HIKE MAINE! trip reports and pics

“Well, I'm halfway there. The link below is part 1 of 2 albums for this trip. Part one features trail talkers in every pic. Part 2 will feature trail and scenic pics only. They'll be up tomorrow night (maybe).

Hike Maine Winter Trip Pics Part 1 - the Hikers

Enjoy, and good night. Yawwwwwwn.”

“I should have bought a plane ticket!

Beautiful place....but kind of a scruffy lookin' bunch ;)

Looks and sounds like y'all had a great time...thanks for sharing!
Enjoyed the pics Twiggy and Chrome Dome!!”

“And Monkeyboy...I some how missed your photos the first time through the thread...nice pics! But I think your momma is going to scold you for dressing like that in the snow :)”

“Great pics Pennsy, thanks!”

“Nice photos you guys!

I want to go back next year!

Pennsy, thanks again for the use of your "loaner" sled!

I really enjoyed being a sled dog for a day.”

“Great pictures Pennsy!

All three sets of pictures were fantastic!

(What a contrast between the gorgeous pristine wilderness and the grubby bunch trekking through it! As the grubbiest of the lot I'm entitled to make that comment.)”

“HEY! If we do the trip the ranger talked about, it's SEVEN nights!”

“Seven nights of funk
Seven nights of stank
Layin' 'round the shack
Havin' me a drank

Seven nights of funk
Seven nights of stank

Go Cat Go!”

“It's a good thing my laugh is rested up...

:D”

“I'm thinkin'.......A-major fast shuffle rockabilly blues for that tune.


Any suggestions for additional verses?”

“I suppose you all are looking to see iffin' you're missing a black EMS mens large vest? It doesn't really fit me well....”

“Who does the vest smell like?”

“Nice pics. Looks like you had a great time”

“Funny pics, Pennsy Hiker! :-P”

“Hey monkey boy, I think that is my vest. Sheesh, I just can't trust you. How many times did I catch you trying to nab my camp towel?

Did you have a medium vest? I might have that at home.”

“Great pics, Pennsy ...and monkeyboy too. Looks like the trip was quite a hoot. Thanks.”

“We saw climbers as well - little specks, way up there on the mountain with ropes!”

“Pennsy, I got my medium vest as well, a clean getaway. Although you did catch me red handed with your towel...

When are you coming back to get it? (;p”

“Then whose vest do I have? How bizarre is it that each of us picked up someone else's fleece vest? The one I have is a '4 Season' medium.

I'll most likely be up in July, but it's a great excuse for me to come up now, eh? I'll send you an email with my address if you would be so kind as to send it to me.”

“I want to give a nod to Henry who showed tremendous equanimity in putting up with the 1/2 dozen middle aged adventures who surrounded him for four days.

He was also interesting to talk to!”

“oops make that "middle aged adventurers"!

I'm still all goofy with joy over how wonderful Baxter State Park was, and how great it was sharing it with the 6 fine folks who I walked in there with.”

“Ped - I didn't even mind shovelling half of Golden Road and the Abol parking lot looking for your wallet. It was all good. But if I ever find out that twigeater was holding it all along........”

“Me too!
I got to see Katahdin like I've never seen it before, and I owe it all to you guys. The views from the base of Katahdin looking back were awesome, second only to looking up at the peaks with the arms of the great basin around me - seeing the mountain from the "inside out" so to speak.
Awesome is too small a word. What memories...”

“OH HA!!! You see how they blame me for everything! Forced 'em to eat moose, forced 'em to drink, forced 'em to hike unbroken trails - sheesh! LOL, I will say they are the most trainable bunch 'o guys I ever met - only had to get the broom out once!

It's not my fault Mr Pennsylvania Hiker loves to shovel! Every trip he goes on he shovels and shovels!
(ps - I've got a nice long driveway here, anytime you run outta shovellling to do)

I better go check and make sure I've got my vest...”

“"But if I ever find out that twigeater was holding it all along........"

Pennsy Hiker
05:17:39 PM
03/05/03"

BITE ME!

hehe...”

“Looks like twas a really great time, folks! Thanks for sharing!”

“Ya, I told UK(I mean monkey boy), NOT to touch that vest....it wasn't his.

And anytime Mr. Pennsy, runs outta driveway to shovel, he's more than welcome here!! LOL”

“Hey, really missed you on this trip, you and monkey boy coulda' really had some fun!!! Maybe next trip?”

“No she didn't!!!!! She's the one who put it in my pack.... yeah that's it, she took it-she took it.... and she wants me to take the fall. That's my story and I'm stickin to it.

Actually, it's all packed and I'll send it tomorrow.”

“"So, where did you have your first moose?"

"It was in a cabin, DOWN BY THE RIVER!"

Well it was a pond.......

My first good look at Katahdin musta been pretty special if twigeater said she's never seen it like that before.
She lives there.

Henry did enjoy you buncha whack-jobs and was good company for me too.”

“I was showing the pictures y'all took to my son last night and he decided he wanted one printed out. He told me to tell Twiggy she was an awesome photographer (so I'm telling)! He might have said the same for Pennsy and Monkey Boy, but his excitement waned before I got through all of them (mine didn't!).”

“Henry is a great kid! so is his dad, lol!

