Damselfly
Active member
Mt. Coe / South Brother / North Brother / Mt. Fort - 8/6/12
Wanting to finish up the Maine peaks for the NEHH, Ken & Karen Robichaud, and Steve and I had made reservations for a four-night stay up in Baxter Park. We spend two nights in a cabin on Daicey Pond, from where it was a short 15 minute drive to the Marsten Trailhead for our first big hike.
The 13+ mile day to get Coe, South Brother, North Brother and Fort seemed do-able and we didn't have any concerns going into the hike. Weather was terrific, and we were excited and eager to hike after the long drive up to the park. But we are very glad for the early start we gave ourselves, as this loop took us over very, very rocky terrain, with about 5500' of gain. With our 50+ knees and pacing, the going was much slower than we had predicted it would be.
We hiked the loop in a counter clockwise direction, choosing to climb the slide up Coe rather than descend it at the end of a long day - a wise choice. The lower section of the Marsten Trail went easily, traveling through open woods. Once on the Mt. Coe Trail, it began to climb more steeply over rough glacial boulders and large rocks, remnants of old slides. Once past the junction with the Mt. OJI Link, the "trail" went up the Mt. Coe Slide, comprised of loose, rotten and pebbly rock, and often over steep smooth ledge faces. I had no problem finding solid footing and traction with my trail runners, but was very glad to be ascending and not descending this route. The views from Mt. Coe (and all the other peaks) was stunning. Katahdin rose to the SE, in and out of clouds... the views were awesome.
The hike over to South Brother was along a ridge and high conifer forest, over rough rock and tree roots - much like it might be hiking in the Whites. From the trail, the summit of So. Brother is only .3 mi. up a spur summit trail, but it was a boulder climb to the top. Bring your pack - because the summit has gorgeous views, and you'll want to hang out a while.
The trek over to North Brother was much the same, only the trail became smoother as it approached the col and junction with the Marsten Trail. From the col, the trail rose quite steeply up to the summit of North Brother. It was very rocky and steep, with huge 3'+ erosion gullies in the trail bed. (It's going to take a lot of work to check erosion in this section.) Again, alpine zone and 360 views from the summit. We looked back at where we had come from, we looked at Katahdin and prayed for good weather two days from now, and we looked north to Fort. Knowing it would take at least an hour each way to Fort and back, we pressed on after a short break.
Rock cairns lead the way off of the north slope of North Brother down to the tree line where a foot / herd path took us over to Fort. Vegetation is grown in tight in spots, but it was never tough to see or follow the foot bed. I stowed my poles and took out gloves so I could push through the vegetation. There were sections where it seemed we were on the original old trail - which got us to wondering when they decided to abandon regular maintenance of the trail (none of the park rangers really knew why they had stopped maintaining this as an official trail).
Winds had picked up, it was cool, and it was well after lunch with a long way to go, so after a short break on Fort, it was back to No. Brother. This took about an hour. From North Brother, it's a straight forward but at times steep descent back to the car. My feet were tired of pounding rocks, and it was with great relief to finally get back to the car and to be able to kick off the hiking shoes.
Book time is about 11 hours; approx. 13.2 miles; 5460' gain.
It's a long day, but if you're hiking regularly, the loop is quite do-able.
Note: I have to admit admiring those hikers that have done these peaks in the winter!!! My hats off to you!!
Beth Zimmer
btzimr at gmail dot com
Wanting to finish up the Maine peaks for the NEHH, Ken & Karen Robichaud, and Steve and I had made reservations for a four-night stay up in Baxter Park. We spend two nights in a cabin on Daicey Pond, from where it was a short 15 minute drive to the Marsten Trailhead for our first big hike.
The 13+ mile day to get Coe, South Brother, North Brother and Fort seemed do-able and we didn't have any concerns going into the hike. Weather was terrific, and we were excited and eager to hike after the long drive up to the park. But we are very glad for the early start we gave ourselves, as this loop took us over very, very rocky terrain, with about 5500' of gain. With our 50+ knees and pacing, the going was much slower than we had predicted it would be.
We hiked the loop in a counter clockwise direction, choosing to climb the slide up Coe rather than descend it at the end of a long day - a wise choice. The lower section of the Marsten Trail went easily, traveling through open woods. Once on the Mt. Coe Trail, it began to climb more steeply over rough glacial boulders and large rocks, remnants of old slides. Once past the junction with the Mt. OJI Link, the "trail" went up the Mt. Coe Slide, comprised of loose, rotten and pebbly rock, and often over steep smooth ledge faces. I had no problem finding solid footing and traction with my trail runners, but was very glad to be ascending and not descending this route. The views from Mt. Coe (and all the other peaks) was stunning. Katahdin rose to the SE, in and out of clouds... the views were awesome.
The hike over to South Brother was along a ridge and high conifer forest, over rough rock and tree roots - much like it might be hiking in the Whites. From the trail, the summit of So. Brother is only .3 mi. up a spur summit trail, but it was a boulder climb to the top. Bring your pack - because the summit has gorgeous views, and you'll want to hang out a while.
The trek over to North Brother was much the same, only the trail became smoother as it approached the col and junction with the Marsten Trail. From the col, the trail rose quite steeply up to the summit of North Brother. It was very rocky and steep, with huge 3'+ erosion gullies in the trail bed. (It's going to take a lot of work to check erosion in this section.) Again, alpine zone and 360 views from the summit. We looked back at where we had come from, we looked at Katahdin and prayed for good weather two days from now, and we looked north to Fort. Knowing it would take at least an hour each way to Fort and back, we pressed on after a short break.
Rock cairns lead the way off of the north slope of North Brother down to the tree line where a foot / herd path took us over to Fort. Vegetation is grown in tight in spots, but it was never tough to see or follow the foot bed. I stowed my poles and took out gloves so I could push through the vegetation. There were sections where it seemed we were on the original old trail - which got us to wondering when they decided to abandon regular maintenance of the trail (none of the park rangers really knew why they had stopped maintaining this as an official trail).
Winds had picked up, it was cool, and it was well after lunch with a long way to go, so after a short break on Fort, it was back to No. Brother. This took about an hour. From North Brother, it's a straight forward but at times steep descent back to the car. My feet were tired of pounding rocks, and it was with great relief to finally get back to the car and to be able to kick off the hiking shoes.
Book time is about 11 hours; approx. 13.2 miles; 5460' gain.
It's a long day, but if you're hiking regularly, the loop is quite do-able.
Note: I have to admit admiring those hikers that have done these peaks in the winter!!! My hats off to you!!
Beth Zimmer
btzimr at gmail dot com
