Shoal Pond Trail questions

[cushetunk]

I'm considering a ski route that would involve following the Shoal Pond Trail north to south in early March. I've read some trip reports here, including the epic and very helpful lollipop trip report from DougPaul and Becca M.

I have two questions for anyone familiar with the trail in winter:

1. If the brook is not frozen, will the crossings likely be near impossible? Obviously this depends on the day and one's risk tolerance, but I'm just asking for impressions.

2. Is staying on the east side of the brook and not even attempting to follow the trail a plausible alternative to crossing? It looks like thick softwood in the valley, so perhaps not the best bushwhacking.

Thanks!

 

[DougPaul]

1. The stream crossings (all 4 of them, IIRC) were adequately bridged when we crossed them so I can't help you here. The only crossing that gave us any problem was Cedar Brook on the way out. (I don't recall any problems with it on the way in.)

2. Others have told me of bushwacking parallel to parts of Shoal Pond Tr when they lost it. However, I can't give you any specifics of where.

There have been comments posted here on VFTT that the SPT has received some much needed maintenance since we did it. Hopefully it is now easier to follow.

If you have a GPS, I suggest that you preload the WMNF tracks for Shoal Pond and Wilderness Trails (as we did for our lollipop). We probably would have had to turn back without them. (Of course, it might also be easier to navigate this section during daylight... ) Hopefully they are easier to follow now...

SPT/WT is generally a nice gentle downhill (N-S), but has the stream crossings and the possible navigational difficulties. And there is a steep short section just S of where the Wilderness Tr crosses the Carriagan Branch which may be difficult to reverse (ie travel S-N). Thoreau Tr has steeper ups and downs, but no stream crossings and is easier to follow.

One other point is that these trails (SPT and WT) mostly follow old railbeds, so there are very few sharp turns. In particular, the railbeds went straight across streams...

Doug

 

[cushetunk]

Thanks Doug, that is helpful.

And yes, my plan involves daylight, at least for the SPT section! I'm impressed that you tackled that in the dark -- and I'm not adverse to nighttime travel.

I did the standard N-S Pemi Traverse on TFT last year and was looking for ways to spice it up a little this year. SPT out to 302 looks like one way to do that, if one can get through.

 

[DougPaul]

And yes, my plan involves daylight, at least for the SPT section! I'm impressed that you tackled that in the dark -- and I'm not adverse to nighttime travel.

Considering that it was a 25mi BC route done as a single push we planned to ski through the night. As it turned out, most of the "interesting" navigation occurred in the dark.

I did the standard N-S Pemi Traverse on TFT last year and was looking for ways to spice it up a little this year. SPT out to 302 looks like one way to do that, if one can get through.

Sounds good.

I've never done the traverse in a single trip... (I have skied all of the trails at one time or another.) Might be fun one of these days. My strategy has been to wait for good conditions and pounce.

The first time I did the lollipop (using the bridge in 2002) I caught 4-6 inches of fresh powder over a hard crust. The temp started at -5F and gradually warmed up to ~30F by the time I finished. Started on special green wax with a green kicker and worked my way through the waxes to purple. With the help of good conditions, (relative) youth and minimal navigational difficulty I made it in 18 hrs.

Doug

 

[TJsName]

1. The stream crossings (all 4 of them, IIRC) were adequately bridged when we crossed them so I can't help you here. The only crossing that gave us any problem was Cedar Brook on the way out. (I don't recall any problems with it on the way in.)

There have been comments posted here on VFTT that the SPT has received some much needed maintenance since we did it. Hopefully it is now easier to follow.

I did the Pemi East Side trail twice last winter. First time Cedar Brook was snow bridged (later Feb I think). 2nd time it was a week or so after a thaw and it was open. There was a fallen tree and debris and ice up stream that allowed us to cross without getting wet, but it took a bit of time.

Hiked the SPT this summer. It was nice and I think it would be decent to navigate. As Doug pointed out, it's pretty much straight and followed a fairly open corridor. The issue is how many blow downs there are, especially between the southern crossing of Shoal Pond Brook and Norcorss Brook (at Stillwater). The Wilderness trail has some side-hilling between the Carrigan Branch and Crystal Brook crossings that might be annoying, and the branch-in-face problem would be difficult there (things I now consider when summer hiking).

Given the long consistent cold weather we have had, I suspect the route is good, but if there is a thaw, I would not count on any of the snow bridges, especially the one on Norcross.

 

[Damselfly]

My husband and I did a Zealand/Shoal Pond Tr/to Lincoln ski through a number of years ago prior to my carrying a GPS. I don't recall any difficulties with brook crossings.... but with the puffy snow, we lost the trail 2-3 times, and had to keep a calm head as we doubled back to a blaze. The trail gets little use... light blazing in places and blowdowns are possible.... and I recall that moose paths once drew us down a "line" that wasn't the trail. Have fun... it's both remote and gorgeous.

 

[DougPaul]

My husband and I did a Zealand/Shoal Pond Tr/to Lincoln ski through a number of years ago prior to my carrying a GPS. I don't recall any difficulties with brook crossings.... but with the puffy snow, we lost the trail 2-3 times, and had to keep a calm head as we doubled back to a blaze. The trail gets little use... light blazing in places and blowdowns are possible.... and I recall that moose paths once drew us down a "line" that wasn't the trail. Have fun... it's both remote and gorgeous.

With the Wilderness trail maintenance rules, the blazes are disappearing. I think there were more blazes in 2002 than in 2011 and in 2002 there were occasional faint tracks to verify that I was on route. In 2011, the moose seemed to have a better idea of where the trail went than we did. (In a number of cases, following the moose tracks was the thing to do...)

In both years, deep snow obscured any ground tredway.

Doug

 

[cushetunk]

Thanks everyone! Still a couple of weeks away so have to see what the weather does.