Baxter Peak and so much more.

[percious]

This is going to be part one of a two part installment. I've had a crazy week, and this is all I can muster at this time. Shall I begin....

Wednesday morning we all met in Vernon, CT in good spirits, and after a little packing we were on our way. After a minor mixup in Mass, we were moving along nicely through NH and finally ME. We stopped briefly at a very nice town north of the capital for lunch. There were beautiful picnic tables overlooking a pond. Around 4pm we arrived at Katahdin shadows Campground in East Millonocket. After a short swim we headed over to a white river rafting facility that had a pub with some fairly good food. Hard to complain, our bellies full, felling relaxed, we turned in for the night after playing with some sparklers. The bugs were definately out in full force.

6am came early on Thursday (doesnt it every day?), and after some scrambling (eggs of course) we headed off to the park gate. 8 miles of dirt road later, we found ourselves abandoning our car, heading to a trailhead which we would return to in a different direction, after almost 30 miles of hiking. I love loop hiking, and this was the ultimate loop.

After a few miles, we reached the half way point, and converted to shorts mode. The trail was an easy grade, and we were making good time. Our first experience with the crystal clear waters of Maine came when we arrived at Basin pond, where we spied our first 2 objectives of the trip. Pamola hovered to the right, looking rather tame, while Hamlin loomed in the distance, which I knew would be tough with full packs. Mountains didn't scare us though... we were mountain men... errr... mountain people. We wanted to dunk ourselves, but decided rather to head for the hills.

Soon after we reached a sign that labeled chimney pond .3 miles further. This was quite a surprise, because I thought we had moved well, and were within a few yards... After hiking 10 more minutes we arrived, and I was certain that the mileage was wrong, but who knows. At this point we pumped/penned our hearts out, dropped our heavy packs, hung the bear bags, and registered for knife's edge. Our first objective was going to be hard, but all good things come at a price.

(cont.)

 

[percious]

Pamola started up at a stiff grade, and we were happy to be gaining elevation so quickly. Surely this would be an easy summit at this rate. We found a shady spot before the trees let up, and I got to lose the weight of lunch, well 3/4ths of it anyway. We continued beyond treeline, and saw very few people descending as we went up. It was strange to see so few people out on such a beautiful day. I guess the gate quotas are a good thing after all, just too darn hard to implement in other places.

Soon we spied Pamola's finger, and that was our next goal, since the summit seemed miles away. We stopped a few times to catch our breath, and continued to trudge on until we reached the finger. At this point we took a long break and played around on the finger. Each took his/her turn up the pointy rock, and the exposure gives you quite an adrenalin rush. I took way too many pictures, and we all had a few good laughs before trucking on.

Pamola's summit was ths size of a postage stamp, and infested with black flies. Needless to say, we did not linger as our main objective lay before us. Knife's edge is a spectacular trail, one in which you can spy two sides of a ridge without turning your head. It is an erie experience, as the ground gives way seemingly beneath you for 2000 ft on each side. The trail has some hairy parts, and the wind always seemed to kick up just as you made the decision to take that death defying step to the next knob. It is definately quite the experience.

Having successfuly traversed the edge, we arrived at South Baxter Peak no worse for wear. We had passed a few weary parties heading towards the tough stuff, and were glad to know that the trail down was of a much easier grade.

(cont.)

 

[percious]

We soon arrived at Baxter peak, and I got to spy for the first time the terminus of the Apalachian trail. It is odd to imagine that a continuous trail follows from that point all the way back to Georgia, some 2000+ miles away. We snapped some shots, (awaiting some of those pics, because my camera apparently biffed) and stopped for a bit to grab some snacks. I spied my seventh spider for the day (what are those black suckers?) and we all decided it was best if we headed back for camp. We were running low on food, and the desire to hike. It was good to be descending from here on out.

Our chosen route was the saddle trail. As we approached the pass, the wind increased steadily before peaking at the junction. As soon as we dropped down into the bowl however, the wind subsided, and we carried on, satisfied with our day's expedition. I decided this must be the perfect winter route for Baxter. Somewhere along the line Will twisted his ankle, and this slowed us a bit as we descended.

