twigeater and jerbear's Maine trip

“First, let me say that jerbear is a great guy to travel with and I had a great time. He kept reminding me that this was MY vacation and it was a very relaxing, fun trip.

Day 1 ? I met jerbear at the Roaring Brook Parking lot around noon just as it started to drizzle. We settled into our lean to, then jerbear agreed to do the same hike he had just done the day before so I could stretch my legs before we started backpacking. The weather cleared and the day was beautiful. We hiked up the Chimney Pond Trail for great views of Katahdin, then headed back down via the North Basin Trail to the Blueberry Knoll, the North Basin Cut-Off Trail and Chimney Pond Trail, taking in the sights along the way. We took a quick hike into Sandy Stream Pond and saw a cow feeding. 6.5 miles today.

Day 2 ? Packed up, left jerbear?s jeep in the Roaring Brook parking lot, and drove my vehicle over to the parking area at Nesowadnehunk. After some last minute pack tweaking, we headed out on the Wassataquoik Lake Trail to our lean-to at Center Mountain. Checked out the ponds for moose along the way ? we saw plenty of sign, but no critters. When we got to Center Pond the canoe was under lock and chain. Last time I did this trail there were no canoes so I wasn?t expecting it anyway, but it would?ve been nice to know about. I expected a new outhouse at the lean-to site, but apparently it?s underused enough that the ?toilet seat on a box? is still sufficient. Saw five people this day, two couples packing out, and one photographer. 7 miles today.

Day 3 ? Continued on the Wassataquoik Lake Trail. We heard moose off in the woods grunting and bellowing to each other, but no sightings. Hiked up Greene Falls where I promptly fell in trying to look out at the lake. Beautiful, green mossy rocks and surroundings with clear, sparkling falls and pools. After much time spent oohing and ahing and relaxing by the falls, we headed back and took down the canoe to paddle to our next lean-to at Wassataquoik Lake Island. This lean-to is actually a cabin complete with a door that locks, screens, and shades that roll down. Since it was very windy we explored the island on foot rather than canoe, enjoying the rocky shore and the view of the surrounding mountains. At dusk we hung out at beach area and watched several deer drink along the opposite shore. Listened to the loons call that night. Saw three backpackers this day, and one canoeist. 6 miles today.

Day 4 ? Finished the Wassataquoik Lake Trail today, stopping at Six Ponds and Deep Pond to bask in the sun. So far we?d had perfect weather. Checked in with the ranger at Russell Pond and caught up on the news of the day. Dropped our packs there and headed up the Lookout Trail, where I poked a nice hole in my leg scrambling up some scrub in order to avoid leaping a wide gap I knew I?d never make. The views of Katahdin, Bell Pond, and the whole valley and mountains through there are gorgeous. Not much fall color change, but green is pretty too. Picked up our packs and headed off on the Pogy Notch Trail to our lean-to at Pogy Pond. We napped at Pogy ? all this relaxing and taking in the sights just wore us out, lol. Saw five people today, two rangers and three kids from the crew camp. 8.1 miles today.

Day 5 ? Pogy Pond was flat calm, and blue, blue, blue, so we took the canoe down and leisurely paddled around for a while. Again, the views of Katahdin and the surrounding mountains were wild and impressive. We hiked back the Pogy Notch Trail to Russell Pond, then picked up the Tracy Trail and headed to our next lean-to. Remnants of the New City logging camp are strewn in the woods along the trail ? shovels, a plow, pans, stoves, crocks, and other remnants of that era ? which was a lot of fun to explore. We crossed the chilly Wassataquoik Stream and found that for the first night we would have people closer than 4 miles away. There are two lean-tos here and the first one was occupied by a couple of fisherman. We left our packs at the second lean-to, crossed the stream again, and hiked up the Ledge Falls Trail to Grand Falls. On this trail we pass Inscription Rock which still bears the chiseled inscription made in 1883 of the Tracy & Love operation. Crossed back over the stream and chatted with our lean-to neighbors before settling in for the night. Saw seven people today, three guys we?d seen two days ago, the two rangers, and the fishermen. 7.6 miles today.

Day 6 ? last day of backpacking, boo hoo. Took the Tracy Trail to the Russell Pond Trail, then the Sandy Stream Pond Trail still hoping to see a moose. No luck. Beautiful trail as usual, beautiful day. Saw the same old people on the trail we?d been seeing all week. 7.2 miles today. Got reservations for a walk-in lean-to at Roaring Brook, went to Nesowadnehunk and got my car.

