Pennsy Hiker and twigeater in Baxter Par k!

“What a great trip! I almost don't know where to begin. Pennsy Hiker and I met up for a 2 part, 9 day trip through BSP.

This is our story...

Part One

Day 1, Doubletop and Chimney Pond
I met Bruce Almighty for lunch at the Togue Pond picnic site just before the south gate to BSP. We then drove our vehicles to the west end of the park to leave one there. It was early (or seemed early at the time, lol) so I figured we had time to run up Doubletop. Since the skies were clear, the views of Katahdin from the North Peak would be awesome. First, we had to move our cars cause the ranger decided that we had parked in the wrong place.

We had a nice hike up, 3.1 miles and 2,170' elevation gain. The clouds had rolled back in by the time we got to the peak, so no views for us. :( Once down, we moved our vehicles over to the parking area, loaded my gear in Bruce's buggy and were on our way to Roaring Brook. It was after 5pm then, and we began to wonder what the cut off time was.

We arrive Roaring Brook and are finishing our last minute packing for Chimney Pond, when the ranger strolls over. "Kinda late aren't ya?" The cut off is 5pm, and it was now about 6:30pm. I figured I'd screwed things up royally, but told the ranger I thought the cut off time was "just a suggestion" and assured him that we could get up there in an hour and a half. He went off to his cabin, then came back and said, "ok, but don't forget next time! and make sure you check in when you get there!"

In our haste, we threw some extra stuff in our packs (including the entire 6 pack of beer) and were running up the trail at around 7pm. We arrived Chimney Pond (3.3 miles, 2,425' elevation gain) at 8:35pm and woke up the sleeping ranger to check in. We coulda made it by 8:30, but I had to stop and breathe a coupla times - later Bruce Almighty decreed there would be no breathing until we arrived at our destination. =)

We had bunks in the bunkhouse and there were 8 other people in with us, four of whom were already snoring away. So we tiptoed around and cooked outside, with our stuff getting blown around in the wind. Finally, we've eaten and are ready to hit the hay - only the top bunks were left, so we climb on up. I know there'll be no sleeping for me up there, plus I could hardly climb down on my own, so I decide to sleep on the floor. Then a nice young man offered to switch bunks with me, so I did.

We were awakened in the night (all except Bruce Almighty, who naturally has the best earplugs going) by the rain and wind, and set to closing the windows and doors. Our gear was getting rained on and there was a puddle of water in the middle of the floor.

9.5 miles, 4,595 elevation gain.

Day 2, Chimney Pond
We were awakened around 4:30am (again, all except Bruce Almighty) by the four guys who had been sleeping at 8:30pm packing up. Not to get an early start up Katahdin mind you, but simply to hike down. They didn't even try to be quiet and did all their cooking and packing up inside.

The day was overcast and rain was predicted, as it would be every day of the rest of the trip. Bruce opted to go up Cathedral (1.7 miles, 2,353' elevation gain) across the Knife Edge (1.1 miles) and down Dudley (1.3 miles, 1,988 elevation loss). This was a change from his original plan, and more for my piece of mind - if the weather turned nasty, he could bail at the peak and descend via Saddle. He headed up arould 8:15am. I opted to move into the lean-to and do some smaller hikes since I don't do Katahdin in bad weather.

Instead, I started up the Saddle trail at 9:20, with the idea that I'd turn back when the weather got bad. The skies cleared and clouded up, and cleared and clouded up - like they often do on Katahdin - so I continued on, reaching Baxter Peak around 11am. I knew Bruce Almighty would be long gone, so after a few minutes I headed back down, figuring we'd meet up at the lean-to. When I signed in at 12:45 I saw that Bruce had returned around 12:25.

SO...Katahdin before lunch - now what? Ate lunch, then headed up to explore Pamola Caves. Later a hike around Chimney Pond and a walk up the beautiful crystal clear stream that runs down from Katahdin into the Pond. Awesome little hike!

6.5 miles, 2,353' elevation gain for Bruce Almighty
6.8 miles, 2,353' elevation gain for me

pics

Part Two to follow...”

“Great first Chapter - I'm glad y'all had a great trip.”