I decided to stop and pen a few liters (7 to be exact) whilst we were high up while the rest headed to camp to prepare dinner. After retrieving the water I felt very energized, and covered the last mile or so very quickly, running at times when I could. I was trying to catch the rest before they got to camp, but they beat me by 10 minutes... Oh well.

A feast of hot dogs and rice ensued, and we were all happy to have brought a considerable amount of netting to keep the flies out of our sweat box. They sure do build the leantos small for 4 people! Ben and Will had their feet hanging over the edge when they woke in the morning.

(cont.)

 

[percious]

ok, to narate for a minute here, that is the first installment.

pictures are here:

www.percious.com/hiking/


Enjoy

-percious

 

[bobandgeri]

Great report and pics! Thanks for posting. Your timing is great as we are preparing to head to BSP this morning. It was nice to wake up and find the inspiration from your pics.

 

[Artex]

Great report and pics, Percious!!! Wow, you guys had some clear skies for Katahdin! Quite rare. I'll be up there again next month... can't wait!

 

[percious]

Ok, things have settled down. So here is my second installment... Now where did I leave off?

Saturday morning we woke with our feet hanging off the end of the shelter. Will and Ben went off to gather water for the day while I worked with Michele to cook our blueberry pancakes. Michelle did a really good job with a really difficult meal.

After packing up and signing the register, we headed to the lead up trail for Hamlin. Will was still uneasy about his ankle, so we decided to forego the decision as long as possible. The weight of the food was distributed to the strongest members in the group so that everyone could move at an even pace. Will's ankle did well on the first mile or so. He had put on a beefy brace which did a good job on his ankle. His ankle was testy from the get-go. He decided to continue on, rather than hike out.

A half mile later we found ourselves approaching treeline. Although we were only 1/2 mile as the crow flies from Pamola, the terrain was quite different. Around every corner were beautiful white mountain flowers, and we enjoyed their sight in the morning sun. Off to the south we observed some cloud formations. We came to the agreement that these were lenticular, caused by the moist valley air being pushed up by north-bound low winds, then pushed east at higher elevations. They were neat clouds, because they formed exactly the shape of the basin formed by Pamola, Baxter, and Hamlin. It had been a windy night, so it did not surprise me to see such an active weather pattern.

After our break to analyze the weather pattern we continued trodding on, one false summit after another. In the distance I could see a large party of 10 or more people. Surely we would never catch them. It was at this point Michele took the lead, and before long had developed quite a gap over us chaps. She was a whole falsey ahead of us, and I could see our gap with the other group was shrinking. My load was feeling particularly heavy at this point, and I wondered if I should have given some more food to Michele. We took another short break when we caught up with Michele, and now the people in front of us were breaking on a small plateau along the mountainside. I knew we could catch them if we tried.

(cont.)

 

[percious]

I urged our group to push on, and I think everyone was in accordance. We were looking for another good break spot, but I really did not see a good one before the respice that the other group was using. Our egos at full blast, we pushed on, we could now see that the other group was donning only daypacks, and here we were lugging 40+ lbs up Hamlin and catching them! A few members of the group took off up the mountain as we approached. By the time we reached the respice, only 3 remained. We had done it.

I think everyone's moral was pretty good at this point. We all took a long break, and enjoyed the scenery. The rest of the lead group headed up to the summit, and we just sat basking in our accomplishment. 4 people, weary from a previous day's hike, one with an injury, had worked together to keep a solid pace for an excruciating climb. This was my summit.

After our break we headed up to the summit, having achieved the last false one. The summit was rather anti-climactic and we did not even take any shots of the actual summit. Instead we caught up with the group again at the next trail junction, where we had some group shots taken. We had finished the climbing for our trip. The next two and a half days would be nothing but downhill.

(cont.)

 

[percious]

The next section of trail lead us through "Tabled Lands" which is a remarkable place. An alpine zone above 4000 feet, the area was rocky and grassy, with small groups of pine trees scattered about. It is my guess that these "trees" are actually one tree that has grown horizontally instead of vertically. It was an interesting, if barren place to be. It seemed to fit that the skies were overcast, which gave the surrounding an ominous feel. The wind was blowing hard, and we were chilled despite the early morning warmth we felt on this late June day.

