Baxter State Park Peakbagging and New Year's Party (VERY LONG TR alert)

[sli74]

This trip report is very long, so read at your own risk


Back in September, as my winter weekends began to fill up, I realized that there had been no rumblings about another winter Baxter State Park trip. And since last winter a group of 10 VFTT hikers had successfully climbed Katahdin and Hamlin, I figured there might be some interest in the peaks on the other side of the park. So, a quick succession of emails later, we had 8 of the original 10 hikers on board for the winter trip. The extra 2 spots allowed Garret and I to add our significant others to the roster bringing the trip total to 10 once again. Due to other climbing commitments, we decided on a New Year’s trip spanning Dec 28 - Jan 1.

Garret obtained our permits for a 4 night stay at the Kidney Pond camps by sleeping outside the BSP gates on Nov 1 and the trip was planned with 2 hiking days and 2 rest/bad weather days built in . . . with the hopes of climbing North Brother and Fort one day and South Brother and Coe another day. We also planned on welcoming the New Year with a party like Kidney Pond has never seen in winter.

Brian and I finished re-building our sleds (which had both broken on the last winter trip in March) and packed the car with all our gear and food and got on the road very late on Tuesday night, Dec 27 . . . by the time reached the Gateway Inn in Medway it was past 1 am but Donna, BoB, Arm and Sean were still awake and in great spirits. We dropped our sleeping bags on the ground and eventually got a few hours of sleep.

In the morning, we met up with Garret (Valerie had decided to stay home), Frodo and Nadine at the McDs in Millinocket. We ate a hearty breakfast in town before heading to the Abol Bridge parking area where we all packed our sleds full for the ski into Kidney Ponds. Garret had brought his snowmobile and offered rides to anyone interested. Most of us decided to ski in so our hikes, if we had any successful ones would “count” for our winter lists/patches.

I was a little nervous about my sled because Brian had decided that mine would be the “experimental” sled design he came up with . . . but we donned our skis and started down the road headed towards the Foss and Knowlton trail, which was supposed to be the quickest and easiest way into camp. Well, needless to say, it turned into an epic adventure.

Frodo and Arm were up ahead breaking trail, followed by Donna and Nadine and finally Sean, Brian and myself. The skiing was easy and fun and we made pretty good time all the way to Foss and Knowlton Pond. I only had one issue up to that point . . . I crashed at a bottom of a steeper section and took my skis off and decided to walk a few steps to get my sled straight before putting my skis back on and since I was preoccupied with falling, I failed to notice that I was walking through a beaver pond. I quickly found out as I post holed up to my shins and COLD water rushed in over the top of my ski boots filling both boots with frigid beaver pond water. I was swearing a blue streak and so upset with my stupidity that I just wanted to get the skis back on and keep going.

My feet warmed up eventually in spite of the water squishing around in there. Upon reaching F&K pond, we all took in the gorgeous views of OJI, Coe and the Brothers. It was a beautiful sunny day and we were all so happy to be there and pleased that we had decided to take the F&K trail instead of the tote road, which was 3 or 4 miles longer. Well, THAT would be the last time we would be pleased with that decision.

We then decided to skirt the edge of the pond since it looked pretty well frozen. Being fourth in line, behind Frodo, Arm and Donna, I could tell already that the pond was not frozen solid, their sleds were leaving slushy prints and after stepping into a spot too soft for my comfort level, I stepped over a couple of feet and broke my own trail figuring maybe that would help some. In no time at all the snow was sticking to my now wet skis and forming snowballs the size of baseballs. By the time we got off the pond and onto the trail again, the snowballs on the bottom of my skis were so big and plenty that I couldn’t even stand up straight on them. As we waited for the others to show up, glances down the trail looked ominous for there were rocks and roots galore. I decided as I finished scraping about 70% of the snow from my skis that it might be time for the snowshoes since my skiing leaves much to be desired. As I was stashing my skis, Arm who was about a 100 feet ahead of us yelled back that he was switching to snowshoes as well. This convinced Frodo and Donna to put theirs on and we began our hike down the trail.

