Katahdin via Chimney Pond, Dec 27-31, 2006
Wednesday, 12-27-06: Nine of us met at the Terrace Motel in Millinocket for breakfast to kick off our winter BSP trip we had been planning since Sept. The group consisted of Myself, GO, Arm, MEB, Timmus, Sir Edmund, Swamp, Suebiscuit, and Peak_Bagr. This was quite the geographical group consisting of (3) from Mass, (2) from Maine, (1) from Quebec, (1) from NY, (1) from NH, and (1) from RI. While we were there, Timmus presented GO with a drawing of all of us on the summit (which came out excellent!). A few days later we would actually relive it. After a relaxing breakfast (topped by running into John Swanson in the parking lot, who was leading a group to do the Brothers), we headed off to Abol Bridge.
I have to admit, even though I am an optimist at heart, I was skeptical that we would have enough snow to pull our sleds to Roaring Brook. The planets must have been aligned, because not only did we have enough snow to pull our sleds, we also had enough snow to ski (yippy ti yo ti yay!)
t also turned out to be a nice day with partly cloudy skies.
We met a group of five from Pennsylvania who were also heading to Roaring Brook, and they claimed that they had the bunkhouse reserved. This was a slight problem because we reserved the bunkhouse on Nov 1st (GO took some time from work and drove up there to be 3rd in line for 7am BSP HQ opening). We discussed this issue with Ranger Bob, who met up with us on a snowmobile. He told us that we did in fact have the bunkhouse reserved, and the group from Pa. requested it, but it was already taken. They just needed to look at their permit a little more closely. We would see this group (along with a 4 person Canadian team) again several more times during our trip.
We arrived at the Roaring Brook bunkhouse just before dark, and quickly had the wood stove going. We had a few Guiness’s in memory of Guiness who was planning on joining us on this trip, but pulled a hamstring a few days before in the ADK’s and had to cancel. Suebiscuit put some homemade calzone on the wood stove that was just mouth watering… Arm brought the sound entertainment, which kept us all in a fine jamming mood…
Thursday, 12-28-06: After a brutally hot night in the bunkhouse (we had just a tad too much wood in the woodstove), most of us awoke half naked, lying on top of our sleeping bags with our mouths as dry as the Sahara desert. We ate breakfast and packed up.
Today we would all leave our sleds, skis, and other non-essential gear behind and carry our gear the 3.3 miles and 1500 vertical feet up to Chimney Pond. It took most of the group around 2 hours, but some of us with a-hem “too much crap” took around 3 hours. I even had 2 sherpa’s for the last mile (Sherpa Sir Edmund and Sherpa Suebiscuit) and it still took me 3 hours. I guess I should have left that George Forman Grill and my complete set of 1982 Britannica Encyclopedia’s behind…
Chimney Pond was very cold and windy when we arrived. It took forever to get the cabin heated which was a far contrast to tropical temps we had at Roaring Brook.
We needed water so Myself, GO, Sir Edmund, Arm, Suebiscuit, and Peak_bgr headed out across the frozen Chimney Pond with a 50 gallon dry bag, a 5 gallon collapsible bag, 2 pans to scoop water, and a rope (in case someone fell thru). As I reached the far side of the pond (where the spring feeds into it), I heard a yell from behind. I turned around and saw Sir Edmund pull himself (actually almost jump) out of the waist deep hole that used to be covered in ice. With a high water mark (as Swamp pointed out) just above his waist, Sir Edmund ran back across that pond so fast that even if there was bare water he was going to run right over it, just like they do in the cartoons… If he stopped, he would have likely been frozen in half stride (also like in the cartoons). He made it back to the bunkhouse within minutes after his polar plunge. The rest of us now had to finish the task of collecting water AND get back across this “not-so-frozen” pond without doing our own version of a polar plunge. Needless to say, we took a different route back, but all of us made it safely.
When we arrived, Sir Edmund was in the process of drying out his clothes. His boots were the biggest problem because he wasn’t wearing gators when he fell thru and they were filled with water. We had about 16 hours till summit day, so he had plenty of time to dry them out.
That evening we packed up for our summit attempt the following morning. We planned on climbing up the Saddle, head over to Hamlin, back to the Saddle, and up Baxter Peak. From there 5 of us were planning on doing the Knife Edge and down Dudley, the remaining 4 were planning on going back down the Saddle. Besides all of the wind, the weather was looking spectacular with cold temps and blue skies galore…
Friday, 12-29-06: We awoke to a much colder cabin than the previous night at RB. We put less wood in the stove, but the wind was the main factor (it was sucking the heat out of the bunkhouse). We geared up and headed off to check in with the ranger for our 8am departure.
