Baxter State Park news

Visiting yesterday at the gate they told me they did away with there weather class system. The ranger at Chimney Pond would advise hikers by saying "I highly recommend not taking Cathedral but I can't stop you" and "Pleeeease don't take the Knife Edge, but I can't stop you". I assume they will still have road closures as seasons change. The parking lot capacity was still in use. I didn't ask about winter use so that may still need a permit. That being said people were going on these trails when in the past I'm positive they would be closed due to ice and snow.
I also asked about Howe/North Peaks trail. I was told it isn't open yet with ongoing work but will be official next year.

As far as the Northern Peaks trail goes, there was a brand new trail sign on Hamlin Peak when I was there on 10/7. 6.4mi to Russell Pond.

Met a kid on trailcrew on Hamlin that had been working on it. He made it sound like it's already open, although maybe not officially.

When I was there albor day, I aksed a ranger and he was hestitant at first regarding Northern Peaks trail. He said its is open and usuable but they were waiting to get the signage in place for next season.

It appears that the former winter rules that prompted this rant several years ago have disappeared from the current BSP Rules. WOOHOO! Might have to start saving up some gas money for a solo foray ...

It appears that is true, sardog.

Now it looks like you just have to fill out some extra paperwork to travel solo.

"Why do you want to camp/climb alone?"

Nice to see Baxter evolving away from it's heavy-handed policies of the past. Here's a big thank you to all the people who have pressured the park in this direction ( people who may or may not have been referred to as "whiners" by regulation lovers of all stripes.)

They have come a long way from requiring all parties to carry a double-bitted axe.

TDawg said:

It appears that is true, sardog.

Now it looks like you just have to fill out some extra paperwork to travel solo.

"Why do you want to camp/climb alone?"

Click to expand...

Thinking of using two possible answers:

"Because I've done it for forty years, in MN, AK, WA and NH in the dead of winter, without expiring or fracturing anything so far."

or,

"If you have to ask, you wouldn' unnerstan'."

I was up at baxter with Stan last year and we got to listen to Buzz Caverly speak about his time at the park. There was standing joke amongst the staff regarding the need for ax to be carried no matter what the rangers were doing in the park. It looked to be a point of contention with the park naturalist. Its real obvious that Buzz still feels that its the most important tool to carry.

I expect there were many traditions that took awhile to be revised after he left. Reportedly locals say the reason the park did reservations manually for so long was that the reservations director was Buzz's buddy and he didnt trust computers. Soon after Buzz retired, they slowly started to adopt computers and every year its gotten easier to make reservations.

i did a solo day hike into kathadin last year via the abol route. this is something i never would have thought possible a few years ago. paperwork was quick and easy and i was able register in advance, giving them a range of potential hike dates, then call the park office a couple days in advance once i saw a good weather window. they simply pulled the registration on file and passed it on to the necessary ranger with my now specific hike plan. this flexibility made the day hike option really appealing. it's nice to see the park changing some of the policies that were making access more difficult.

bryan

sardog1 said:

Thinking of using two possible answers:

"Because I've done it for forty years, in MN, AK, WA and NH in the dead of winter, without expiring or fracturing anything so far."

or,

"If you have to ask, you wouldn' unnerstan'."

Click to expand...

I can think of 3

1. Because my friends don't think winter hiking is fun. In fact most don't believe 3 season hiking is fun.
2 . I wouldn't be solo if you let me bring my dog.
3. I'm old and slow and keep getting lost. People have gotten frostbitten waiting for me.
4. I am training for a solo ascent of Denali.
5. Not to worry....I have a PLB in my pack and a few hand warmers.