Umsaskis
New member
Knowing it would be a long and arduous trip, I prayed for several things before I set out in the car: first, that I could get to the starting point - at least, a reasonable starting point if not the one I hoped for, second, that I would be safe and get back to the car alive, and lastly, I even asked God to let me get to the summits, but that I would be wise and know when to turn back. A bold set of requests, but I know he loves me so I thought, hey, why not ask? As you'll see, he answered.
I left Vermont at 8:20pm on Monday night (I had a night class that got out 10minutes late, which caused mild frustration but had great benefit - read on). I ended up on the Lincoln Pond Road around 11:00. About a mile or so northeast of Morton Cutoff, I suddenly found myself driving down an unplowed road. I didn't notice it right away, because it was only from the last storm that it hadn't been plowed. At exactly the time I entered the unplowed stretch, a truck pulled out of a side road, and he stopped, and I stopped. I hemmed and hawed for a minute, wondering if I should continue the probably 8 miles to Little Kennebago Lake and risk getting stuck, or try to go around the other end, or give up? Finally, seeing the fellow behind me still waiting, I got out to ask for advice. Well, it turned out he was a Border Patrol officer (an extremely nice and helpful one). PAY CLOSE ATTENTION HERE, AND TO OTHER PARTS TYPED IN BOLD, IF YOU PLAN TO HIKE HERE IN THE NEAR FUTURE. HE TOLD ME THAT THE LINCOLN POND ROAD AND TIM POND ROAD HAD RECENTLY BEEN CONVERTED TO A SNOWMOBILE TRAIL, ALL THE WAY TO THE OTHER END - BY WHICH I ASSUME HE MEANT ALL THE WAY TO EUSTIS. HENCE, LITTLE KENNEBAGO LAKE, CANADA ROAD, AND WIGGLE BROOK ROAD ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE AS WINTER ACCESS POINTS FOR THESE PEAKS. (UNLESS YOU CAN TAKE THE KENNEBAGO RIVER ROAD (JUST PAST MORTON CUTOFF ON RT 16) TO GRANTS CAMPS ROAD AND THEN DRIVE NORTH FROM THERE TO LITTLE KENNEBAGO LAKE, BUT SINCE IT IS GATED AT THE OTHER END, I DOUBT IT IS PLOWED.)
THIS KINDLY OFFICER THEN ESCORTED ME 12 MILES TO A DIFFERENT STARTING POINT, ONE THAT WOULD REQUIRE A BIT LONGER APPROACH THAN THE LITTLE KENNEBAGO LAKE APROACH. WE WENT BACK TOWARDS MORTON CUTOFF, AND THEN TOOK A TURN TO THE NORTH ONTO BURNT MOUNTAIN ROAD, ALMOST IMMEDIATELY ACROSS FROM MORTON CUTOFF. WE DROVE ALL THE WAY TO THE EAST BRANCH ROAD (BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 12 AND 13) AS SHOWN ON THE DELORME ATLAS (THE ONE THAT GOES UP SNOW). FROM THERE, THE EAST BRANCH ROAD WAS PLOWED BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW FAR UP - WE DIDN'T GO THAT WAY. THERE IS A LITTLE TRIANGLE INTERSECTION HERE WHERE YOU CAN PARK AND BE OUT OF THE WAY OF LOG TRUCKS. HE SAID THEY ARE HAULING DOWN THE EAST BRANCH ROAD, AND I DON'T HAVE ANY IDEA IF THERE ARE ANY SAFE PARKING SPOTS ALONG THAT ROAD IF ONE PLANS TO CLIMB SNOW. Here I parked. After about an hour of going out of his way to help me (maybe it was the hapless female lost in the woods at night, or maybe he was just very kindhearted), the BP officer went his way - after saying that he thought we all were crazy - and I prepared for a cozy night's sleep in the back of my Outback. Quite comfortable, in fact. So you see, prayer request number 1 was answered - thankfully I had to leave 10 minutes late from my class or I would have missed the BP officer altogether, probably driven too far down the road, and gotten stuck. Thanks, God!