The morning temp was around zero with winds around 20mph as we set out towards the Saddle. Several of us wore snowshoes to break out the trail, and we reached to bottom of the slide around 9am. We geared up, put on our required helmets, and headed up the steep slope. Peak_bgr lead the way and did a great job following the trail (we took the trail up, and bypassed the slide). Soon we topped out on the Tableland, took a short break, and headed off to Hamlin Peak with GO leading the way. The winds were blowing a little stronger as we reached the summit, but with the sub zero temps and wind, we didn’t stick around. We could see for about 100 miles and could clearly make out the dotted black line that marks the Canadian Border. Timmus had a few problems with her crampons, but they were resolved before our trip back down to the Saddle.
Shortly after, we were all “back in the saddle” (like Aerosmith), and heading up Baxter Peak. The wind was getting stronger and we could see the snow blowing horizontally half way up Baxter with the sun and blue skies behind it. It was a beautiful sight!
We ran into 2 of the 5 people from the Pa. Group who had bailed after topping out on the Cathedral Trail. They were without face protection, and the guy we ran into had a “white” frostbitten nose. GO pointed it out to him and they headed back down to Chimney Pond.
We continued up and soon ran into the other 3 members of the Pa. group. They bailed just before the summit due to the winds (they also lacked face protection), and warned us that the winds were blowing them over. Since we all had enough gear to stand on Mars, and the winds were not that bad at this point we continues up…
Soon we topped out on the summit ridge with the temps around negative 5F, with 40-45mph winds. We were all being blown around a bit but nothing too bad to knock us down. We grouped back up on the summit and gave each other hugs and “high fives”. We took a few group shots at the summit sign, but didn’t stick around long due to the negative 40 wind chills. It was freak’n cold up there! The 5 of us who brought a rope and harnesses to do the Knife Edge got to carry all that stuff back down. It was way too windy to do the KE on this clear, cold, beautiful day…
All 9 of us cranked back down to the Saddle, then back down (some of us did the trail and some did the slide). We were all back at the bunkhouse by 3:30pm. When we talked to the Ranger, he told us that he treated the Pa. climber who had frostbite and they were heading down and out the following day. He also told us that the Canadian team went up the Dudley Trail and turned around just below Pamola.
We had a small party to celebrate our day eating great food, drinking some fine stuff, and telling stories. We also did some improve which included Chris Rock for one and another was a bit about feeding thru hikers, Too funny!!!!!!
When it was time to go for a wood run, all of the women volunteered, which in turn Arm replyed, “So the women are handling the wood?”
Saturday, 12-30-06: We awoke late to blue skies, ate breakfast, packed up and headed back down to Roaring Brook. By the way, it’s much easier carrying 70lbs down as opposed to carrying it up…We had a free day (a floater in case of bad weather), but no one wanted to head out early. Instead, MEB, Timmus, Suebiscuit, Swamp, and Sir Edmund headed off to climb S. Turner, while Myself, GO, Arm, and Peak_bgr sat around telling bizarre stories.
Once everyone was back, we sat around and partied while playing chess (Sir Edmund kicks butt), backgammon (GO kicks butt) and cards (no one kicked butt). We had the RB bunkhouse so warm that flies in the window sill came back to life. Too bad the giant moth that was in “suspended animation” in the window didn’t come back to life. We named it “Craig” anyway, and joked about having to consume it as part of our card game.
