una_dogger
Well-known member
Back in February, MichaelJ and I decided that we'd plan a four day Baxter Trip for my birthday. We mailed off our reservation request and waited. Later in the Spring, a worn self addressed stamped envelope arrived and in it contained our reservations, for the dates we requested, at Katadhin Spring Campground. It would be my first time in Baxter and the goal was to hike all the peaks on the NEHH/NE67/NE115 that I needed (which meant all of them).
We drove up thursday after work, laying over at the Sleepy Time Motel in Auburn, Maine. Very highly recommeded! A very quiet little place just off the highway with wonderful hosts.
After a shopping trip in Augusta, we began the rest of our drive to Baxter. MichealJ planned a very special trip and was sure to point out all of the roadside attractions along the way, including BoB's favorite roadside attraction.....where we didn't stop
The drive along the tote road was gorgeous. The day was misty and the forest was alive with every shade of green immaginable. We arrived at our camp, a teeny tiny two person lean too right on the banks of Katadhin stream. The entire mountain was shrouded in heavy clouds, I had yet to see Katadhin. We sat around a roaring fire, listening to the stream, and planning our next day.
Saturday, July 19: The Brothers, Fort and Coe
We awoke at 5 am after a very peaceful nights' sleep. After a yummy breakfast we drove to the Marsten Trail Head. It was a misty morning and we were the first hikers to sign in. The trail up was beautiful, mossy and green, quiet and narrow, gently trodden and lovingly maintained. I began to understand why Baxter is considered such a special place by so many.
We crossed the clearest streams I'd ever seen, came to a beautiful high mountain pond, then continued our climb up through steep pitches until we reached a col. Here, we turned toward North Brother. The trail was very narrow, and we were gently swept by soft, wet branches with three inches of new bright green growth at their tips. It seemed as though no one had been through here in awhile, I walked through so many cobwebs. I had the sneaky idea to begin ducking under them, then casually glance back over my shoulder in time to see MichaelJ brushing them off himself, wondering how I'd managed to avoid them.
We came to a large washout of finely sorted golden sand pellets. The trail began to climb once again, through deeply erroded banks. We could see the sand intermixed in the soil profile throughout the banks. Mother Nature at work. Soon the trail became very steep and we did some rock scrambling, then the trees shortened and we climbed steadily to the summit. There was a large sign for North Brother, and many large boulders about, but no views, the entire skyline socked in the clouds. We sat on the rocks, away from the wind, and snacked. After about ten minutes of quiet deliberation, I asked, "ready to head to Fort?". MichaelJ agreed and we began down the mountain, following a few small cairns until we reached the treeline. We had no visual sighting of Fort, but we knew from the AMC description that it was about a 3/4 mile whack, that we'd be taking a heading about 60-80 degrees toward the east and that it might get thick. We pushed through a bit of spruce and then came out in a boulder field. Here we saw a faint path to the south, and a more worn one due east. We took the path to the east which ran down through some thick spruce but had a discernable path if you looked at your feet. We were really soaked! It was fun, then the path was gone. Trees everywhere, and lots of blowdown. MichaelJ took out his GPS and verified our heading. I adjusted myself as I'd gotten off track a bit to the right and was now heading north. Soon we hit some pretty bad blowdown mixed in with thick spruce. I began to walk across the blowdown, to try to find a way out. We crossed several blowdown bridges, and then began body surfing in the spruce to get ourselves back down to ground level. It was like being in a spruce mosh pit. It was fun. Except for the part where I poked my eye. But that was brief.
We caught a quick glimpse of the shoulder of Fort, and once again corrected. Then we found it, a perfect little herdpath which we followed to the summit. Here, I bowed down to MichaelJ for helping me get to Fort and vowed that I would never ask him to return to this godforsaken place. (I was paid to write this) There were two cairns on the summit, and we visited them both. Just as we began to head back, the clouds parted and views opened up. We stayed on Fort for about ten minutes watching the clouds dance and the views shift and change. My first glimpse of Katadhin! And North Brother, for that matter! Suddenly our little whack looked pretty short. We took several pictures, then followed the little herdpath all the way back to the boulder field on the slopes of North Brother. Back on North Brother the sun was shining and we walked to the north end of the summit, and nearly stripped to the skin -- laying our wet clothing out on the rocks as we enjoyed a private little paradise behind a huge boulder with the entirety of Katadhin stretched out in front of us. Eye candy.