I got started skiing at 5:45 the next morning. THIS IS THE SKI ROUTE I TOOK. FROM THE EAST BRANCH ROAD INTERSECTION, CONTINUE ON THE LEFT HAND FORK, FOLLOWING THE CUPSUPTIC RIVER. WHERE THE CAMP 14 ROAD COMES IN ON THE LEFT (ALL THESE ROADS ARE PROPERLY LABELLED ON THE DELORME ATLAS), BEAR RIGHT - WHICH IS KIND OF STRAIGHT AND A LITTLE BIT RIGHT - ONTO BIG CANYON ROAD. THERE IS A SIGN FOR BIG CANYON ROAD AT THIS JUNCTION. FOLLOW THIS UNTIL THE MAIN ROAD GOES RIGHT, WHICH BECOMES WIGGLE BROOK ROAD; AT THIS JUNCTION GO STRAIGHT (OR BEAR LEFT, HOWEVER YOU SEE IT) ONTO MEGANTIC WINTER ROAD, ALSO LABELLED WITH A SIGN. NEXT YOU WILL COME TO A 4-WAY JUNCTION (ALTHOUGH THE LEFT-HAND BRANCH IS QUITE SMALL AND MAY NOT BE NOTICEABLE); HERE, GO RIGHT ONTO CUPSUPTIC POND ROAD. THIS WILL TAKE YOU DOWN TOWARD THE RIVER EVENTUALLY, WHERE YOU WILL SEE A BRIDGE ON THE RIGHT, AND TUCKED INTO THE TREES IS A SIGN FOR GREY'S CORNER, IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY. CROSS THE BRIDGE, AND TURN RIGHT, GOING SOUTH AGAIN. AFTER LESS THAN A MILE, THE ROAD CROSSES PORTER BROOK, CURVES LEFT, AND SHORTLY AFTERWARD A BRANCH TO THE LEFT CROSSES PORTER BROOK AGAIN, WHILE THE MAIN BRANCH CONTINUES STRAIGHT. HERE IS A GOOD SPOT TO DITCH THE SKIS. TAKE THE SMALLER ROAD TO THE LEFT ACROSS PORTER BROOK, AND FOLLOW THE MAIN ROUTE ALL THE WAY UP TO THE COL BETWEEN WHITE CAP AND KENNEBAGO DIVIDE. This stretch from Porter Brook to the col is filled in many places with saplings and branches down the middle of the road, so skis or snowshoes would be extremely annoying to try to use, anyway. UP UNTIL PORTER BROOK, ALL THESE ROADS APPEARED HEAVILY USED BY SNOWMOBILES AND SO WERE EASY TO FOLLOW - BUT TAKE CAREFUL NOTE OF THE DIRECTIONS AND JUNCTIONS, SINCE YOU WILL DEFINITELY BE SKIING OUT IN THE DARK IF YOU DO IT AS A DAY TRIP LIKE I DID. The road from Porter Brook had also been snowmobiled by one or two people, so I was able to bareboot to the col. So thankful for that! I needed to save all the energy I could since I think the whole thing was going to be well over 20 miles. Once I got to the col, I stopped (really for the first time), and suddenly felt awful! I hadn't eaten enough on the way up, which is the bane of my winter hiking. I felt so awful I got scared. I ate some dried fruit - a quick energy source, and forced down some nuts and peanut butter thingys I had, but when I haven't eaten enough I always have trouble making myself eat and then I basically have problems for the entire rest of the day. I prayed again there in the col, and then I did feel better enough to eat, and continue. Prayer request number 2 answered - for now, and many times thereafter for the remainder of the trip! Going up Whitecap was easy enough - not a whole lot of snow to break; I'd say less than a foot in most parts. I signed in, ate some nuts, and headed back down. Now, it had been 10 years since I last did these peaks, and as I headed toward North Kennebago Divide, it slowly dawned on me that I had not liked this peak the last time, either. It was, shall I say, AWFUL! The snow depth was much greater, probably because it was a north-facing slope, and the trees were really thick. You know the kind - where you have to choose between plowing through branches so thick it's all you can do to get your pack through them, or going into the more open swaths, where you have to break through more snow, plowing over logs, and stepping onto snow-covered trees that you didn't know where there. It feels like you have to lift your legs up above your head in order to make any headway. Well, I exaggerate, but you know what I mean. I will confess, at one point, I even said, "I hate this mountain!" Of course on the way back down, I apologized to the mountain and acknowledged that I was very glad there are places so difficult to get to. And maybe there is a better way to go, but I sure couldn't find it, and I zig-zagged all over the place. (So if you follow my tracks anytime soon, be forewarned that they don't follow the path of least resistance.) I finally at one point looked up from my feet and there above me was the canister! Wooohoooo! Prayer number 3 answered. The trip down was much, much easier. I opted to just follow my tracks no matter what kind of branches I had to go through, rather than break through any new messes in an effort to find an easier route.
