Becca M
Active member
Initial Plan: Pemi Ski from Lincoln Woods to Thoreau Falls. Route TBD
Final Route: East Side Trail to Cedar Brook Trail to Thoreau Falls Trail to Ethan Pond Trail to Shoal Pond Trail back to Wilderness Trail and East Side Trail (the “pemi lollipop”).
Equipment: waxless XC BC skis, <70mm wide, 180-185cm long
Start time: 9:15am on 2/22/11. End time: 1:45pm, 2/23/11
Special Comment: Thanks Doug for joining on this adventure!!!!
Comments:
To paraphrase Doug, “It wouldn’t be and adventure if the outcome weren’t uncertain!” It was a beautiful, if slightly cold morning when we organized our equipment, Doug sampled the trail, and we set off. Doug was wondering if the waxless skis were a good choice and I suspect he wasn’t all that happy with them. But, I learned you can still wax them and I also learned a whole lot more about back-country XC. I found out Doug has a TON of knowledge and he was more than willing to answer ALL my questions. AWESOME!!!!
I was thinking before we started that the trip might take 20-24 hours. We had filled our tanks with gas and our glove boxes with nodoze for driving back from Lincoln Woods which we assumed would be pre-dawn. I wasn’t really surprised when we were done only about 25% over my longest estimate.
The skiing was fairly easy. I was VERY relieved that the trails seemed to be broken out well beyond the wilderness boundary on the East Side Trail. I kept hoping the trails would be broken out all the way up the Thoreau Falls Trail (TFT). When we got to the site of the former suspension bridge (R.I.P.), Doug needed to see the site, so, we skied down to it. It was still very sad to see that big pile of junk. I’ve accepted it like the falling of the old man of the mountain, but, Doug had not been there yet. We pushed on.
TFT had indeed been broken out!!! I looked to the right up the Shoal Pond Trail and could see some VERY faint tracks, so I assumed that was at least semi-broken out. Anyway, I was amazed how much snow had filled in since I had been on TFT for my last attempt two months ago. Some of the bad blowdowns were now easy ski-overs. We crossed the precarious tree bridge at the beginning of TFT by taking off our skis. Doug took some pictures of the Pemi Wilderness. Awesome views!!! We finally reached the point 2.1 miles up where I’d turned back twice. For some reason, it was now obvious that the trail went to the left. There must have been a huge trestle there at one time!!! A little further, we saw the old trail crossing. The little marker was still there. From there the trail seemed to run near the river and it was so cool to see the North Fork with ski marks down it.
After that, we had some trouble finding the trail in the flats, as the tracks we were following had wandered around. I finally spotted some blazes. When we started to head uphill (NOT the final climb), we put on the skins. The switchbacks were a bit tricky to follow and we were on and off the trail quite a bit. Every so often we’d see a faint light blue blaze. That was always reassuring. We kept thinking/hoping maybe we were on the final climb to Thoreau Falls. NOT! We kept pushing on.
We noted that we were still heading in even as the sun was setting. It was pretty cool to just go with the flow and follow the woods through a day/night/day cycle. And be moving the entire time!!! We put on our headlamps – we had enough headlamps and batteries for an army, I think (just kidding!) . Then we started our final climb. We wondered aloud if maybe we were at the final climb to the falls. It seemed pretty steep, and our skins worked pretty well. We had to use a lot of the shrubs trailside to pull ourselves up the final leg of the climb and we were greeted at the top of the knoll by a monstrous blowdown. Just beyond, our headlamps lit up the “no camping within ¼ mile of Thoreau Falls” sign and I was ecstatic. We had made it!!! Not quite. Where were the falls? We could hear some water but there was no sign of the trail. We saw faint snowshoe and ski tracks heading in multiple directions that didn’t seem to head anywhere. I found a dead tree with a few dozen rusted nails in it. We circled. We pulled out the map, pulled out our compasses, set bearings, switched bearings. It didn’t seem right to go downhill. It was time to taint our trip by using the GPS. We still had some trouble trailfinding but, eventually Doug said that we were dead on the trail. Descending, there was what looked like a huge white pond below. That was no pond – it was the top of the falls! White white white under our headlamps. It was AWESOME! I was psyched. We took of our skis to get down to the crossing, then we put the skis back on and crossed.