After a mile of rock hopping through the windy tabled lands, we started our descent. We could see our destination, Davis Pond. In the distance were the impressive Cliffs that make up the Howe Peaks. From here we would head straight down into the valley. We stopped for a lunch of tuna packets, and everyone was glad we had ransacked the local gas station for mayo, and onion packets a few days earlier. Its not that tuna by itself is a bad thing, its just that 7oz of it gets to be a bit much.

At this point the trail became steep and slippery. Water appeared everywhere, which was a good thing, because I was almost out. Michele slipped somewhere along the way, but made a great catch of herself, walking away with only a raspberry. We slowed considerably on the descent because of the trail conditions. I decided to stop and pen some water with Michele, while Ben and Will continued towards Davis. Soon after we could hear their voices, as we continued down switchbacks leading to the pond. We discovered ice right about the time we caught up to them, and the cool pockets of air were a welcome change for this hot summer day.

I was impressed by the surroundings we witnessed when we reached Davis pond. There was a rocky "beach" area and a beautifully skinny waterfall at the far end of the pond. The bugs however, were a completely different story. We all settled into the shelter, and basked in its copious space. There was definitely enough for 6 people, and we were glad to sleep with our feet inside. Quickly, we put up the bug netting, and the no-see-ums were cut down to about 5% of their force inside the shelter. This was tolerable.

(cont.)

 

[percious]

Dinner that night was corn chowder. Never was there a more hearty meal that this, and with all that climbing with full packs, it was a welcome sight. Better yet, Michele and Will took up cooking duties, so all I had to do was sit back and enjoy. It was an excellent meal.

After dinner we all rested, with full bellies. Will and Michele headed off to a precipice that over looked the pond. It looked like a wee bushwhack to get there, so I decided to instead stay and set up the bear bag. After the bear bag was hung I was kind of bored, so I grabbed Ben, and we followed in W+M's tracks up to the precipice. The whack was thick, but not impossible. I rate it a herdwhack. It was well worth the effort, as the view of the waterfall and the pond was great. We could see an otter swimming blissfully in the pond below. The sunset made for some great photos, as we batted the no-see-ums circling our netted heads. Sleep came easily that night, after watching some entertaining spiders and their fly-traps.

(cont.)

 

[percious]

We woke near dawn the next day, but I had lost track of time. I make it a habit not to look at the clock unless absolutely necessary for safety reasons. The next day and a half were clock-free.

Ahead of us was a 5 mile trudge to Russel pond where we would stay for our last night in Baxter. The miles were relatively flat, but it was a scorcher outside. After passing some boyscouts near a beaver dam, we got just what the doctor ordered. This section of trail was a beautiful flume, with numerous swimming holes. It was not long before I was stripped down to my suit, and gasping in the crystal clear mountain water.

The trail moved on and on after the flume, and it was definitely a trudge. We reached a large water crossing, and it took a while to figure out how to ford it. I found a good approach for rock-hopping, but the last hop was a doozy with a full pack. I retraced my steps to get everyone's pack across. When everyone made it to the bank safely, we all decided it was a good time to grab a bite, and the cool air from the water kept most of the bugs away.

A short while after lunch we reached the main tributary and had to negotiate huge bolders which were grown over with moss. It made for an interesting change, and we happened upon our second group (of 2) people. They would be the last we would see until Russel pond.

After the bolders, the last part of this hike was a down right death march. 5 miles seemed like 10 that day. After hiking most of the day bare-chested, I was required to don a shirt to fend off the ferocious mosquitos, black flies, and deer flies. Good news was that soon after, we reached our leanto.

(cont.)

 

[percious]

Russel Pond

It was down right hot when we arrived at the pond, and it wasn't long before we jumped off the dock into the seemingly murky water. I made the mistake of trying to put my feet down, and then quickly swam back to the dock after the bottom wrestled with my toes. At least we were cooled off.

Our next mission was an exploratory one of the Pond. We needed to find the water source (preferably upstream) and the ranger station to check in. We walked to the north end of the pond following signs to the ranger station, and we found both.

