bryan
New member
date: 3/1-3/3 2012
trails: williams pond road, x-c ski trail, tote road, marston trail, mt. coe trail, south brother side trail
conditions: the golden road and telos road were both in good shape on the drive in with the golden road being mostly clear with some sections of ice and snow (watch out for logging trucks). telos rd. plowed, but still snow covered with good traction. on our return today the road had not been cleared of the 2 or so inches that fell the last couple of days, but driving was fine. i would hesitate to park out there knowing you will be returning after a big storm as i don't get the impression those roads are immediately tended too. there is a pull out right at the start of the road that can fit at least half a dozen cars.
williams pond road had seen past snowmobile use as well as skis and snowshoes in the first couple of miles so there was a pretty wide packed track with lightly drifted snow on top. at the first major split in the road (where you go left) it became a single track snowshoe and ski track all the way into the nesowadnehunk bunkhouse (where we spent two nights). the final half mile or so is on a x-c ski trail that leaves to the right at a very conspicuous "no snowmobiles" sign. with the heavy winds today or new snow don't necessarily expect a clear track along the road, but there is a packed track under there somewhere. the tote road had been snowmobiled so was pretty well packed under foot. in the register at the marston trailhead we noted 3 other groups had been up earlier that week so we were treated to a nice snowshoe track all the way to north brother. very little exposed rock up high and no ice to speak of. we broke out the mt. coe trail up to the south brother side trail through roughly a foot of snow on average with deeper drifted areas the same continuing on the side trail to the summit. the small water crossings on marston trail were generally frozen over, but i recall one small open step across.
equipment: snowshoes worn the whole trip. added msr tails while carrying my heavy pack for a bit of extra flotation. my steve and dave skied in with sleds and along the tote road with good results.
comments: i did not expect to get to north brother this winter, but steves dates just happened to work perfectly for me so i made the trip up. the drive north on thursday was probably the hardest part of the whole trip and took hours longer than normal given the snow storm. the "cozy cabin" lived up to its name and was a very nice place to spend a couple of nights. conditions for the hike were fantastic and a big thanks has to go out to the prior groups this week for all of their work breaking out the marston trail. we had some beautiful weather on the way to the summits with clouds eventually descending and pretty limited views to kathadin, but it was gorgeous none the less. i hadn't been up to baxter in years and it was nice to get back up there for a couple of days. thanks to steve and dave for letting me join them and especially to steve for handling all the logistics of getting me in on their reservation last minute. i really appreciate it.
bryan
[email protected]
trails: williams pond road, x-c ski trail, tote road, marston trail, mt. coe trail, south brother side trail
conditions: the golden road and telos road were both in good shape on the drive in with the golden road being mostly clear with some sections of ice and snow (watch out for logging trucks). telos rd. plowed, but still snow covered with good traction. on our return today the road had not been cleared of the 2 or so inches that fell the last couple of days, but driving was fine. i would hesitate to park out there knowing you will be returning after a big storm as i don't get the impression those roads are immediately tended too. there is a pull out right at the start of the road that can fit at least half a dozen cars.
williams pond road had seen past snowmobile use as well as skis and snowshoes in the first couple of miles so there was a pretty wide packed track with lightly drifted snow on top. at the first major split in the road (where you go left) it became a single track snowshoe and ski track all the way into the nesowadnehunk bunkhouse (where we spent two nights). the final half mile or so is on a x-c ski trail that leaves to the right at a very conspicuous "no snowmobiles" sign. with the heavy winds today or new snow don't necessarily expect a clear track along the road, but there is a packed track under there somewhere. the tote road had been snowmobiled so was pretty well packed under foot. in the register at the marston trailhead we noted 3 other groups had been up earlier that week so we were treated to a nice snowshoe track all the way to north brother. very little exposed rock up high and no ice to speak of. we broke out the mt. coe trail up to the south brother side trail through roughly a foot of snow on average with deeper drifted areas the same continuing on the side trail to the summit. the small water crossings on marston trail were generally frozen over, but i recall one small open step across.
equipment: snowshoes worn the whole trip. added msr tails while carrying my heavy pack for a bit of extra flotation. my steve and dave skied in with sleds and along the tote road with good results.
comments: i did not expect to get to north brother this winter, but steves dates just happened to work perfectly for me so i made the trip up. the drive north on thursday was probably the hardest part of the whole trip and took hours longer than normal given the snow storm. the "cozy cabin" lived up to its name and was a very nice place to spend a couple of nights. conditions for the hike were fantastic and a big thanks has to go out to the prior groups this week for all of their work breaking out the marston trail. we had some beautiful weather on the way to the summits with clouds eventually descending and pretty limited views to kathadin, but it was gorgeous none the less. i hadn't been up to baxter in years and it was nice to get back up there for a couple of days. thanks to steve and dave for letting me join them and especially to steve for handling all the logistics of getting me in on their reservation last minute. i really appreciate it.
bryan
[email protected]