At this point, we still had some hope that we would be getting to camp in a couple of hours until we came across our first real obstacle of the day, a small stream crossing that might have been nothing except of the 90 pound sled behind me. Arm barreled through the stream, pulling fast enough that the sled went over the water and the rocks and up the short steep pitch on the other side. Frodo chose another route that kept him off the water but put him in the trees for a bushwhack that looked mildly painful. I can’t remember what Donna did because by this point I was too nervous and focused on my trip across. Brian, Sean and Nadine were still behind me changing to snowshoes. Finally, with Arm righting the sled behind me, I also barreled across the stream as fast as I could go and made it to the other side without any major mishaps.

However, with all the waiting and analyzing and time spent in one spot, my wet feet and boots were turning into blocks of ice. As I watched for the others, I realized that I was shivering and felt like my whole body was uncontrollably shaking. This was enough for me to decide that it was time to switch to warm socks and boots. I made the switch while Frodo and Arm and Brian helped the others cross the stream. I cannot describe how wonderful it felt to have warm and DRY socks and boots on my feet.

Frodo and Arm went on ahead and soon most of us were at Lost Pond, though the trip there could only be described as trying . . . we were all sick and tired of pulling and pushing our sleds up and over the rocks and roots. It seemed that I would go 10 steps only to have to unclip the harness and walk back to the sled to lift the front end over whatever obstacle was snagging me, to reclip the harness to hike 10 steps, to unclip and do it all over again. There were moments where I wanted to smash the stupid sled to bits.

As I got to Lost Pond, Arm, Frodo and Donna were just putting on their headlamps and so I dug mine out and we waited for the others. Frodo scoped out the trail and the decision was made to skirt the edge of the pond again as the going was too slow over the rocks and roots of the trail. We decided that Arm and Donna would go on ahead and try to get to the cabins ahead of the rest because we knew by this time, Garret would be extremely worried about us as we were already hours overdue. Frodo was to play sweep with the rest of us in groups of 2 in the middle. Brian arrived just as Arm and Donna were taking off and soon behind him was Nadine. She had pulled a muscle and after a short rest she, Brian and I left the shore to follow Arm and Donna’s tracks. Sean arrived shortly and he and Frodo were within sight behind us. Once back in the woods on the rocky trail again, I got a second wind and that combined with my growing anger at the rocks helped propel me faster forward. I was hungry and getting cold and feeling generally ready to just be indoors sitting by a woodstove eating. Soon, it was just Brian and I somewhere in the middle of the pack. We got into a rhythm and it didn’t actually seem too bad until we reached the shores of Daicey Pond.

continued . . .

 

[sli74]

Here, we could see Arm and Donna’s tracks head off onto the pond again. We waited a little while hoping the others would catch up with us but I started to get too cold standing there unprotected by trees at the edge of the pond. The stars were out by this point and it was a BEAUTIFUL night. A couple of hundred feet later, I could hear the water under the ice and the ice was more of a slush and my nerves were shot and I started to have visions of falling through the ice. I picked up my pace and we were moving at a pretty good clip breaking new “trails” to avoid stressing the areas where sleds were already pulled.

At one point I came across a deep and large hole in the ice where it looked like someone had fallen into the ice. I felt panic creeping up on me and Brian had pulled up beside me and I just wanted to get the h*ll outta there immediately. But the ice cover was too compromised to pull out at that point. I could see headlamps off ahead in the trees moving along on shore and I yelled out to Arm and Donna but the lights kept moving and so we walked another 10 steps before the sound of the water under my feet finally forced me off the lake, bushwhacking through some thick undergrowth. Brian helped me drag my sled through the trees until we found their tracks and the trail. We went back for his sled and by this point he was pissed and cursing under his breath. Brian and I took turns being the calm one while the other one had a fit about the sleds or the rocks, etc.

The going was easier through this section thanks to Arm and Donna breaking trail and less rocks and roots in general. Quite quickly we were at the junction with the AT and I finally had my bearing since being here last winter in March. As we came up closer to Daicey Pond Camps, I could hear voices and see headlamps. I thought that maybe there was another group at Daicey Camp but imagine my surprise when I came up on Arm walking around in what looked like circles from the tracks he was leaving. We said Hello and found out that Arm had fallen through the ice and had soaked both boots in the cold waters of Daicey Pond. He kept saying “I can’t find the d*mn road” and knowing his sense of humor, I thought he was just kidding. I am very gullible and so with Arm I always assume he is kidding but this time he was being serious and one close look at his expression and I could see that he was frustrated.