At some point we discussed possibly exiting via Ethan Pond to 302 or Zealand Hut. The idea of hitchhiking in the wee hours did not excite me. We agreed we did NOT want to descend via TFT because it was so steep and difficult to follow on the switchbacks. We were picturing a nice kick-and-glide out via Shoal Pond Trail (SPT) instead. I had been on SPT years ago and could picture a nice wide corridor. Or not!!! That shouldn’t take much energy! We were feeling a little tired.
By now, my mind was replaying only a limited selection of music in a random, semi-hideous loop: R.E.M.’s “Nightswimming”, “Day Sleeper”, “Bad Day”, Saturday Night Fever’s “Night on Disco Mountain” and Pearl Jam’s “Alive”. We were starting to run low on water so I didn’t want to sing along!!!
We had a little trouble finding the junction with Ethan Pond Trail, but, when we did, it was dinner break (around 8:30pm) time and time to take off the skins. We reapplied wax (thanks for teaching me, Doug!!!). We had already been taking hourly breaks. I was enjoying working my way through a full package of Oreo Double Stuffs, Chex Mix, and vanilla cream wafers. We then pushed off toward SPT.
It was an easy glide at first. The first 50 yards. The snow was not very deep on the crust, so, trailbreaking was easy. From then on, we alternated among dense shrubs, moose postholes, and trail confusion. Doug had the trail tracks loaded on his GPS and when the corridor wasn’t obvious, he pulled out the GPS.
Several times we turned our headlamps off to view the star-punctured sky. Orion’s Belt became a constant companion!!! The moon finally rose orange-yellow on our left around midnight. From then on, the moon was 30-degrees to our left the length of SPT. We sometimes lost the trail, but, the moose tracks seemed to always be on-trail. Which made trailfinding easier but punched up the trail so any possible hope of easy skiing was dashed. Maybe there should be a bigger moose hunting lottery? Just kidding!!!
Stream crossings were challenging. We found the way down to the streams easily enough, but, could seldom find a route back onto the trail on the opposite sides. Most of the streams were well below the level of the trail so trying to get down the banks safely with skis on was an issue. Take the skis off and we’d sink up to our thighs. The last stream crossing we were in some kind of spruce swamp. We routed around our usual 15-30 minutes per stream crossing. We got quite off-course before Stillwater Junction and struggled in blowdown with our skis. I honestly thought that maybe someone would find our bodies there!!!! But, we worked around the spruce and hit the corridor. Good job Doug!!!! I looked up and saw what I thought were signs. They were the signs at Stillwater Junction!!! Fabulous!!!
Wilderness Trail out was a little better, but, not great. We found ourselves on a bluff with no exit. We skied up and downhill, trying to avoid the edge when, after 5-6 back-and-forths, we found a corridor off the bluff. I didn’t remember that AT ALL from years ago. Then the sky started to brighten. The sun was finally rising!!! Headlamps off!
We were just about out of water. As we had little water, it froze that much easier. We decided to polish off what we had. I said we’d drink from the streamlets. Nothing was open. My mouth kept watering for the pemi!!! We were both so thirsty. We pushed on. I found a streamlet that was open but too shallow. I lay down on the snow to dip our bottles. Unfortunately, I stirred the silt and dirt up in the puddle. We wolfed it down despite the earthy flavor. When we got to Cedar Brook, we refilled with fresh water. Filters? BAH!!! It tasted great!!! We could eat again! Welcome to breakfast Oreos!! I should mention that Doug ate much heathier fare – mostly dried figs and sandwiches.
The rest was a blur. We just kept going. 1:45pm on 2/23 I popped the top off the 2-liter Diet Coke waiting for me in the car. It was AWESOME!!! I’m thinking of a loop to 13-falls up and around Owl’s Head next year. Think about it. ☺
Pictures might follow!!!!