Sunday, 12-31-06: We all wanted to arrive back home as early as we could, so we opted for a 6:00am departure. Myself, GO, MEB and Suebiscuit all headed out on skis first to do some car spotting. MEB and Suebiscuit are fast skiers, so Go and I had a tough time keeping up with them. At one point skiing down Windy Pitch, MEB looked like an an Olympic skier with her poles tucked under her arms and smoking down the road with her sled providing the momentum. We met up with the rest of the gang about 3-1/2 hours later. After that, it was on to the AT diner for some chow (Sir Edmund ordered one of everything that was on the menu). I think it was the tape worm…
Overall, it was a fantastic trip with a great group of friends. It’s not the mountain that makes these trips special, it’s the people who come along for the adventure…
Till the next one…
Wednesday, 12-27-06: Nine of us met at the Terrace Motel in Millinocket for breakfast to kick off our winter BSP trip we had been planning since Sept. The group consisted of Myself, GO, Arm, MEB, Timmus, Sir Edmund, Swamp, Suebiscuit, and Peak_Bagr. This was quite the geographical group consisting of (3) from Mass, (2) from Maine, (1) from Quebec, (1) from NY, (1) from NH, and (1) from RI. While we were there, Timmus presented GO with a drawing of all of us on the summit (which came out excellent!). A few days later we would actually relive it. After a relaxing breakfast (topped by running into John Swanson in the parking lot, who was leading a group to do the Brothers), we headed off to Abol Bridge.
I have to admit, even though I am an optimist at heart, I was skeptical that we would have enough snow to pull our sleds to Roaring Brook. The planets must have been aligned, because not only did we have enough snow to pull our sleds, we also had enough snow to ski (yippy ti yo ti yay!)
t also turned out to be a nice day with partly cloudy skies.We met a group of five from Pennsylvania who were also heading to Roaring Brook, and they claimed that they had the bunkhouse reserved. This was a slight problem because we reserved the bunkhouse on Nov 1st (GO took some time from work and drove up there to be 3rd in line for 7am BSP HQ opening). We discussed this issue with Ranger Bob, who met up with us on a snowmobile. He told us that we did in fact have the bunkhouse reserved, and the group from Pa. requested it, but it was already taken. They just needed to look at their permit a little more closely. We would see this group (along with a 4 person Canadian team) again several more times during our trip.
We arrived at the Roaring Brook bunkhouse just before dark, and quickly had the wood stove going. We had a few Guiness’s in memory of Guiness who was planning on joining us on this trip, but pulled a hamstring a few days before in the ADK’s and had to cancel. Suebiscuit put some homemade calzone on the wood stove that was just mouth watering… Arm brought the sound entertainment, which kept us all in a fine jamming mood…
Thursday, 12-28-06: After a brutally hot night in the bunkhouse (we had just a tad too much wood in the woodstove), most of us awoke half naked, lying on top of our sleeping bags with our mouths as dry as the Sahara desert. We ate breakfast and packed up.
Today we would all leave our sleds, skis, and other non-essential gear behind and carry our gear the 3.3 miles and 1500 vertical feet up to Chimney Pond. It took most of the group around 2 hours, but some of us with a-hem “too much crap” took around 3 hours. I even had 2 sherpa’s for the last mile (Sherpa Sir Edmund and Sherpa Suebiscuit) and it still took me 3 hours. I guess I should have left that George Forman Grill and my complete set of 1982 Britannica Encyclopedia’s behind…
Chimney Pond was very cold and windy when we arrived. It took forever to get the cabin heated which was a far contrast to tropical temps we had at Roaring Brook.
We needed water so Myself, GO, Sir Edmund, Arm, Suebiscuit, and Peak_bgr headed out across the frozen Chimney Pond with a 50 gallon dry bag, a 5 gallon collapsible bag, 2 pans to scoop water, and a rope (in case someone fell thru). As I reached the far side of the pond (where the spring feeds into it), I heard a yell from behind. I turned around and saw Sir Edmund pull himself (actually almost jump) out of the waist deep hole that used to be covered in ice. With a high water mark (as Swamp pointed out) just above his waist, Sir Edmund ran back across that pond so fast that even if there was bare water he was going to run right over it, just like they do in the cartoons… If he stopped, he would have likely been frozen in half stride (also like in the cartoons). He made it back to the bunkhouse within minutes after his polar plunge. The rest of us now had to finish the task of collecting water AND get back across this “not-so-frozen” pond without doing our own version of a polar plunge. Needless to say, we took a different route back, but all of us made it safely.
When we arrived, Sir Edmund was in the process of drying out his clothes. His boots were the biggest problem because he wasn’t wearing gators when he fell thru and they were filled with water. We had about 16 hours till summit day, so he had plenty of time to dry them out.
That evening we packed up for our summit attempt the following morning. We planned on climbing up the Saddle, head over to Hamlin, back to the Saddle, and up Baxter Peak. From there 5 of us were planning on doing the Knife Edge and down Dudley, the remaining 4 were planning on going back down the Saddle. Besides all of the wind, the weather was looking spectacular with cold temps and blue skies galore…
Friday, 12-29-06: We awoke to a much colder cabin than the previous night at RB. We put less wood in the stove, but the wind was the main factor (it was sucking the heat out of the bunkhouse). We geared up and headed off to check in with the ranger for our 8am departure.