So, I assured him that I had been here before and knew where the road was so he clipped back into his sled, as did Donna and the 4 of us left Daicey Pond. Brian and I went on ahead to relieve Arm and Donna of some of the trail breaking they had been doing over the difficult terrain we had already traversed. The bridge leading over to Kidney Ponds was out and there was no desire between the 4 of us to be back in the woods with our sleds again so we stuck to the road knowing that we were adding an extra couple of miles to our trip. It surprised me how much more difficult it was to be first or second in line on the unbroken trail. Pulling a sled over unbroken snow was harder than hiking over unbroken snow with packs. Kudos to Arm and Frodo for all the trail breaking they did during this trip, you guys are AMAZING.

We were never so happy as when we FINALLY arrived at the tote road. We had heard a snowmobile 10 minutes before getting to the road and were guessing that Garret and BoB were probably looking for us, worried. Our pace picked up considerably once on the tote road and the road leading into Kidney Ponds. Arm and Donna got ahead of us about 5-10 minutes and we FINALLY arrived to warm cabins. Thank you BoB and Garret for getting all the woodstoves going. I unpacked and changed and ate a few snacks and hit the hay . . . I was DRAINED, completely. I was only partly awake when Frodo, Nadine and Sean showed up. Brian had been nice enough to ski out and see if they wanted help but I was just too tired to do anything but crash. The sleep felt SO good after the hard workout.

continued . . .

 

[sli74]

The following 2 days, Thursday and Friday, brought much rain and sleet, which finally turned to snow. We hunkered down and recuperated from our epic adventure skiing into the camp. On Friday most of us went out for a bit. Some of us hiked around the pond and back again retracing our steps when we couldn’t cross a stream easily. Others climbed Sentinel Mountain for foggy limited views and we all went to bed early in preparation for our summit attempt on Saturday. I was in bed trying to sleep by 10 pm. An early morning bathroom run at 1 am had me nervous as the wind was howling and blowing very hard even at our elevation.

At 3 am on Saturday morning, as Brian and I prepared breakfast and began final packing the wind was still howling so loudly it felt like it was shaking the cabin to the core. Frodo stopped by to see if we were still going because slowly the troops were falling out for health and weather reasons. . . but personally, I felt I had worked too hard to get in here to not at least give it a try. I figured I could always turn around if the winds were too bad up there. Brian and I set out a little earlier than Arm, Frodo and Donna and made good time to the Marston trailhead, taking just under 2 hours to get there from camp. The others joined us there and just as we were getting ready to set out, the group staying at Nesowadnehunk showed up ready to start their day. The winds seemed to have died down and the sun lit up blue skies and highlighted Doubletop in a gorgeous pink morning light. It was breathtaking and this was just the trailhead.

Brian and I soon fell to the back of the group where we talked and joked and I sang and had the BEST time hiking up the Marston trail on this last day of the year. The trail was good with the exception of the 2 dozen plus blow-downs that have left their mark on my body in the form of multiple black and blue spots.

In any case, we kept in contact with Frodo every 2 hours by walkie talkie and when we reached the upper junction with the South Brother trail, we decided to eat lunch and hang out. By this time we knew that we couldn’t attempt Fort since it would get dark before we made it back to North Brother and we didn’t want to take any chances. As we were finishing our long lunch break, Frodo came bouncing down the trail from South Brother. Arm and Frodo, the speed demons that they are had hiked South Brother and Coe in the time it took me to get to the upper trail junction. The trail to North Brother was broken out by the other group and Donna was also somewhere on the North Brother Trail or onto Fort. We started up towards North Brother and quickly came upon Donna who had tagged North Brother and decided to descend because she wasn’t comfortable trying to find the tracks of the other group heading to Fort. So, she saved Fort for another day. She headed towards the junction where Arm and Frodo were on a snack break. Very quickly, Arm and Frodo overtook us and along the way we met the other group who had broken trail to Fort and said it was nicely packed out. I was a little bummed that daylight would not last long enough for us to take advantage of the perfect conditions to bag Fort but that is the life of the slow hiker . . .

When we reached the summit of North Brother, we could see Arm and Frodo on the ridge of Fort. It was very cool indeed to watch them as they made their way to the “other” Fort summit. They looked like little ants off in the distance. We spent about 10-20 minutes on the summit, taking in the views, which were AMAZING. The clear skies and the calm winds and the wonderful trail conditions and the best hiking company had made this trip one of the best yet. Brian claimed that this was by far the BEST winter hike he had ever done. YIPPPEEE. We said “see ya another time Fort” and left to get back down.