The trip out was uneventful, except for utter exhaustion, lack of food and water (not that I didn't have it with me - I just hadn't used it enough). Yup, I felt pretty awful for a good bit of it, and many prayers were said, 3 changes of headlamp batteries were made, and mile after mile went by in the little circle of my headlamp and the swish of my skis. By this time it had snowed about 2 inches and it was warm enough that I couldn't take advantage of all those nice downhills I was anticipating. At best, I could pole down them. But I'm very thankful it never really got sticky. I don't think I'd have made it out if it was. Every so often I'd think, "what if I miss a turn?" That would probably be the death of me. But finally, the car appeared, the lock wasn't frozen, and it started up. Prayer number 2 was answered, again. I was alive! And even more - I stayed alive all the way home, despite being half asleep, driving on slushy roads and having deer come out in front of me 3 times. What can I say? God is very, very good.
Here's the funny part. I had hoped to get Boundary on the same day. Isn't that funny? HA! I think I'll see about an approach from Canada for that one.
If you made it to the end of this TR, congratulations! Thanks for bearing with me!
I left Vermont at 8:20pm on Monday night (I had a night class that got out 10minutes late, which caused mild frustration but had great benefit - read on). I ended up on the Lincoln Pond Road around 11:00. About a mile or so northeast of Morton Cutoff, I suddenly found myself driving down an unplowed road. I didn't notice it right away, because it was only from the last storm that it hadn't been plowed. At exactly the time I entered the unplowed stretch, a truck pulled out of a side road, and he stopped, and I stopped. I hemmed and hawed for a minute, wondering if I should continue the probably 8 miles to Little Kennebago Lake and risk getting stuck, or try to go around the other end, or give up? Finally, seeing the fellow behind me still waiting, I got out to ask for advice. Well, it turned out he was a Border Patrol officer (an extremely nice and helpful one). PAY CLOSE ATTENTION HERE, AND TO OTHER PARTS TYPED IN BOLD, IF YOU PLAN TO HIKE HERE IN THE NEAR FUTURE. HE TOLD ME THAT THE LINCOLN POND ROAD AND TIM POND ROAD HAD RECENTLY BEEN CONVERTED TO A SNOWMOBILE TRAIL, ALL THE WAY TO THE OTHER END - BY WHICH I ASSUME HE MEANT ALL THE WAY TO EUSTIS. HENCE, LITTLE KENNEBAGO LAKE, CANADA ROAD, AND WIGGLE BROOK ROAD ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE AS WINTER ACCESS POINTS FOR THESE PEAKS. (UNLESS YOU CAN TAKE THE KENNEBAGO RIVER ROAD (JUST PAST MORTON CUTOFF ON RT 16) TO GRANTS CAMPS ROAD AND THEN DRIVE NORTH FROM THERE TO LITTLE KENNEBAGO LAKE, BUT SINCE IT IS GATED AT THE OTHER END, I DOUBT IT IS PLOWED.)
