MarkL
Active member
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2003
- Messages
- 257
- Reaction score
- 31
--Williams Pond Rd. well packed by snowmobiles for first 2.6 miles. After that, packed by group of 7, then me, skiing with sleds. Not packed well enough for barebooting. --Ditto the 1/2 mile ski trail through woods to Nesowadnehunk Field Campground. --Park perimeter road well packed by snowmobiles --Marston Trail well packed for 1.2 miles to jct. of Coe Trail. --Rest of trail to North Brother broken by me going up and down. A group of 2(?) headed in early this morning for NB, so it may be broken much better by now. --Above tree line it's unlikely tracks will be visible for long. Surface is mostly firm rime or windpack, and doesn't take much of a print.
--Water Crossings Several shallow little trickles. Mostly easy to step across, but some required care not to get snowshoes wet.
--Required equipment--Skis so as not to ruin the sled track. (snowshoes would widen the track, making it less helpful for sleds. --Snowshoes for traction, then flotation further up. --Map and compass determine bearing of approach to summit in case reverse bearing is needed due to blown over tracks/poor visibility. Crampons not needed.
I couldn't find the NB-SB jct the first 3 times I passed through it. I was later told the sign isn't very high, and is buried. In the process of looking for it, I packed only the first ~200 yards of the S. Brother trail. At the NB-SB jct, that may give the impression that someone has been to/from SB. They haven't. The group that did Coe had to break trail, and said there were no tracks continuing to SB. Towards the very end of that distance I may not have been on the SB trail.
When I left this morning, local radio (94.9FM) was calling for 2-5" of snow tonight through tomorrow.
Parking area is about 1/2 mile past Mile Marker 35. Telos Rd. is plowed wide there, with enough space for 7 or more vehicles.
The previous group (I don't remember its size) to sign the Marston Register for NB was on 1/30. Their R/T time was ~7 hours from register. Surprisingly, traces of their tracks were still visible here and there. Someone I talked to in Millinocket said there hadn't been any snow for 24 days. He also said there can be a big difference between snowfall amounts in Millinocket and that area of the park and Telos Rd. Next previous signed-in hikers were back in mid-November. My time was ~10 hours. 6 of those hours were spent trail finding and breaking from Coe Jct. up to the summit.
For more details go to trip report.
--Water Crossings Several shallow little trickles. Mostly easy to step across, but some required care not to get snowshoes wet.
--Required equipment--Skis so as not to ruin the sled track. (snowshoes would widen the track, making it less helpful for sleds. --Snowshoes for traction, then flotation further up. --Map and compass determine bearing of approach to summit in case reverse bearing is needed due to blown over tracks/poor visibility. Crampons not needed.
I couldn't find the NB-SB jct the first 3 times I passed through it. I was later told the sign isn't very high, and is buried. In the process of looking for it, I packed only the first ~200 yards of the S. Brother trail. At the NB-SB jct, that may give the impression that someone has been to/from SB. They haven't. The group that did Coe had to break trail, and said there were no tracks continuing to SB. Towards the very end of that distance I may not have been on the SB trail.
When I left this morning, local radio (94.9FM) was calling for 2-5" of snow tonight through tomorrow.
Parking area is about 1/2 mile past Mile Marker 35. Telos Rd. is plowed wide there, with enough space for 7 or more vehicles.
The previous group (I don't remember its size) to sign the Marston Register for NB was on 1/30. Their R/T time was ~7 hours from register. Surprisingly, traces of their tracks were still visible here and there. Someone I talked to in Millinocket said there hadn't been any snow for 24 days. He also said there can be a big difference between snowfall amounts in Millinocket and that area of the park and Telos Rd. Next previous signed-in hikers were back in mid-November. My time was ~10 hours. 6 of those hours were spent trail finding and breaking from Coe Jct. up to the summit.
For more details go to trip report.
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