Mats Roing
New member
Team members:
SueBiscuit
Chinooktrail
Donna
Frodo
Arm
Hamtero
g o
Mats
Friday 2/15
Lloyd, SueBiscuit and I carpooled to Kingfield, ME where Garrett (g o) has his living quarters set up nicely. Everyone stayed overnight there except for Frodo who like them early morning drives
With the Arctic weather in the forecast we waited until next morning to decide the exact itinerary.
After much deliberation we decided to go for the original plan to place two cars by the road 5 miles or so (east?) of the old Firewarden cabin on the north side of Abraham. We then drove to Bjarnum on the southwest side of of Abraham. It was blistering cold in the morning but the sun warmed up nicely. We were lucky to have snowmobile trails broken out although there are some objective dangers involved with the snomos coing around the corner at 60 mph.... One of the snomo drivers stopped and we consulted routefinding with him. Unfortunately the directions he gave led us too much to the west indicating he thought we wanted to intersect with the AT on that side of Abraham. Our goal was to camp in or near the col between Middle Abraham and Abraham. Realizing our mistake we re-traced our footsteps and found a road heading in the direction we wanted.
The sun started to get lower and the cold intensified so we started to get eager to find a suitable campsite for our four tents. We found a sheltered flat area around 2,700 feet we decided was adequate and the camp prep activites came to full swing.....a good thing with cold weather - everyone automatically work hard with the chores just to stay warm. Arm immediately started digging an encampment for the snowmelting process with his 4-quart pot and the stove. Frodo and I tested out a new tent for an upcoming trip to Denali (hey Donna - observe spelling of Denali).
We had plenty of food which was shared left and right. Gris had also provided us with a bottle of emergency fuel in form of some two year old 160 proof Moonshine. A good chest warmer but seemed like it might be more suited for human consumption if diluted with some liquid white gas. The Swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes was filling as well as the sushi someone brought.....I bet it was Suebiscuit.....she seemed to pull a few treasures out of her backpack occasionally we needed to make brisk walks to keep the core temperature in the declining temps. Luckily we were sheltered from wind. The moon came out and we went for a walk along the snomo trail gazing at the stars......also had a snowangel competition which I don't remember who won.....I know it wasn't me
By 9pm everyone was eager to jump into the warm sleeping bags......Frodo kept a sandwich inside his North Face Dark Star -40 bag overnight....it was half frozen in the morning......
The crew was a little hesitant to get out of the bags in the morning...not sure why
Around 8:40am the eight hikers formed a band heading up towards the col. The snomo trail ended soon and trailbreaking took over. The sun was shining beautifully and soon we stood on the timberline border adding layers since we knew it was blowing hard up there......several time Frodo's sled took off and was suspended horizontally in the air.......looked comical but Frodo had a full-time job keeping his balance in the wind. Garrett had similar issues with his sled although he was carrying his so th sled became like a sail. We were in awe of the beauty up there and were very happy we had chosen to go on this cold trip. After a group photoon the summit we went down the north side. Garrett was orchestrating the route finding and we eventually got down into the woods. Arm was spearheading the routefinding in the woods and by 1:18pm we checked out the guestbook inside the Firewarden cabin. Two vftt people had been there 3 hours earlier. Arm: what was their names?
One by one th crew came down to the cabin and took a break. Garrett started to feel sick at this point and we wanted to get back to the cars sooner than later. With a lot of team effort over the seemilngly endless trail to the cars we firs made it out to the snomo trails, the summer TH and finally the cars. Frodo and I couldnt fit in the cars so we waited until we gotpicked up 45 min later. Picked up the cars in Bjarnum and then back for pizza and beer at Garretts hous before heading home to boston. Garrett's energy returned a bit after he got some dry clothes and chicken soup in him.
Wicked good pizza......after an awesome hike!
Thanks everyone for making this trip unforgettable! I'll be back there for more soon I'm sure......