More to follow: Katahdin.”

“Nice report!
I'm glad you and Jer had some fun.”

“Whoa, good time Twigeater. Uh,...can you guide us next time we head out there????”

“Day 7 - Katahdin and the Knife Edge

The plan for the day was to get to Baxter Peak on Katahdin. We started up the Chimney Pond trail about 8am, stopping at Chimney Pond to get water. The day was rated #1, a perfect day with no anticipated weather and no significant wind, all trails open.

The Saddle Trail was fun, although someone at some time before us had spewed blood and guts all over the trail - well no guts really, but gobs of blood.

Arrived Baxter Peak abround noon time. Not a lot of people on the peak since it was a weekday, but a few really excited thru hikers. Jerbear started talking about the Knife Edge and I encouraged him to go ahead and do it. He was concerned about leaving me to hike alone, but I assured and reassured him that I had hiked many times on Katahdin by myself and that I would be completely fine. So off he went. I followed as far as Ssouth Peak, then waved and turned back. I figured I had time for some hiking of my own up there, so I headed down the Hunt Trail, then to the Saddle Trail via the Baxter Peak cut-off trail. Great views from the cut-off trail and I was the only person on that trail.

I met up with a couple we had chatted with earlier - they had found the hat that
jerbear lost on the way up. I was very glad as I was supposed to be looking for it, but completely forgot. With my fear of heights it's not often I can really enjoy the views so I was really taking advantage of the day, looking around and taking a lot of pictures.

I strolled into the Roaring Brook parking lot around 5:30 to find jerbear had arrived about an hour before and was talking with the 2 fishermen we had camped next to on Wass Stream. They were a couple of Maine boys, not really fishermen or backpackers, just gettin' away from the wives. Had a beer and fine conversation until they left to get a motel room in Millinocket.

Jerbear and I swapped hiking stories. He'll have to tell ya about his hike across the Knife Edge to Chimney Peak, Chimney Notch, Pamola Peak and down Helon Taylor since I wasn't with him for those trails.

~10 miles this day.

More to follow: Isle au Haut.”

“Thanks for the report. Jer is a great guy to hike with. I wish he'd have hiked with us more in New Hampshire. Glad yall had a good hike together. Looking foward to seeing some pictures.
Thanks again!”

“Isle au Haut

Day 1 - We arrived in Stonington at the dock around 10am, early enough to spend some time scoping out the harbor and town. However, it started pouring soon after we got our tickets and parked, so we hung out at the dock, awaiting the 11:30 mail boat trip. Jerbear is an outgoing kind of guy able to amuse himself and make friends wherever he goes ? the friends he made here are ones I?ll be kiddin? him about for a while ? ?pull my pants off? Clarence and ?harbor master bitch from hell? Ream-me.

Anyway, after a couple of porta potties were loaded the passengers boarded, apparently a wedding was taking place on the island that weekend. The boat ride was neat, going through an archipelago of about 40 islands that includes a route called Merchant?s Row. The story behind the name has something to do with a husband and wife named Merchant who lived on one of the islands. The man abused his wife, and in order to escape him, she rowed all the way to Deer Isle, hence, Merchant?s Row. Or something like that anyway.

When we docked at Isle au Haut, the ranger greeted us at the boat - do not pass go, do not collect $200, get your butts to the ranger station so you can watch while I trace the trails with my finger. Actually he was a nice guy, but I?m used to the rangers at BSP where you?re on your own unless you ask. Ranger Mike commented on our loads and I assured him that they only looked big because we had rain covers on. When I hefted my pack over my head he gasped and his eyes bugged out, and jerbear spun this yarn about me being a welder. I took advantage of the new $42,000 composting outhouse, complete with fan and hand sanitizer, then we went to the general store and had lunch. We headed off about 1:30 to the campground 5 or 6 miles away.

Just when I thought I couldn?t see any more beauty, we?re on this great trail. Took us about 4 hours to get to camp we stopped so much. My goal on this leg of the trip was to get to the island, hike the 18 miles of trails, and knock it off my ?to-do? list, ha,ha. I spent many years sailing the Maine coast and exploring the islands, and apparently I forgot how mesmerizing the ocean is and how fun it is to explore the nooks and crannies of the rock piles in every cove. We got water along the way at a hand pump just outside the campground. Ranger Mike said Ranger John described it as ?crunchy? water ? full of iron and minerals. And it certainly was, chunks of iron actually. We had met a couple on the trail leaving, so we were the only ones there that night. Five lean-tos with metal critter boxes attached to the backs, and 3 more luxury outhouses in the campground.