Final Route: East Side Trail to Cedar Brook Trail to Thoreau Falls Trail to Ethan Pond Trail to Shoal Pond Trail back to Wilderness Trail and East Side Trail (the “pemi lollipop”).
Equipment: waxless XC BC skis, <70mm wide, 180-185cm long
Start time: 9:15am on 2/22/11. End time: 1:45pm, 2/23/11
Special Comment: Thanks Doug for joining on this adventure!!!!
Comments:
To paraphrase Doug, “It wouldn’t be and adventure if the outcome weren’t uncertain!” It was a beautiful, if slightly cold morning when we organized our equipment, Doug sampled the trail, and we set off. Doug was wondering if the waxless skis were a good choice and I suspect he wasn’t all that happy with them. But, I learned you can still wax them and I also learned a whole lot more about back-country XC. I found out Doug has a TON of knowledge and he was more than willing to answer ALL my questions. AWESOME!!!!
I was thinking before we started that the trip might take 20-24 hours. We had filled our tanks with gas and our glove boxes with nodoze for driving back from Lincoln Woods which we assumed would be pre-dawn. I wasn’t really surprised when we were done only about 25% over my longest estimate.
The skiing was fairly easy. I was VERY relieved that the trails seemed to be broken out well beyond the wilderness boundary on the East Side Trail. I kept hoping the trails would be broken out all the way up the Thoreau Falls Trail (TFT). When we got to the site of the former suspension bridge (R.I.P.), Doug needed to see the site, so, we skied down to it. It was still very sad to see that big pile of junk. I’ve accepted it like the falling of the old man of the mountain, but, Doug had not been there yet. We pushed on.
TFT had indeed been broken out!!! I looked to the right up the Shoal Pond Trail and could see some VERY faint tracks, so I assumed that was at least semi-broken out. Anyway, I was amazed how much snow had filled in since I had been on TFT for my last attempt two months ago. Some of the bad blowdowns were now easy ski-overs. We crossed the precarious tree bridge at the beginning of TFT by taking off our skis. Doug took some pictures of the Pemi Wilderness. Awesome views!!! We finally reached the point 2.1 miles up where I’d turned back twice. For some reason, it was now obvious that the trail went to the left. There must have been a huge trestle there at one time!!! A little further, we saw the old trail crossing. The little marker was still there. From there the trail seemed to run near the river and it was so cool to see the North Fork with ski marks down it.
After that, we had some trouble finding the trail in the flats, as the tracks we were following had wandered around. I finally spotted some blazes. When we started to head uphill (NOT the final climb), we put on the skins. The switchbacks were a bit tricky to follow and we were on and off the trail quite a bit. Every so often we’d see a faint light blue blaze. That was always reassuring. We kept thinking/hoping maybe we were on the final climb to Thoreau Falls. NOT! We kept pushing on.
We noted that we were still heading in even as the sun was setting. It was pretty cool to just go with the flow and follow the woods through a day/night/day cycle. And be moving the entire time!!! We put on our headlamps – we had enough headlamps and batteries for an army, I think (just kidding!) . Then we started our final climb. We wondered aloud if maybe we were at the final climb to the falls. It seemed pretty steep, and our skins worked pretty well. We had to use a lot of the shrubs trailside to pull ourselves up the final leg of the climb and we were greeted at the top of the knoll by a monstrous blowdown. Just beyond, our headlamps lit up the “no camping within ¼ mile of Thoreau Falls” sign and I was ecstatic. We had made it!!! Not quite. Where were the falls? We could hear some water but there was no sign of the trail. We saw faint snowshoe and ski tracks heading in multiple directions that didn’t seem to head anywhere. I found a dead tree with a few dozen rusted nails in it. We circled. We pulled out the map, pulled out our compasses, set bearings, switched bearings. It didn’t seem right to go downhill. It was time to taint our trip by using the GPS. We still had some trouble trailfinding but, eventually Doug said that we were dead on the trail. Descending, there was what looked like a huge white pond below. That was no pond – it was the top of the falls! White white white under our headlamps. It was AWESOME! I was psyched. We took of our skis to get down to the crossing, then we put the skis back on and crossed.