The ranger was a pleasant man, and we briefed him on our trip so far, and he directed us to our water source. We mentioned that our last objective was to see a moose for this trip, and he said, "You are looking at 3 right now!" We took a second look as he pointed out to the pond, where sure enough, 3 moose were feeding. A man on the dock mentioned that he saw us swimming earlier, and pointed out some leeches. They were pretty neat looking, but I was glad that I didn't find any attached to my legs.

Back to the shelter we went to retrieve our water bladders, only to be interrupted by a Moose! We were all startled as we came around the corner to find a full size female and her sow parading down the trail. We waited in the moose traffic jam, and when she finally moved off we hurried back to the shelter.

After retrieving our water from a mosquito infested (but very clean) inlet, we collected some firewood and started re-hydrating our fajita dinner. While the chicken rehydrated, Ben and I got busy making some Margarita's trail-style. We had shlepped 16 oz of coconut rum over the mountain, and now was the time to put it to good use. Mix that with some water, raspberry and LOTS of lemonade crystal light, and some dehydrated strawberries, and you have yourself quite a drink. We relaxed, and sipped our comcoption and waited for dinner.

Ben made a raging fire while i looked on, and Will and Michele went and took a canoe ride out on the lake. The smoke kept the bugs down, and it was nice to have some time to relax. Soon we were cooking dinner, and afterwords I read some Hemmingway aloud before we all settled in for the night.

(cont.)

 

[percious]

The next morning we awoke to our last day in Baxter. I took on the task of water gathering, since I wanted to take some more moose pictures anyway. Along the way I was greeted by 2 jackrabbits, but I could not get the camera out fast enough. Shortly after my run-in with the jackrabbits, I woke a moose who was sleeping along side the trail. This startled me a bit, and I backed off, apologizing to the moose for awakening him/her. The moose moved off, and I retrieved our water.

Upon returning, we all ate, and I was glad to don my now-light pack. I had to stay behind for a short while to take care of some personal business while the others headed off. When I caught up to them, it was in a swarm of mosquitos, and I was quick to put on some bug juice, while they continued on. Again the bugs went away, but I am not sure if this is because of the dope, or the lack of 3 other appetizing dishes. I was happy to hike in solitude for 1/2 mile before catching them at a large water crossing.

We all decided it was best to cross with our boots on, as the current was fast moving, and the stream looked relatively deep. In the end we were almost to our waists, and we were glad to have our boots to negotiate the rocky bottom.

The rest of the hike out was pretty standard. The hardwood forest was similar to that I am accustomed to in CT. We ate the last of our food perched on a rock overlooking a beautiful stream filled with Monarch butterflies. It is amazing how far these animals will go only to return to a particular rock, meadow or stream to mate and start the whole process again.

Our last view was a small pond with Russel Mountain looking down. The ridge of Baxter was obscured in the background, but we knew it was there. We kept our eyes on the lookout for moose but did not see any. It was not long before we reached the bridge over roaring brook and we back at the car again.

As I looked in the rear view, staring back at Katahdin, I was amazed at the beauty, tranquility, and impressive wilderness that is Baxter State Park.

-percious

(new pictures are up www.percious.com/hiking ) go to Maine, page 2.

 

[MichaelJ]

Sweet! When we were up on Hamlin I was ogling the peaks and valleys to the north; you've now confirmed that's the direction I'm going to take the next time I'm up there.

 

[SherpaKroto]

percious: I did a similar trip in reverse last year, and also had an injured ankle (found out months later that it was 2 torn ligaments, a torn tendon, stress fractures of tibia and 2nd metatarsal), done on a small root in New City. That is one spectacular loop! It took me 4 years to get a spot at Davis Pond, and I only got it due to a clerical error in the office. I ended up getting the last weekend spot for the entire summer/fall season!

You'll remember that trip for a long time, I'm sure. It's spectacular!

 

[twigeater]

Awesome trip, and report!

 

[percious]

Thanks guys. The second page of pics is uploaded, but I have to update the HTML. I will fix it tonight. I also have 1 more roll of film, so thats about 100 pictures from this one trip! This has definitely been the trip of the year, topping even Marcy in January.

-percious