Baxter Park "Opening Day" Tues., Jan. 18, 2011

Here's a link to their website: http://www.baxterstateparkauthority.com/

Anyone heading up this year?

I am trying to make it up there but it would be probably be a day trip. If not it would a late evening arrival the night before. Given that just about every site was wide open (except Kidney Pond) after everyone went through two rounds, I dont think getting there a bit later will make much of an impact on my planning.

I'll get in line but maybe not as early as in the past.

I'm going up Sunday, maybe before that, and probably x/c ski or snowshoe. With Mon. being a holiday (MLK Day) I thought there may be somebody using it as an excuse to go play in the area.

In addition to other trails in the south end of the Park, there are a few nearby that seem interesting:

1) Rainbow Lake - snowshoe via nature trail, 6+ mi r.t.
2) Hurd Pond - loop via AT to Hurd Brook L/T, follow brook to Hurd Pond and out via logging road which coincides part way with a snowmobile trail, 10 mi
3) Debsconeag Deadwater/Falls - logging road to boat launch, 10 mi r.t.
4) Bait Hole near Millinocket has a nice network of trails.

I would love to do the Traveler Loop in the fall...a worthy rehabilitation goal, eh?

Despite the forecast, I drove up to Millinocket from Gorham early Tuesday AM and got to the BSP office at 7:45 in time to be number 54 in line. Stan had gotten there earlier and was 37 in line. There were several tents set up for the intrepid overnighters who want to be near the front of the line. At least one of those folks admitted they do it out of tradition as there are a lot less folks participating and far less need to wait in line. Stan's son Erik stopped by later.

I missed the front end statement by the park staff, but its doesnt look like things have changed substantially this year. Here are the changes I noticed

Backcountry facilties are now $20 flat fee, be it leanto or tent site. I am not sure how this applies to the bunkhouses, but there are some cost savings at Russell Pond where there are some large capacity lean tos. Stan booked a bunkhouse so I expect he has more information.

As it was last year, campers in the park do not need parking reservations at the Katahdin trailheads, subject to available parking spaces.

There was a notice posted that campsite reservations could be done online two weeks prior to date you want to go. There were no details on how this would work. I expect that this will be a more equitable way of distributing the 20% of the sites that are reserved for Maine residents two weeks in advance.

I didnt stay around for the entire "second" round of reservations, but didnt see anyone that didnt get their first choice in the first round. There werent a lot of folks hanging around for the second round so I expect there were a lot of prime spots that will get transferred to the regular rolling reservations. The reservations from yesterday are on line and therefore if someone wants to go to a specific spot on a specific date next year they can research the potential availability based on this years event.

Overall I scored a group site at Roaring Brook and a couple of days in the backcountry in late August.

The drive back to Gorham took a bit longer but I missed most of the storm.

After standing around getting nearly hypothermic for two hours in -20F two years ago I decided that this year (-5F), I'd only wait outside for an hour. Hurrah! They opened the door an hour earlier this year so, with my heaviest winter layers, I waited inside!

"Opening Day" is a tradition no one really needs to go through to get good reservations anymore but it is an experience everyone who enjoys the park should endure at least once. I see it almost like a reunion ... park staff are especially helpful and enthusiastic and I almost always come away with some information not found elsewhere.

The number of campers and the number of visitors to Millinocket was the lowest I'd seen in the 20 years I'd been going in alternate years. I use it as an excuse to hike etc. for a couple days prior and it makes for some interesting destinations at a very quiet time.

On Monday, under clear crisp skies and single digit temps, we decided to head up to the North Gate, never having been there before and curious about the ride in, distance to the gate from the end of the plowed road (1 1/2 miles), and accommodations near that end of the park. The ride was so beautiful with views stretching from Katahdin to the Travelers that we changed our hiking plans and decided to walk the Tote Road (a snowmobile trail in winter). One our right was the frozen Grand Lake Matagamon, on our left the rough face of Horse Mountain ... only 800' but a dramatic gateway and turkey vulture roost.

The scenery, fresh air and anticipation of our trip next summer was perfect therapy for ... the Patriots ... go Steelers, Packers ... anybody but the Jets!

I'd recommend Baxter Park's Opening Day tradition very highly, especially when it includes some opportunity to get outside in the area.

Meanwhile, heed Peakbaggers advice, you don't need reservations for busy trailhead parking if you are staying in the Park but you do need to get there before the parking lot fills up.