THIS KINDLY OFFICER THEN ESCORTED ME 12 MILES TO A DIFFERENT STARTING POINT, ONE THAT WOULD REQUIRE A BIT LONGER APPROACH THAN THE LITTLE KENNEBAGO LAKE APROACH. WE WENT BACK TOWARDS MORTON CUTOFF, AND THEN TOOK A TURN TO THE NORTH ONTO BURNT MOUNTAIN ROAD, ALMOST IMMEDIATELY ACROSS FROM MORTON CUTOFF. WE DROVE ALL THE WAY TO THE EAST BRANCH ROAD (BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 12 AND 13) AS SHOWN ON THE DELORME ATLAS (THE ONE THAT GOES UP SNOW). FROM THERE, THE EAST BRANCH ROAD WAS PLOWED BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW FAR UP - WE DIDN'T GO THAT WAY. THERE IS A LITTLE TRIANGLE INTERSECTION HERE WHERE YOU CAN PARK AND BE OUT OF THE WAY OF LOG TRUCKS. HE SAID THEY ARE HAULING DOWN THE EAST BRANCH ROAD, AND I DON'T HAVE ANY IDEA IF THERE ARE ANY SAFE PARKING SPOTS ALONG THAT ROAD IF ONE PLANS TO CLIMB SNOW. Here I parked. After about an hour of going out of his way to help me (maybe it was the hapless female lost in the woods at night, or maybe he was just very kindhearted), the BP officer went his way - after saying that he thought we all were crazy - and I prepared for a cozy night's sleep in the back of my Outback. Quite comfortable, in fact. So you see, prayer request number 1 was answered - thankfully I had to leave 10 minutes late from my class or I would have missed the BP officer altogether, probably driven too far down the road, and gotten stuck. Thanks, God!
I got started skiing at 5:45 the next morning. THIS IS THE SKI ROUTE I TOOK. FROM THE EAST BRANCH ROAD INTERSECTION, CONTINUE ON THE LEFT HAND FORK, FOLLOWING THE CUPSUPTIC RIVER. WHERE THE CAMP 14 ROAD COMES IN ON THE LEFT (ALL THESE ROADS ARE PROPERLY LABELLED ON THE DELORME ATLAS), BEAR RIGHT - WHICH IS KIND OF STRAIGHT AND A LITTLE BIT RIGHT - ONTO BIG CANYON ROAD. THERE IS A SIGN FOR BIG CANYON ROAD AT THIS JUNCTION. FOLLOW THIS UNTIL THE MAIN ROAD GOES RIGHT, WHICH BECOMES WIGGLE BROOK ROAD; AT THIS JUNCTION GO STRAIGHT (OR BEAR LEFT, HOWEVER YOU SEE IT) ONTO MEGANTIC WINTER ROAD, ALSO LABELLED WITH A SIGN. NEXT YOU WILL COME TO A 4-WAY JUNCTION (ALTHOUGH THE LEFT-HAND BRANCH IS QUITE SMALL AND MAY NOT BE NOTICEABLE); HERE, GO RIGHT ONTO CUPSUPTIC POND ROAD. THIS WILL TAKE YOU DOWN TOWARD THE RIVER EVENTUALLY, WHERE YOU WILL SEE A BRIDGE ON THE RIGHT, AND TUCKED INTO THE TREES IS A SIGN FOR GREY'S CORNER, IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY. CROSS THE BRIDGE, AND TURN RIGHT, GOING SOUTH AGAIN. AFTER LESS THAN A MILE, THE ROAD CROSSES PORTER BROOK, CURVES LEFT, AND SHORTLY AFTERWARD A BRANCH TO THE LEFT CROSSES PORTER BROOK AGAIN, WHILE THE MAIN BRANCH CONTINUES STRAIGHT. HERE IS A GOOD SPOT TO DITCH THE SKIS. TAKE THE SMALLER ROAD TO THE LEFT ACROSS PORTER BROOK, AND FOLLOW THE MAIN ROUTE ALL THE WAY UP TO THE COL BETWEEN WHITE CAP AND KENNEBAGO DIVIDE. This stretch from Porter Brook to the col is filled in many places with saplings and branches down the middle of the road, so skis or snowshoes would be extremely annoying to try to use, anyway. UP UNTIL PORTER BROOK, ALL THESE ROADS APPEARED HEAVILY USED BY SNOWMOBILES AND SO WERE EASY TO FOLLOW - BUT TAKE CAREFUL NOTE OF THE DIRECTIONS AND JUNCTIONS, SINCE YOU WILL DEFINITELY BE SKIING OUT IN THE DARK IF YOU DO IT AS A DAY TRIP LIKE I DID. The road from Porter Brook had also been snowmobiled by one or two people, so I was able to bareboot to the col. So thankful for that! I needed to save all the energy I could since I think the whole thing was going to be well over 20 miles. Once I got to the