Wow I'm flattered ped! Tell your son thanks! It was just dumb luck and good subject matter - I don't think I coulda got a bad picture.

I got 37 pictures on one 16MB card. So I guess that means it's not set on "fine." :)”

“Very nice of you to say that. I was pretty bummed I couldn't make it. I'll definitely try to make one of the Maine trips, but being in Florida will make things a bit more difficult. But rest assured, I will do everything in my power to make it up there again soon! :-)”

“Hey Artex - no one is laying claim to the medium fleece vest I took home. You can have it as a momento if no one claims it.

Did it just crawl into my pack from another campsite?”

“A-ha, the truth comes out as to how Pennsy has so much gear. hmmmmm

Great pics!! Twiggie, there is one pic of you in particular that Pennsy took, that you should definitely frame...Katahdin in the background is awesome!

Pennsy, you seem to have a knack for capturing us TTers looking like "real" hikers. :o)

Good stuff guys.”

“when looking through the photos, it apears as though monkeyboy is wearing a black flece vest.”

“Busted”

“I just uploaded the second batch of pics. These feature views of Katahdin, Pamola, some neat snow/stream/pond scenes, and a cool fox that crossed our path.

Maine Winter Trip pics part 2 - the scenery”

“haha Amy! But you'd think I would grab gear that fits. This fleece vest is a bit snug.”

“I'm envious, you guys! It looks like a great time.”

“Awesome pics Pennsy! The ones of the fox are extra awesome! Quite nice of him/her to keep running towards us like that. Must be on the BSP payroll.

I guess I done good getting my fat butt outta your scenery pictures there , eh?! ;)

Which one was that Amy - they're all so good I'm mesmerized each time I go through them - but I'd like to print a couple. Amy, you and Dare should definately come on next year's winter trip, if not before that. It won't be an "FYAO" (I hope) but it's a lot of fun!”

“Wicked posts and pics from North of the Northern Terminus! I especially liked the picture of twigeater sweeping the floor in snowshoes! Twiggy, were you suffering from hypothermia, drunk, or both??? And what's with the half-drank bottles of beer, that's not the TomT I met, were you trying to behave around the H-man? I'm interested to know what precipitated the metamorphosis of Uphill Klimber into Monkey Boy? Pennsy, you dawg, you just can't keep your hands off of twiggy! And Skeetah Bait looks like she can give a wicked mean foot massage! WHAT A CREW! Pedxing looked like the only normal person there, I guess that's scary!!! Congratulations on a great trip, I wish I wuz there...”

“I guess that is my vest after all...
I have my EMS vest and my campmor vest, but I am missing my black one that I bought at MVP, although it was not an easily recognizable name. When yours arrives, why don't you place my vest in the box and send that one back....”

“I chose Uphill Klimber as I klimb hills easier than I descend them. But on a hike Maine trip, I did a lot of klimbing around trees and rock formations, and everyone called me monkeyboy. They still do....”

“Pennsy

You digital?


2 comments.


1. Although the snow can swallow perspective and steepness and make things look shallower than they are . . . it does a fantastic job of highlightling those ridges.

The shot of the Cathedrals is great!



2. Our minolta SLR has crapped out. it was a 400si with a 30-70 zoom and a a 70-210 zoom


I am loooking for a rugged digital with good optical zooom. Lightweight a plus. Good resolution a must.


Any thoguhts?”

“more great photos.”

“Killer pics Pennsy! That fox is awesome! Very nice shots of it!”

“Bobo - you don't miss a trick, do ya? ;o) You said you wished you were there - weren't you getting married or something like that?

Thanks Twigeater, Lee and Tea.

Lee - the cam I used for this trip (and FYAO) is a Nikon D1H digital SLR, which allows me to interchange lenses. It's a huge monster though and I don't take it on many backpacking trips.

I have 2 smaller digitals that I use mostly for backpacking: both Nikon Coolpix's, a 995 and E5700. THe 995 is lighter, 3.1 megapixels with a 3x optical zoom. Lately, I've been using the E5700 because it is 5 megapixels and has an 8x optical zoom.

If price is a concern, several TT'ers have had great success with Fuji Finepix (2600?) cameras. Twigeater and Artex have the same model (3x zoom?) and Fritz has a Finepix that is 6x (I think).

A good source for digital camera reviews and forums is at dpreview.com.

One thing to note: many of the rechargeable batteries used with digital cameras do not function well below freezing temps. There are some tricks like taking the battery out and keeping it somewhere warm (ask Monkey Boy where he kept his on Sunday heh heh). The cold also drains the batteries fast so buy spares.

I had an external battery (more weight!) with me in Maine and FAYO which was a godsend because when the temps dropped below zero at FYAO, the cam would not function at all with the regular battery.

Whewwwww... what a long post. Lunch is over and back to work.

ps - hey Monkeyboy! How many black fleece vests do you own for crying out loud? haha”

“LOL @ Capn Bobo that synopsis was hilarious!

Yeah, those snowshoes in the cabin - Pennsy got his panties in a wad cause I tracked in snow, so I swept along behind me just to make him happy. :D
Hey! I missed that part where he couldn't keep his hands off me!
:(
LOL!

If you can see where the clotheslines were hung from, you'll understand how monkeyboy got his name. :)”

“2”