Donna,Arm, Frodo and Garrett should have some photos to share I hope
Mats
SueBiscuit
Chinooktrail
Donna
Frodo
Arm
Hamtero
g o
Mats
Friday 2/15
Lloyd, SueBiscuit and I carpooled to Kingfield, ME where Garrett (g o) has his living quarters set up nicely. Everyone stayed overnight there except for Frodo who like them early morning drives
With the Arctic weather in the forecast we waited until next morning to decide the exact itinerary. After much deliberation we decided to go for the original plan to place two cars by the road 5 miles or so (east?) of the old Firewarden cabin on the north side of Abraham. We then drove to Bjarnum on the southwest side of of Abraham. It was blistering cold in the morning but the sun warmed up nicely. We were lucky to have snowmobile trails broken out although there are some objective dangers involved with the snomos coing around the corner at 60 mph....
One of the snomo drivers stopped and we consulted routefinding with him. Unfortunately the directions he gave led us too much to the west indicating he thought we wanted to intersect with the AT on that side of Abraham. Our goal was to camp in or near the col between Middle Abraham and Abraham. Realizing our mistake we re-traced our footsteps and found a road heading in the direction we wanted. The sun started to get lower and the cold intensified so we started to get eager to find a suitable campsite for our four tents. We found a sheltered flat area around 2,700 feet we decided was adequate and the camp prep activites came to full swing.....a good thing with cold weather - everyone automatically work hard with the chores just to stay warm. Arm immediately started digging an encampment for the snowmelting process with his 4-quart pot and the stove. Frodo and I tested out a new tent for an upcoming trip to Denali (hey Donna - observe spelling of Denali
). We had plenty of food which was shared left and right. Gris had also provided us with a bottle of emergency fuel in form of some two year old 160 proof Moonshine. A good chest warmer but seemed like it might be more suited for human consumption if diluted with some liquid white gas. The Swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes was filling as well as the sushi someone brought.....I bet it was Suebiscuit.....she seemed to pull a few treasures out of her backpack
occasionally we needed to make brisk walks to keep the core temperature in the declining temps. Luckily we were sheltered from wind. The moon came out and we went for a walk along the snomo trail gazing at the stars......also had a snowangel competition which I don't remember who won.....I know it wasn't me By 9pm everyone was eager to jump into the warm sleeping bags......Frodo kept a sandwich inside his North Face Dark Star -40 bag overnight....it was half frozen in the morning......
The crew was a little hesitant to get out of the bags in the morning...not sure why
Around 8:40am the eight hikers formed a band heading up towards the col. The snomo trail ended soon and trailbreaking took over. The sun was shining beautifully and soon we stood on the timberline border adding layers since we knew it was blowing hard up there......several time Frodo's sled took off and was suspended horizontally in the air.......looked comical but Frodo had a full-time job keeping his balance in the wind. Garrett had similar issues with his sled although he was carrying his so th sled became like a sail. We were in awe of the beauty up there and were very happy we had chosen to go on this cold trip. After a group photoon the summit we went down the north side. Garrett was orchestrating the route finding and we eventually got down into the woods. Arm was spearheading the routefinding in the woods and by 1:18pm we checked out the guestbook inside the Firewarden cabin. Two vftt people had been there 3 hours earlier. Arm: what was their names?
One by one th crew came down to the cabin and took a break. Garrett started to feel sick at this point and we wanted to get back to the cars sooner than later. With a lot of team effort over the seemilngly endless trail to the cars we firs made it out to the snomo trails, the summer TH and finally the cars. Frodo and I couldnt fit in the cars so we waited until we gotpicked up 45 min later. Picked up the cars in Bjarnum and then back for pizza and beer at Garretts hous before heading home to boston. Garrett's energy returned a bit after he got some dry clothes and chicken soup in him.
Wicked good pizza......after an awesome hike!
Thanks everyone for making this trip unforgettable! I'll be back there for more soon I'm sure......
Donna,Arm, Frodo and Garrett should have some photos to share I hope
Mats
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