Once again soon past the upper junction, Arm and Frodo passed us on the trail agreeing to continue our “check-ins” via the radios . . . the two of them had summited all 4 peaks, South Brother, Coe, North Brother and Fort, in the time it took Brian and I to do North Brother. I wish it had been daylight another 2 hours, because my body and mind were feeling fit and well enough to get Fort but alas, December nights fall early.

The trip down would’ve been quick if it wasn’t for the million gear issues I had, after much cursing at my gear, I told Brian to remind me to throw it all away and buy new stuff when I get back. This little tantrum made for a funny drunk Brian story back at the cabin during our New Year’s celebration so at least my bad gear luck brought lots of laughs for the rest of the crew. The ski back was challenging because I was out of steam but the bright stars and the perfect ski conditions brought us back to camp just around 10:30 pm in time to party into the New Year with the rest of the gang. They got Brian and I drunk, not a difficult feat for a couple of lightweights and we partied until 3:30 am . . . FUN, FUN . . .

The next day, Garret gave snowmobile rides to those that wanted them starting at 7 am and then Frodo skied out early at around 10 am and by the time Arm, Brian and I left it was 1 pm . . . I don’t know what time Arm got out. But Brian and I went back to the car via the TOTE roads this time, it was 7:30 pm when we finally got out. We ate dinner and drove back home, arriving in Boston at 5 am on Monday, just in time to shower, change and get my beaten and battered body back to work at 7 am . . . ahh . . . the adventures.

Thank you all SO MUCH for your company. Thank you Garret for getting the reservations and helping me plan. Thank you Frodo for the initial planning help and for making the trip so much fun and so safe by playing sweep when you could’ve been at camp earlier than everyone else if you so chose. Thank you Arm for breaking trail over the worst of it on Wednesday. Thank you Donna for being the life of the party as usual and Nadine for still being my P-buddy. Bob and Sean, you guys made returning from the hikes so much more fun with dinner and warm cabins to come back to . . . And Marie (BoB’s friend who joined us for Saturday’s celebration), thank you for the lobster and the Peach Schnapps. And most importantly, Brian . . . ever day with you is a gift, Thank you for being you and supporting me even when I am tired and ready to throw all my gear in the trash.

Let’s do it again next year, okay?


sli74

 

[MichaelJ]

Heckuva adventure! I'm impressed you can recall it with such detail and imagery; I can see it all. 10 fingers, 10 toes; I'm glad you all made it out okay after the trials of getting in.

Happy New Year and congrats on the tagged summits!

 

[prino]

GREAT report! It could almost be turned into a book.... that's the best read since "Into Thin Air"
Congratulations on a successful if somewhat eventful trip!

 

[giggy]

great report seema (as usual) - sounds like you guys had fun - the wet foot must have been fun - I would paid money to hear you swear

 

[Furry]

Great trip report! The detail makes it feel like I was there. Any photos on the way?

 

[spencer]

I'm glad you guys had fun despite some trying times!

The weather has been pretty disappointing up here so far this winter!

I can't think of a better place to ring in the New Year!

spencer

 

[bobandgeri]

Wow - what a story! Thanks for sharing your adventure in such detail! Congrats on the trip. Happy New Year to you and Brian!

 

[sli74]

Any photos on the way?

Yeah, I have some, not a lot though and I will get those posted tonight or tomorrow. Others took more so hopefully they will chime and post their pictures soon.

sli74

 

[David Metsky]

You mean you weren't taking photos as your boots filled up with beaver pond effluent? We expect photo-journalist quality reporting here.



What an adventure, glad you made it through safely and had fun.

-dave-

 

[sli74]

You mean you weren't taking photos as your boots filled up with beaver pond effluent? We expect photo-journalist quality reporting here.
-dave-

I am glad there were no pictures, even Sean looked scared as the profanity was flowing out of my mouth, a rare event indeed. Brian and Sean wisely kept their distance from me as I mumbled to myself and put the skis back on . . . I do have a cool picture of the Fort ridgeline as Frodo and Arm crossed it. An extreme closeup on the camera LCD shows them as dark spots on the ridgeline, we'll see if I can post a copy of the close-up also.