“Part Two

Day 3, down from Chimney Pond, and on to Wassataquoik Stream
We left Chimney Pond around 10am and were in the parking lot an hour and 25 minutes later. (3.3 miles, 2,425' elevation loss) We had lunch there, then packed for the next 6 nights and chatting with other backpackers.

We saw two cow moose in Sandy Stream Pond, then picked up the Russell Pond and Tracy Trails to our lean-to on Wassataquoik Stream. We arrived around 4:30 to find the first lean-to occupied. To our surprise, the man in the lean-to was Baxter Hiker, a man I had backpacked with last fall. We chatted for a bit, then moved on to our lean-to.

Bruce Almighty cooked up a great meal for us, built a fire, then hit the hay.

9.1 miles today.

Day 4, Pogy Pond
First, I gotta say what a great guy Bruce is to backpack with. Not only did he build a nice fire every night, but he strung up his clothesline and didn't complain (too much) when I used most of it, he swept out the lean-to every morning while patiently waiting for me to get moving, kept an eye on the back of my pack on the days I had stuff strapped to the outside of it (adjusting it many times a day), hiked where I wanted to hike, and performed many other Sherpa-like duties over the course of the week.

Anyway, this day we have a short hike to Pogy Pond with no day hikes, so we take the long way around. We hike the Ledge Falls trail and the Grand Falls trail to Russell Pond. Along the way I show Bruce Inscription Rock, where you can still read the words on the rock. Or at least some of us can, Bruce had a little trouble with it. :)

Bruce Almighty takes the lead on the 2.3 mile trip to Russell Pond after we hang out at the falls. I think I lost 5 pounds on this hike alone, LOL - we covered the 2.3 UPHILL miles in 40 minutes. Occasionally I'd stop to check out the blur of green that whizzed by me - and to breathe of course.

We checked in - the ranger didn't look too pleased that our itinerary included a 14.3 mile hike out - and had lunch at Russell Pond.

We arrived Pogy Pond - the most beautiful place on earth - around 3pm. A doe paid us a visit, and even though Bruce called her honey she pranced around our site snorting at us. Lots of really cool frogs here and a couple of loons.

Paddle Boy II, son of Artexina suggests we go canoeing. We canoe around the pond, looking for moose and trying to get close to the loons without chasing them, but didn't succeed in either venture. So we entertained ourselves with the frogs and the awesome view.

Another yummy supper, lots of rabbits visit, and we fall asleep to the bullfrogs talking to each other. I enjoyed it, but I think something finally got through Bruce's nearly impenetrable earplugs!

8.4 miles today

Day 5, Upper South Branch Pond
Another short hike to our next lean-to which we planned on day hiking from, and another awesome view and entire pond to ourselves. I hadn't done the Center Ridge trail, but this day really looked like rain so we opted for a hike within tree line.

We started up the South Branch Moutain trail (4.5 miles, with 1,618' elevation gain in the first 2 miles) after noon. I kinda forgot about the stream crossing at the outlet of Lower South Branch Pond - or at least I thought it would be a rock hop, I swear! Well, some of the rocks were submerged and Bruce Almighty didn't have his sandals. I crossed the thigh high water barefoot, and Bruce fell in attempting to rock hop. Well not really, but he did get one boot wet, LOL. I felt bad. :(

We continued on around the pond and took the trail up Howe Brook to the falls. I hadn't been on this trail in a few years and forgot how beautiful the falls and pools at the beginning are, with the falls themselves somewhat less so. However, Bruce found another Doe Honey (she was stalking him, I just know it, LOL) and the hike was a lot of fun.

We arrived back at camp around 6:30pm after a 10 mile loop. Another yummy supper - by now, we really look forward to supper time - we didn't plan anything together, but we'd both brought such yummy stuff and each night we'd cook up a couple of delish dishes. TC3 here we come!

This night we heard loons, an owl and a coon came to visit. The lean-to and outhouse had also been freshly painted - which made things interesting - or at least stained brown, hehe.

14.6 miles today.

to be continued...”

“Awesome reports. Great pics as well. Reading this makes me feel sad that I didn't decide to take the riskier route and move up to Maine when I was laid off earlier this year. Man.... I gotta get up there again.