col, I stopped (really for the first time), and suddenly felt awful! I hadn't eaten enough on the way up, which is the bane of my winter hiking. I felt so awful I got scared. I ate some dried fruit - a quick energy source, and forced down some nuts and peanut butter thingys I had, but when I haven't eaten enough I always have trouble making myself eat and then I basically have problems for the entire rest of the day. I prayed again there in the col, and then I did feel better enough to eat, and continue. Prayer request number 2 answered - for now, and many times thereafter for the remainder of the trip! Going up Whitecap was easy enough - not a whole lot of snow to break; I'd say less than a foot in most parts. I signed in, ate some nuts, and headed back down. Now, it had been 10 years since I last did these peaks, and as I headed toward North Kennebago Divide, it slowly dawned on me that I had not liked this peak the last time, either. It was, shall I say, AWFUL! The snow depth was much greater, probably because it was a north-facing slope, and the trees were really thick. You know the kind - where you have to choose between plowing through branches so thick it's all you can do to get your pack through them, or going into the more open swaths, where you have to break through more snow, plowing over logs, and stepping onto snow-covered trees that you didn't know where there. It feels like you have to lift your legs up above your head in order to make any headway. Well, I exaggerate, but you know what I mean. I will confess, at one point, I even said, "I hate this mountain!" Of course on the way back down, I apologized to the mountain and acknowledged that I was very glad there are places so difficult to get to. And maybe there is a better way to go, but I sure couldn't find it, and I zig-zagged all over the place. (So if you follow my tracks anytime soon, be forewarned that they don't follow the path of least resistance.) I finally at one point looked up from my feet and there above me was the canister! Wooohoooo! Prayer number 3 answered. The trip down was much, much easier. I opted to just follow my tracks no matter what kind of branches I had to go through, rather than break through any new messes in an effort to find an easier route.
The trip out was uneventful, except for utter exhaustion, lack of food and water (not that I didn't have it with me - I just hadn't used it enough). Yup, I felt pretty awful for a good bit of it, and many prayers were said, 3 changes of headlamp batteries were made, and mile after mile went by in the little circle of my headlamp and the swish of my skis. By this time it had snowed about 2 inches and it was warm enough that I couldn't take advantage of all those nice downhills I was anticipating. At best, I could pole down them. But I'm very thankful it never really got sticky. I don't think I'd have made it out if it was. Every so often I'd think, "what if I miss a turn?" That would probably be the death of me. But finally, the car appeared, the lock wasn't frozen, and it started up. Prayer number 2 was answered, again. I was alive! And even more - I stayed alive all the way home, despite being half asleep, driving on slushy roads and having deer come out in front of me 3 times. What can I say? God is very, very good.
Here's the funny part. I had hoped to get Boundary on the same day. Isn't that funny? HA! I think I'll see about an approach from Canada for that one.
If you made it to the end of this TR, congratulations! Thanks for bearing with me!