The morning temp was around zero with winds around 20mph as we set out towards the Saddle. Several of us wore snowshoes to break out the trail, and we reached to bottom of the slide around 9am. We geared up, put on our required helmets, and headed up the steep slope. Peak_bgr lead the way and did a great job following the trail (we took the trail up, and bypassed the slide). Soon we topped out on the Tableland, took a short break, and headed off to Hamlin Peak with GO leading the way. The winds were blowing a little stronger as we reached the summit, but with the sub zero temps and wind, we didn’t stick around. We could see for about 100 miles and could clearly make out the dotted black line that marks the Canadian Border. Timmus had a few problems with her crampons, but they were resolved before our trip back down to the Saddle.
Shortly after, we were all “back in the saddle” (like Aerosmith), and heading up Baxter Peak. The wind was getting stronger and we could see the snow blowing horizontally half way up Baxter with the sun and blue skies behind it. It was a beautiful sight!
We ran into 2 of the 5 people from the Pa. Group who had bailed after topping out on the Cathedral Trail. They were without face protection, and the guy we ran into had a “white” frostbitten nose. GO pointed it out to him and they headed back down to Chimney Pond.
We continued up and soon ran into the other 3 members of the Pa. group. They bailed just before the summit due to the winds (they also lacked face protection), and warned us that the winds were blowing them over. Since we all had enough gear to stand on Mars, and the winds were not that bad at this point we continues up…
Soon we topped out on the summit ridge with the temps around negative 5F, with 40-45mph winds. We were all being blown around a bit but nothing too bad to knock us down. We grouped back up on the summit and gave each other hugs and “high fives”. We took a few group shots at the summit sign, but didn’t stick around long due to the negative 40 wind chills. It was freak’n cold up there! The 5 of us who brought a rope and harnesses to do the Knife Edge got to carry all that stuff back down. It was way too windy to do the KE on this clear, cold, beautiful day…
All 9 of us cranked back down to the Saddle, then back down (some of us did the trail and some did the slide). We were all back at the bunkhouse by 3:30pm. When we talked to the Ranger, he told us that he treated the Pa. climber who had frostbite and they were heading down and out the following day. He also told us that the Canadian team went up the Dudley Trail and turned around just below Pamola.
We had a small party to celebrate our day eating great food, drinking some fine stuff, and telling stories. We also did some improve which included Chris Rock for one and another was a bit about feeding thru hikers, Too funny!!!!!!
When it was time to go for a wood run, all of the women volunteered, which in turn Arm replyed, “So the women are handling the wood?”
Saturday, 12-30-06: We awoke late to blue skies, ate breakfast, packed up and headed back down to Roaring Brook. By the way, it’s much easier carrying 70lbs down as opposed to carrying it up…We had a free day (a floater in case of bad weather), but no one wanted to head out early. Instead, MEB, Timmus, Suebiscuit, Swamp, and Sir Edmund headed off to climb S. Turner, while Myself, GO, Arm, and Peak_bgr sat around telling bizarre stories.
Once everyone was back, we sat around and partied while playing chess (Sir Edmund kicks butt), backgammon (GO kicks butt) and cards (no one kicked butt). We had the RB bunkhouse so warm that flies in the window sill came back to life. Too bad the giant moth that was in “suspended animation” in the window didn’t come back to life. We named it “Craig” anyway, and joked about having to consume it as part of our card game.
Sunday, 12-31-06: We all wanted to arrive back home as early as we could, so we opted for a 6:00am departure. Myself, GO, MEB and Suebiscuit all headed out on skis first to do some car spotting. MEB and Suebiscuit are fast skiers, so Go and I had a tough time keeping up with them. At one point skiing down Windy Pitch, MEB looked like an an Olympic skier with her poles tucked under her arms and smoking down the road with her sled providing the momentum. We met up with the rest of the gang about 3-1/2 hours later. After that, it was on to the AT diner for some chow (Sir Edmund ordered one of everything that was on the menu). I think it was the tape worm…
Overall, it was a fantastic trip with a great group of friends. It’s not the mountain that makes these trips special, it’s the people who come along for the adventure…
Till the next one…
