On Monday six of us, originally five, did the Travelers Loop in the northern part of Baxter State Park. We did the loop clockwise, summiting North Traveler, the Traveler, and Peak of the Ridges in that order. The day was partly cloudy, with altocumulus and cirrus above us, but nothing to block the views except a cap cloud on Katahdin far to our south. It did get hot though, although usually when we weren't in the shade we had a breeze.
The trail starts fairly steeply up the North Ridge and right from the start we, MichaelJ, Mark, Lori, Cantdog, and me (all attending the Baxter Bash), experienced the two main themes of the hike, great views and lots of blueberries. The North Traveler Trail goes over several false summits, with views to Katahdin and the Brothers to the south, flat Maine lake land to the north, the South Branch Ponds just below to the west, and many more mountains and lakes stretching out to the horizon in every direction, with almost no sign of civilization anywhere. It was on North Traveler where we were joined by Molly, a sophomore Smithie who had taken our picture earlier, and who stayed with us for the rest of the hike. We soon realized that with her joining us we were now one hiker from each of the new England states (Molly Vt., Cantdog N.H., Lori Me., MichaelJ Mass., me Conn., and Mark R.I.).
The Traveler Mountain Trail from North Traveler to the Traveler goes through some wooded areas and over some exposed bumps, on one of which we ate lunch. After the Traveler the trail crosses several loose rock slides in between wood walks. We had been advised by a hiker doing the loop the other way to listen for gurgling soon after crossing the big slide, and sure enough, we heard it and found a water source, which was a pleasant surprise as we had heard that there was no water on the Travelers Loop.
Peak of the Ridges was a surprise as well, as the approach involved a lot of rock scrambling. Unfortunately, so did the descent, on Center Ridge Trail, beyond the point where it was interesting and fun, especially near the end of a long hike. We agreed that it would have been better to have done the loop in the opposite direction, so that the difficult part would be done uphill on fresh legs.
After we got to the bottom of Center Ridge Trail and onto Pogy Notch Trail, near Upper South Branch Pond, it was an easy mostly flat stroll to the trailhead at South Branch Pond Campsite, where some of us took a swim in the lake before doing the hour drive back to Foster Field.
The Traveler was number 48 for the New England Fifty Finest list.
Here are the pictures.
--
Cumulus
NE111 in my 50s: 115/115 (67/67, 46/46, 2/2)
NE111 in my 60s: 22/115 (17/67, 5/46, 0/2)
NEFF: 49/50; Cat35: 36/39; WNH4K: 36/48; NEHH 81/100
LT NB 2009
"I don't much care where [I get to] --" said Alice, "-- so long as I get somewhere," ...
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
- Lewis Carroll
The trail starts fairly steeply up the North Ridge and right from the start we, MichaelJ, Mark, Lori, Cantdog, and me (all attending the Baxter Bash), experienced the two main themes of the hike, great views and lots of blueberries. The North Traveler Trail goes over several false summits, with views to Katahdin and the Brothers to the south, flat Maine lake land to the north, the South Branch Ponds just below to the west, and many more mountains and lakes stretching out to the horizon in every direction, with almost no sign of civilization anywhere. It was on North Traveler where we were joined by Molly, a sophomore Smithie who had taken our picture earlier, and who stayed with us for the rest of the hike. We soon realized that with her joining us we were now one hiker from each of the new England states (Molly Vt., Cantdog N.H., Lori Me., MichaelJ Mass., me Conn., and Mark R.I.).
The Traveler Mountain Trail from North Traveler to the Traveler goes through some wooded areas and over some exposed bumps, on one of which we ate lunch. After the Traveler the trail crosses several loose rock slides in between wood walks. We had been advised by a hiker doing the loop the other way to listen for gurgling soon after crossing the big slide, and sure enough, we heard it and found a water source, which was a pleasant surprise as we had heard that there was no water on the Travelers Loop.
Peak of the Ridges was a surprise as well, as the approach involved a lot of rock scrambling. Unfortunately, so did the descent, on Center Ridge Trail, beyond the point where it was interesting and fun, especially near the end of a long hike. We agreed that it would have been better to have done the loop in the opposite direction, so that the difficult part would be done uphill on fresh legs.
After we got to the bottom of Center Ridge Trail and onto Pogy Notch Trail, near Upper South Branch Pond, it was an easy mostly flat stroll to the trailhead at South Branch Pond Campsite, where some of us took a swim in the lake before doing the hour drive back to Foster Field.
The Traveler was number 48 for the New England Fifty Finest list.
Here are the pictures.
--
Cumulus
NE111 in my 50s: 115/115 (67/67, 46/46, 2/2)
NE111 in my 60s: 22/115 (17/67, 5/46, 0/2)
NEFF: 49/50; Cat35: 36/39; WNH4K: 36/48; NEHH 81/100
LT NB 2009
"I don't much care where [I get to] --" said Alice, "-- so long as I get somewhere," ...
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
- Lewis Carroll