The trip was wonderful and very humbling as 18+ miles in winter even under the best of conditions kicked my behind.

Hopefully others will chime in with some of their thoughts on the trip. Come on Frodo, I posted the trip report as you requested so now give us your thoughts on the trip . . . and everyone else too.

sli74

 

[donna]

There's nothing like Baxter

It was a great trip as usual...Baxter in winter is awesome...Baxter anytime of year is awesome. I hiked both North and South Brother, but can't count it for any list...got GO to give me a ride out on Sunday...skiing with major blisters just wasn't working for me, plus it's a great excuse to get back there and hike them again...soon I hope.

It was truly a great trip, lots of hard exercise and lots of fun with a great group of VFTTers.

The New Year Eve celebration was fun...I think; did I have a good time Brian? Oh yea, how would you remember? Just kidding, we were all good and partied quietly, welcoming in the new year...well except maybe Sean

Thanks to everyone on the trip.

 

[Snowflea]

What everyone really wants to know:

Tell us about Club LaCasa.



Sorry. Jus' kiddin'!!!

Congrats you guys, especially the "iron men", Frodo & Arm. Heck, it took me FOUR tries to get Fort in winter! ...but I finally got 'er!

 

[arm]

thanks to GO, Frodo and Seema for putting this trip together ! fun crew as usual - everyone pitched in to make for a fun trip

Foss and Knowlton Trail was a great ski in to F&K Pond, with cold dry powdery snow - beyond F&K Pond there's not enough snow to cover boulders on the trails, and it was tough breaking trail while dragging sleds - guess Pamola wanted us to earn our peaks ?

F&K Pond and Lost Pond seemed frozen, so i was surprised when i broke through ice on Daicey Pond wearing snowshoes ... we were so close to shore i expected it to be shallow, but i was stuck in the ice over my knees ... fun dragging sleds through thick growth to escape Daicey Pond and rejoin the trail

good food, tasty beverages, fun friends made cozy cabins a great place to hang out for a few days ... the hiking was pretty cool too

Frodo is a great guy to hike with; not sure we would have reached all four peaks without teamwork, including Dave's Nesowadnehunk team

would love to head in to South Branch Pond and hike the Travelers in Winter

posted a few pics here (click on "View Full Size" links under each picture):
http://community.webshots.com/user/armhike

if you're curious about Millinocket's night life, ask Francesco La Casa ... he's got a lifetime pass !

 

[Gris]

Nice pics. What were approx temps valley and summit...?

 

[Frodo]

Awesome trip report Seema! I didn't actually request it, I suggested you should write it since you did such a fine job with last years report...

My thoughts on the trip????

In BSP, always take the Tote Road whenever you can (even if it is longer, it's much more skiable and saves time).

Bring along an extra "Arm" to help break trail with...

Partially frozen ponds are still better to pull gear sleds across than hiking trails with too little snow.

Donna has better dance moves than Usher.

Shizzmac hauled in more stuff for a 5 day trip than Admiral Byrd did on a year long Antartica Expedition...

BoB has the intuition of making the best decisions. He also kicks butt at cards (5 Kings? How did you do that????)

Seema actually can curse

Brian has the patience of a saint, and the motivation of the "Energizer Bunny"

GO is "da man" for getting reservations and making this all happen.

Arm can spin tunes on an IPOD like no other (he is also a mean trailbreaker)

Nadine is an awesome skiier, and can knit a scarf in less time than it takes to climb Senital Mt.

Your all are a blast to spend time with. Can't wait until next year!

Viva La Casa!

(Stinkyfeet, we got lucky, very lucky with the trail conditions. All the rain on 29th paid off)

 

[g o]

what a great group .. as i said before, i am very grateful to the vftt site which gave me the opportunity to meet and hike with these super people.

the view from senital mountain might just be one of the best views in the park besides the ones from baxter peak and the knife edge. hiking on nye with nadine and BoB was one of the most fun hikes I've done in a long while.

vftt rocks (and not just on top but all the way up and down the mountain)

ps - to the members of our group - please don't drink the kool-aid.
go

 

[injektilo]

Very nicely written report... also nice to put a few pictures with the report. I really need to get up to Baxter in the winter... looks like a lot of fun!

 

[spencer]

Judging by Frodo's hat, it looks like he pulled anti-Damon..

nice work, Arm!

spencer