After about a half hour or so we headed back down to the col and onward to South Brother. I should mention that we chose not to do the loop up over the Coe slide due to the heavy rains that had been falling prior to arriving. So we essentially did two out and backs from the col, which added some miles and gain, but was a wonderful experience. The woods heading to South Brother were mysterious and filled with many colorful mushrooms. Also quite striking were the varieties of moss and lichen and ivy. At one point we saw moss, blueberry, bunchberry, a type of laurel, and a creeping ivy all growing out of the same mass of groundcover alongside the trail. Really incredible. The trail rose through what seemed like some very old evergreens, until reaching a saddle, where a spur turned toward South Brother. The trail began gently then quickly became a steep scramble up over very large boulders to the top, where we shared a breathtaking view of Katadhin and Owls' Head down below. MichaelJ pointed out the line of the Hunt Trail, which we'd be taking up Katadhin the next day. After another nice, leisurely break, we headed down to the saddle, and then continued along the ridge to Coe. The trail almost immediately began to lose elevation, then climbed again along some very steep slopes, gradually leveling out. Through the trees, we caught a glimpse of Coe and both remarked that it looked very *far away*. The trail continued its' serendipitous path through the woods and then began to climb up out of the trees. We reached a large prominence with amazing views across the Klondike and below us were two huge sandy washes at the bottoms of large slides. A steep and narrow footpath led up through some low bushes and then to the small summit. Amazing views in all directions -- Coe is a very beautiful summit and a special place for those who chose to finish there. Looking back along the path we'd came we saw two more very large slides and understood why the trail had taken its peculiar course. It was now about five pm and we reluctantly left this spectacular summit and began our journey back to the col between the Brothers. It was amazing how the changing light painted the trail in a new way, even though we'd just passed through here. Everywhere we turned we saw something that seemed more beautiful than the last. We reached the junction at 6:45 pm, and began the 3.5 mile walk back to the car. As we descended, we saw all of the views that we missed on our way up in the morning fog. Around one corner, we saw orange rays of sunlight streaming down from a break in the clouds and illuminating a small pond in the distance. Around another corner, we saw a sunshower across the slopes of Doubletop, with golden and orange rays of light reflecting on the raindrops and casting the appearance of northern lights across the mountainside. This image nearly brought tears to my eyes, I felt so blessed to be in this place and to see such amazing natural wonders, with today being my birthday, I was truly grateful -- grateful to Michael for arranging this trip, grateful for having someone so special to share it with, and to the vision and collective efforts that created Baxter. What a perfect day. The final light left the sky and we donned our headlamps, making it back to the car just before dark. At the register, a clue that validated what we already knew, were were the only two people in these mountains today.
Pics may be found here
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EYuWzNs1bsPc¬ag=1
Part II to come....
We drove up thursday after work, laying over at the Sleepy Time Motel in Auburn, Maine. Very highly recommeded! A very quiet little place just off the highway with wonderful hosts.
After a shopping trip in Augusta, we began the rest of our drive to Baxter. MichealJ planned a very special trip and was sure to point out all of the roadside attractions along the way, including BoB's favorite roadside attraction.....where we didn't stop
The drive along the tote road was gorgeous. The day was misty and the forest was alive with every shade of green immaginable. We arrived at our camp, a teeny tiny two person lean too right on the banks of Katadhin stream. The entire mountain was shrouded in heavy clouds, I had yet to see Katadhin. We sat around a roaring fire, listening to the stream, and planning our next day.
Saturday, July 19: The Brothers, Fort and Coe
We awoke at 5 am after a very peaceful nights' sleep. After a yummy breakfast we drove to the Marsten Trail Head. It was a misty morning and we were the first hikers to sign in. The trail up was beautiful, mossy and green, quiet and narrow, gently trodden and lovingly maintained. I began to understand why Baxter is considered such a special place by so many.
We crossed the clearest streams I'd ever seen, came to a beautiful high mountain pond, then continued our climb up through steep pitches until we reached a col. Here, we turned toward North Brother. The trail was very narrow, and we were gently swept by soft, wet branches with three inches of new bright green growth at their tips. It seemed as though no one had been through here in awhile, I walked through so many cobwebs. I had the sneaky idea to begin ducking under them, then casually glance back over my shoulder in time to see MichaelJ brushing them off himself, wondering how I'd managed to avoid them.
