Coe - Brothers - Fort Loop, 11 Aug. 16

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Joined
Jan 15, 2013
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Location
Vernon, Conn.
Last week I attended the Baxter Bash. My main hiking goal for the trip was North Brother, since I needed it for my project of redoing the NE111 in my sixties, and last year at the bash I had done the Katahdins but not NB.

So on Thursday I set out to do the Coe - Brothers Loop, with Fort as an option. I was solo, and only saw two other people the whole hike.

I did the loop counterclockwise, first going up Coe. I really like Coe Mtn. Trail. It starts out following a drainage with some minislides, and then goes quickly up the Coe Slide. I had heard warnings about the difficulty of the Coe Slide, but I didn't find it hard at all, although I did climb it while it was dry. Soon after that the trail gets to Coe summit, where I had limited views.

After that it drops sharply down for a little ways and then is a very pleasant forest walk until the South Brother spur, which I took into the Alpine zone up to South Brother. South Brother was completely in a cloud when I was there.

Then it was back and north until I got on Marston Trail and headed up North Brother. It was on that trail where I met a couple going down. They had been on Fort, and told me the herd path wasn't too difficult to follow. On the summit of NB it started clearing up, and I could see Fort. I decided to go.

The herd path to Fort was mostly easy to follow, until it wasn't. I got to a point where a very well defined path split into two less defined ones. I followed one for a little while and it just stopped. So I backtracked and followed the other for a little while and it just stopped. I spent a lot of time searching for where the path really went, until I figured I would just start bushwhacking. I was more than half way and I had a compass bearing. The whacking kept changing back and forth from very easy to pretty hard. And then I came across the herd path, which I followed the rest of the way up to Fort. By this time it had cleared up considerably and there were great views all around.

On the way back from Fort I never lost the herd path. I also never came across the point where I'd lost it going over, so I think I was already off the path at that point.

Then I went down Marston Trail to the trailhead.

North Brother was number 45 (out of 115) for my project of redoing the NE111 in my sixties.

I guess I'm officially doing the NEHH now. I've been keeping track of it, but telling people I'm not really doing it. That's why I went to Fort, though. Coe, South Brother, and Fort were numbers 82-84 (out of 100) for that list.

Here are the pictures.

--

Cumulus

NE111 in my 50s: 115/115 (67/67, 46/46, 2/2)
NE111 in my 60s: 45/115 (35/67, 10/46, 0/2)
NEFF: 50/50; Cat35: 39/39; WNH4K: 39/48; NEHH 84/100
LT NB 2009

"I don't much care where [I get to] --" said Alice, "-- so long as I get somewhere," ...
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
- Lewis Carroll
 
Nice report. We did that loop clockwise, I think descending Coe slide might be more difficult that ascending, especially in the rain. Cleared up nicely for you on Fort. We found it easier coming back from Fort to North Brother, even saw some blazes.

NEHH clearly within reach. Good luck.
 
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