Day 2 ? It had rained hard with thunder and lightning all night. It started raining again in the morning but it was warm, so we put on our rain jackets and went to the shore to pick mussels. We explored the rocks and seaweed for a couple of hours, jerbear found 4 crabs, and I tried unsuccessfully to dig for clams. The weather cleared around noon and we went for a hike on the Western Head Trail and part of the Goat Trail. Another one of those days where we had to stop and explore each cove. The coves were all strewn with ocean litter ? pot buoys, pieces of traps, bait bags, boat parts, a variety of shoes, gloves, and sandals, and lots of driftwood ? and people have been creative with it. Colorful buoys hanging from trees and Robinson Caruso type shacks and rafts constructed along the rocky beaches. We had sweet mussels and crabs for appetizers that evening. This night a group of kids came in by private boat and were in three of the shelters. They congregated in the shelter furthest away from us, which was considerate.

Day 3 ? This morning we picked mussels again, but decided to let the crabs live since they were so much work. Good stuff, but a lot to it. I hiked in my tevas this day. Somewhere along the line in BSP I?d gotten blisters on both heels, which has never happened before, but they didn?t really bother me until hiking in to the Isle au Haut campground in wet boots. I brought my boots along just in case, which jerbear ended up carrying for me so I wouldn?t knock myself out. The tevas were fine, but this day we went up Duck Harbor Mountain and in a few places I coulda used my boots. The fog monster was in thick this day, so we had limited views from the top. Another great day exploring the coves, a nice one that had lots of shells. Had mussels for appetizer again, yum. We were the only campers again this night.

Day 4 ? Tried to get up early, but by now I?m so used to dubbing around in the morning it?s hard to get moving. With our track record, we figured we?d have to get up around 3am to make the 12:30 boat. I hiked in tevas again, and we took the road the whole way so we wouldn?t get sidetracked as much. It worked, and it took us about 2 hours to hike to town. So there we were on the dock at 10am waiting for the 12:30 boat. Well, one of my fondest memories of sailing is sitting at the town dock, drinking beer, and just watching the activities. This place was no exception and it was very entertaining ? course I?m easily amused.

Once back in Stonington, jerbear was heartily greeted by his buddies Clarence and Ream-me. We had lobster, then went our separate ways - me back home and jerbear continuing on down the east coast.

The End

I dropped off six rolls of film last night, I?ll have to get some of them scanned this weekend. I don?t have a photo page though, so I don?t know how I?ll post ?em.”

“Wow,..fantastic trip report Twigeater!

It was about like reading a book and I enjoyed every moment of it!

Thanks!”

“Cool, Twigeater!! Thanks! Sounds like a great trip.”

“The last two installments were great too. You've got me wanting to follow in your footsteps to Isle de Haut.”

“Great write-up, thanks! Gotta love that vicarious hiking; it's lots easier on the knees, *G*.”

“Great Job Twigeater! Very enjoyable report!”

“But I'll haul down the sail
Where the bays come together
Bide away the days
On the hills of Isle au Haut

Gordon Bok”

“Twigeater, some of the outfitters have Teva's heavily discounted, so I was considering them, but they seem very heavy. Are there some styles that are not that heavy, or do you just put up with the extra weight?”

“Thanks guys, glad you enjoyed the report. One of the neatest things about the trip was seeing these places through another's eyes. I have a new appreciation for what's in my own backyard, stuff I see all the time and just always took for granted.

Lyndys, I can't help much with the teva choice, sorry. I always bring them, not sure how much they weigh.”

“Ain't Jerbear cool! He's one of my favorite TT buddies.”

“null”

“All that great report and NO PICS!!

What a tease!!”

“I'm working on it! got 'em scanned, just trying to get them from one place to the other.”

“Ok - guess I did something right, but this is only half of my pictures - haven't got jerbear's yet.

http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=1784481&a=13817995&f=0”

“Great story, Twig...I love hiking in Baxter!”

“here ya go, jerbear!”

“Hey girl this was one of the BEST trip I have ever been on. THANK YOU!”

“Great pics, now to get to these go to Twigs profile page and click on her website!”

“We must not be in the "in" group? LOL. not many posted comments. Maybe ther scared of me.... OR U! LOL”

“scared of you...talking to yourself like this...”

“lol”

“I ain't skert.
This makes my 4th post on this thread!”

“me either. nice photos! looks like younz guyz had a good trip.”