Super glad you guys had a great time! :-)”

“Day 6, Russell Pond
Today we retrace the 7.5 miles of the last two days and go back to Russell Pond. We had lunch at Pogy and it was hard to leave, especially hard to leave our frog friends, LOL. We arrived Russell Pond around 2:30 and are hanging out on the dock when the ranger comes over to chat. He'd offered to teach me to fly fish so I'd planned this part of the trip to coincide with his schedule. He tells us there's been a bull moose in the pond. We did hear a moose feeding in the night and found it, but all we could see was it's eyes.

8.1 miles today.

Day 7, Russell Pond
I didn't get any sleep cause there was some kinda frog I never heard before making a racket all night. About 2:30am I took half a tylenol pm which didn't kick in until 5:30, so I was just getting into sleeping when it was time to get up.

This day we day hiked to Davis Pond so Bruce could sit on the the Thundergod's Throne. My butt was dragging as I was still wanting to sleep. Too bad, cause it was the perfect opportunity to hike Katahdin from the north, and I know Bruce wanted to do it.

It's a great hike there, one I've only done as a backpack, and it was fun to do it as a day hike. Crossing the Wassataquoik there always makes me nervous (I always say I'm NOT doing it if the water's too high!) but there were some logs that either landed or were placed strategically across the stream that made for an easy crossing. We had lunch at Davis Pond, another spectacular place where you get the whole pond to yourself if you're staying. On the way back we saw a young bull moose in Turner Deadwater.

We got back to camp about 3:30, and I decided to take a nap, so Bruce took off to hike the Lookout Trail. Shortly after I crawl in my sleeping bag, the ranger pops in and says, "get up we're going fishing before it rains!" After some lessons on the dock, he decides he trusts me enough to take me out in the boat, so off we go. What a riot, and what fun!
Bruce returned shortly after we went out in the boat - 3.4 miles in under an hour - what an animal! I managed to hook my hair once, but never hooked the ranger, which was a very good thing. :) We found a spot where the fish were biting, but I couldn't hook one, which was pretty funny, and we laughed. Finally it was raining pretty good, so he paddled me back to shore.

Another scrumptious meal, Bruce's Doe Honey visits him, we see lots of ducks and a moose in the dark again.

10.6 miles for me
14 for Bruce Almighty

Day 8, last night - boo hoo!
Young bull moose in the pond and he walked right in front of our lean-to.

This day was supposed to be short - 8 miles, with no day hiking - so we dubbed around in the morning, talked to the ranger for a while, and didn't get on the trail until 11am!

We started the day with intentions of staying at the Center Mountain lean-to, which is nice, but more of a transition lean-to than one you'd stay at just for fun. So we took every side trail along the way and kinda dubbed along. We saw a cow moose at Six Ponds and watched as she skirted the side of the pond and went around the back of us. Later we saw another one on the trail.

We scooted up Green Falls and the ranger had told us about a viewpoint that he had opened. If I wanted another fly fishing lesson, I had to hike the viewpoint, but he wouldn't tell us what we'd be looking at. We hiked it, the sign says 15 minutes, the ranger says he can do it in 6, we did it in 6 1/2 (I didn't breathe, LOL). Anyway, the trail ends at these ledges with the most incredible view of Wassataquoik Lake and the surrounding mountains. Another awesome place we found hard to leave, and we named it "Hamer Vista" after the ranger.

We arrived at our lean-to around 4pm, Bruce plunks down and says "now what?" so I say, how about beer, pizza, shower? I really had to twist his arm hard, but we got water and were back on the trail by 4:30.

A couple of miles from the end of the trail Bruce turned his ankle pretty hard. He'd already turned the other one earlier. Animal that he is, he grabbed another hiking pole, swallowed some Ibuprofen and we finished the last 6.4 miles before 7pm.

THE END!”

“wow, that was a long trip report!

PS - Bruce Almighty, you were right adding the mileage up in your head - total mileage was ~82.
(yours was 86 :)

bird we saw was cedar waxwing

trip recipes are on their way to you! hope you had a safe trip home! =D”

“Awesome..”

“awesome report there twiggy!! I'll be looking forward to my return, but it's been moved to '05. Is that Baxter Hiker the one you so graciously did dishes for???? lol!”