At some point we discussed possibly exiting via Ethan Pond to 302 or Zealand Hut. The idea of hitchhiking in the wee hours did not excite me. We agreed we did NOT want to descend via TFT because it was so steep and difficult to follow on the switchbacks. We were picturing a nice kick-and-glide out via Shoal Pond Trail (SPT) instead. I had been on SPT years ago and could picture a nice wide corridor. Or not!!! That shouldn’t take much energy! We were feeling a little tired.
By now, my mind was replaying only a limited selection of music in a random, semi-hideous loop: R.E.M.’s “Nightswimming”, “Day Sleeper”, “Bad Day”, Saturday Night Fever’s “Night on Disco Mountain” and Pearl Jam’s “Alive”. We were starting to run low on water so I didn’t want to sing along!!!
We had a little trouble finding the junction with Ethan Pond Trail, but, when we did, it was dinner break (around 8:30pm) time and time to take off the skins. We reapplied wax (thanks for teaching me, Doug!!!). We had already been taking hourly breaks. I was enjoying working my way through a full package of Oreo Double Stuffs, Chex Mix, and vanilla cream wafers. We then pushed off toward SPT.
It was an easy glide at first. The first 50 yards. The snow was not very deep on the crust, so, trailbreaking was easy. From then on, we alternated among dense shrubs, moose postholes, and trail confusion. Doug had the trail tracks loaded on his GPS and when the corridor wasn’t obvious, he pulled out the GPS.
Several times we turned our headlamps off to view the star-punctured sky. Orion’s Belt became a constant companion!!! The moon finally rose orange-yellow on our left around midnight. From then on, the moon was 30-degrees to our left the length of SPT. We sometimes lost the trail, but, the moose tracks seemed to always be on-trail. Which made trailfinding easier but punched up the trail so any possible hope of easy skiing was dashed. Maybe there should be a bigger moose hunting lottery? Just kidding!!!
Stream crossings were challenging. We found the way down to the streams easily enough, but, could seldom find a route back onto the trail on the opposite sides. Most of the streams were well below the level of the trail so trying to get down the banks safely with skis on was an issue. Take the skis off and we’d sink up to our thighs. The last stream crossing we were in some kind of spruce swamp. We routed around our usual 15-30 minutes per stream crossing. We got quite off-course before Stillwater Junction and struggled in blowdown with our skis. I honestly thought that maybe someone would find our bodies there!!!! But, we worked around the spruce and hit the corridor. Good job Doug!!!! I looked up and saw what I thought were signs. They were the signs at Stillwater Junction!!! Fabulous!!!
Wilderness Trail out was a little better, but, not great. We found ourselves on a bluff with no exit. We skied up and downhill, trying to avoid the edge when, after 5-6 back-and-forths, we found a corridor off the bluff. I didn’t remember that AT ALL from years ago. Then the sky started to brighten. The sun was finally rising!!! Headlamps off!
We were just about out of water. As we had little water, it froze that much easier. We decided to polish off what we had. I said we’d drink from the streamlets. Nothing was open. My mouth kept watering for the pemi!!! We were both so thirsty. We pushed on. I found a streamlet that was open but too shallow. I lay down on the snow to dip our bottles. Unfortunately, I stirred the silt and dirt up in the puddle. We wolfed it down despite the earthy flavor. When we got to Cedar Brook, we refilled with fresh water. Filters? BAH!!! It tasted great!!! We could eat again! Welcome to breakfast Oreos!! I should mention that Doug ate much heathier fare – mostly dried figs and sandwiches.
The rest was a blur. We just kept going. 1:45pm on 2/23 I popped the top off the 2-liter Diet Coke waiting for me in the car. It was AWESOME!!! I’m thinking of a loop to 13-falls up and around Owl’s Head next year. Think about it. ☺
Pictures might follow!!!!
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