We came to a large washout of finely sorted golden sand pellets. The trail began to climb once again, through deeply erroded banks. We could see the sand intermixed in the soil profile throughout the banks. Mother Nature at work. Soon the trail became very steep and we did some rock scrambling, then the trees shortened and we climbed steadily to the summit. There was a large sign for North Brother, and many large boulders about, but no views, the entire skyline socked in the clouds. We sat on the rocks, away from the wind, and snacked. After about ten minutes of quiet deliberation, I asked, "ready to head to Fort?". MichaelJ agreed and we began down the mountain, following a few small cairns until we reached the treeline. We had no visual sighting of Fort, but we knew from the AMC description that it was about a 3/4 mile whack, that we'd be taking a heading about 60-80 degrees toward the east and that it might get thick. We pushed through a bit of spruce and then came out in a boulder field. Here we saw a faint path to the south, and a more worn one due east. We took the path to the east which ran down through some thick spruce but had a discernable path if you looked at your feet. We were really soaked! It was fun, then the path was gone. Trees everywhere, and lots of blowdown. MichaelJ took out his GPS and verified our heading. I adjusted myself as I'd gotten off track a bit to the right and was now heading north. Soon we hit some pretty bad blowdown mixed in with thick spruce. I began to walk across the blowdown, to try to find a way out. We crossed several blowdown bridges, and then began body surfing in the spruce to get ourselves back down to ground level. It was like being in a spruce mosh pit. It was fun.
Except for the part where I poked my eye. But that was brief.We caught a quick glimpse of the shoulder of Fort, and once again corrected. Then we found it, a perfect little herdpath which we followed to the summit. Here, I bowed down to MichaelJ for helping me get to Fort and vowed that I would never ask him to return to this godforsaken place. (I was paid to write this) There were two cairns on the summit, and we visited them both. Just as we began to head back, the clouds parted and views opened up. We stayed on Fort for about ten minutes watching the clouds dance and the views shift and change. My first glimpse of Katadhin! And North Brother, for that matter! Suddenly our little whack looked pretty short. We took several pictures, then followed the little herdpath all the way back to the boulder field on the slopes of North Brother. Back on North Brother the sun was shining and we walked to the north end of the summit, and nearly stripped to the skin -- laying our wet clothing out on the rocks as we enjoyed a private little paradise behind a huge boulder with the entirety of Katadhin stretched out in front of us. Eye candy.
After about a half hour or so
we headed back down to the col and onward to South Brother. I should mention that we chose not to do the loop up over the Coe slide due to the heavy rains that had been falling prior to arriving. So we essentially did two out and backs from the col, which added some miles and gain, but was a wonderful experience. The woods heading to South Brother were mysterious and filled with many colorful mushrooms. Also quite striking were the varieties of moss and lichen and ivy. At one point we saw moss, blueberry, bunchberry, a type of laurel, and a creeping ivy all growing out of the same mass of groundcover alongside the trail. Really incredible. The trail rose through what seemed like some very old evergreens, until reaching a saddle, where a spur turned toward South Brother. The trail began gently then quickly became a steep scramble up over very large boulders to the top, where we shared a breathtaking view of Katadhin and Owls' Head down below. MichaelJ pointed out the line of the Hunt Trail, which we'd be taking up Katadhin the next day. After another nice, leisurely break, we headed down to the saddle, and then continued along the ridge to Coe. The trail almost immediately began to lose elevation, then climbed again along some very steep slopes, gradually leveling out. Through the trees, we caught a glimpse of Coe and both remarked that it looked very *far away*. The trail continued its' serendipitous path through the woods and then began to climb up out of the trees. We reached a large prominence with amazing views across the Klondike and below us were two huge sandy washes at the bottoms of large slides. A steep and narrow footpath led up through some low bushes and then to the small summit. Amazing views in all directions -- Coe is a very beautiful summit and a special place for those who chose to finish there. Looking back along the path we'd came we saw two more very large slides and understood why the trail had taken its peculiar course. It was now about five pm and we reluctantly left this spectacular summit and began our journey back to the col between the Brothers. It was amazing how the changing light painted the trail in a new way, even though we'd just passed through here. Everywhere we turned we saw something that seemed more beautiful than the last. We reached the junction at 6:45 pm, and began the 3.5 mile walk back to the car. As we descended, we saw all of the views that we missed on our way up in the morning fog. Around one corner, we saw orange rays of sunlight streaming down from a break in the clouds and illuminating a small pond in the distance. Around another corner, we saw a sunshower across the slopes of Doubletop, with golden and orange rays of light reflecting on the raindrops and casting the appearance of northern lights across the mountainside. This image nearly brought tears to my eyes, I felt so blessed to be in this place and to see such amazing natural wonders, with today being my birthday, I was truly grateful -- grateful to Michael for arranging this trip, grateful for having someone so special to share it with, and to the vision and collective efforts that created Baxter. What a perfect day. The final light left the sky and we donned our headlamps, making it back to the car just before dark. At the register, a clue that validated what we already knew, were were the only two people in these mountains today.Pics may be found here
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EYuWzNs1bsPc¬ag=1
Part II to come....
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