering. I'll post a seperate trip report for that.

The huts are more upscale than the AMC huts but the rates are slightly lower. It is the same system as the AMC huts where overnight stays include dinner and breakfast. Trail access for all users is free (permitted modes - no motorized access etc). Day users of the huts can get drinking water and use the flush toilets.

Trails between the huts are really set up for cross country skiing. They are 10' wide and groomed with tracks for classic XC on one side and flat for snowshoeing etc on the rest. The huts are spaced 10 - 12 miles apart so this is great opportunity for XC skiing hut tour.

The upscale aspects of the huts are heat in the main huts and bunk houses. Yes, I said heat. Radiant floor heat, which is actually very efficient. They also have flush toilets (Clivus composting toilets that only use 6 oz of water per flush) and hot showers.

The huts use a mix of hydro and solar power and the caretaker, Paul, gave us a green energy info tour of the Flagstaff Hut's systems. It was very interesting and he said that the Poplar Stream Falls Hut is actually running with a surplus of 1 KW of power. I suggested they install a hot tub with a pizza oven within reach of it.

Overall it is a great setup. You can get full info on the huts and trails at their website:

http://www.mainehuts.org/

Aloha

- darren

ps: trip report from our trip to Flagstaff Lake hut is here

Thanks for the info. I was actually planning on stopping by Poplar Stream Falls Hut as a day-hike this weekend.

I stayed at Poplar Stream Hut last November on a cold night while surveying for the new bridge over the Dead River, and the huts are warm. Great place to stay in a beautiful area.

Thanks for posting the link, Darren. On Monroe during 48FOT we were strategizing how to use the Flagstaff Lake hut for a combo loop with Bigelow Range snowshoe - Flagstaff Lake ski, sort of a winter version of Tim Seaver's summer hike - kayak loop. Radiant floor heat sounds Scandinavian.

This was my third night at a hut ... for all the lobbying in some circles for showers I've yet to actually observe that anyone has used one ... but they're there.

I was at Poplar Stream Falls for two nights in winter. Although the bunkrooms are heated, they recommend a summer weight sleeping bag. I had one but opened the window next to my bunk a crack.

The technology of energy and water conservation and generation is worth the visit on its own merits and it is the routine to have a tour of the plant after dinner.

How's the access to the proposed Grand Falls site currently? It is private property? I was thinking of photographing those falls before the hut was put there. I'm not really sure how close the hut is supposed to be to it anyway though.

They reported that there would be site work at the Grand Falls site this fall or winter. I wouls speculate that the hit will sit back from the falls although the hydroelectric penstock will probably be visible.

By the way for Stan's comment, I did try out the showers Monday AM and they worked fine with plenty of hot water and a step above in cleanliness from a typical coin op shower.

Visited Poplar Stream Falls hut today. It's definitely cool.

Some more info about it....

• The hutkeeper said that the bunkhouses average around 55 degrees in the winter and the main lodge at around 60-65.
• Poplar Stream Falls is only 0.5 mile south and it's very impressive, even though it was low water today.
• You can also mtn bike into Poplar Stream Falls from ME 27 on several different trails to the Hut.
• The hut is very welcoming to day-hikers. They offer lunch daily in the summer.
• Easiest route in summer is only 0.6 mile to the Hut. (via Carriage Rd and then a side road and trail). In winter, the easiest cross-country route is 2.5 miles to the Hut. The easiest snowshoe-able route is 2.3 miles (using "Cutoff Trail).
• Very good trail maps are included on their website but can be a bit difficult to spot.
• Ultimate goal is a 180-mile network of trails and huts (8 I believe)

Can't wait until this whole system is completed. It's already awesome. Grand Falls is next and that's a pretty spectacular location in itself.

Poplar to Flagstaff XC Ski

Hi everyone, My husband, a friend and myself did the XC Ski from Rt.27 in Carrabasset Valley, past Poplar Stream Hut, and all the way to Flagstaff Hut this past February. Total 14 miles one way. The accommodations at Flagstaff Hut were so worth the effort to get there. The trail system at the time was very difficult in places because apparantly some of the snowmobilers had not gotten word yet that this was a Maine Hut trail system and had trashed the trail for a good mile or so. We met up with some of the snowmobilers and once we explained they shouldn't be there and we pointed out the signs on the trees (hard to see when you are going 30+ mph on a sled), they left the trail immediately and said they would notify the other members of their snow club.
However, with freezing temps during the night, the trail heading back in the opposite direction the next morning had frozen into deep ruts that were extremely dangerous. We had to remove our skis and sleds at some points to make it out alive! We stopped at the Poplar Stream and had lunch on the way out. The hut master and staff were so friendly and accomodating, and the bowl of hot chilli was wonderful!
I am attaching an elevation map that my friend emailed me after we did this ski in and out. Some of those elevation gains and losses are quite spectacular! No wonder it was difficult in some spots! But isn't that why we do these thing? For the adventure, OK my husband does it so he can have lots of cookies after.
Pray for snow!!!
Lisa and Jeff