“Great Trip Report!

How did you whip that up so quick???

I'm glad the 2 of you had such a great time and sounds like pretty good weather.”

“Excellent report, twig. And, great pics!!”

“Wow, you guys had some great hiking and scenery. Love the trip report.”

“yes gforce, one and the same. Pennsy feels quite special he got to meet Baxter Hiker. ;)
Why '05 now? You can always join up on a regular Maine trip!

Adventurist, I forgot a bunch of stuff, but it was too long anyway...I'm sure Bruce Almighty will be more'n happy to fill in the blanks - oh yeah - who would've guessed that Pennsylvania and Maine would have communication problems? 'Times we had to resort to pantomine...the term "bear line" turned into hours of conversation, and don't even ask about "water" LOL!

Thanks tara - as usual Bruce got the really good pics, can't wait to see 'em!”

“Great fun and job, twiggy.

So did you prevent Pennsy from taking a leak in any of the ponds??

(threaten him with boiling bunnies?? lol)

I could never backpack with YOU PEOPLE!! Good god! Or, Bruce almightly, as it might be.”

“so you mean pennsy didn't have the laptop along? That boy must be going really light these days! lol!

Twig: my daughter decided that it would take her one more semester to graduate . . . . the the AT will have to wait one more year. :( I'll be real close in the fall this year on the LT (VT). I'll see if I can manage those 280 mi. without a major blowout.”

“Great photos and report!
Twiggy....how could you stand the glare?”

“Great trip report! Those frogs can be really loud!”

“Great trip report and pictures twigeater..Looks like you guys did some serious hiking..Made me short of breath just reading it..lol :~ )”

“Very nice!!! Can't wait for our trip in Sept.....I'd better get working my legs more if I'm gonna keep up with you guys. Sounds like you two had an excellent trip! No three hour tours? :)”

“Hey y'all..... just a quick note to say I just got home and I'm in 1 piece. It took 11 hours with all that lovely toll traffic on I95, so I'll probably blow off work tomorrow to rest up, check out Twigster's pics and add to her fantastic trip report. Right now I'm moose bait.

Before I crash one thing:

TWIGEATER IS THE BEST!!”

“Great pictures!!!!!!What views!!!


8)”

“Excellent!

Twiggy and Pennsy are both great folks and great folks to hike with. On top of that, BSP is wonderful - t'ain't no surprise it was an awesome trip!”

“incredible pics, especially that ranger cabin one.

great trip report. pennsy, i have your gaiters from west rim trail.”

“What a couple of dragasses!

How were the bugs?

Did you use bug nets when sleeping in leantos?

Twigeater, how's your laffer?”

“Great trip reports, great pics. Can't wait until I get up there myself.”

“Kicka$$ trip report and pixs twiggy!
Maine is on my must do trip list!”

“I don't know exactly what I weighed before, but I lost 6-8lbs on this trip - and we ate very well! Now if I could only have five more weeks just like this…

Skeetah, our only 3-hour tour was our "walk" up the stream. We tried to follow the same route we did last winter, but without the snow we had to negotiate blowdowns and other fun stuff. :) However, many of the trails we took didn’t look like they see too many people – my legs look like they were beaten with a stick!

TomT - on the trail the bugs were not a problem. I swallowed a couple of nasty ones though, actually coughed up pieces of wings - it was so gross, LOL! I think I used bug dope once at camp - maybe Pogy. We had mosquito coils for the lean-tos which worked great. Bruce Almighty (I think he should change his TT name!) slept in a bug bivy a couple of nights.

My laffer got a serious workout, but it didn't break this time. =D”

“NO?
I'll have to get with you again and try out more stupid jokes!

Inhaling bugs?
Maybe we should call you "Bugeater".”

“Great trip report! I used to get invited ;( j/k”

“JERBEAR my sweet!!!
I'd just about given up on ever gettin' you back to Maine. Get your butt up here in September! I need to see if you have any new tatoos. =D”

“Nice report! Bruce does haul a$$ doesn't he! If it weren't for his blatant disregard for LNT priciples concerning urine in pristine streams, he'd be the ultimate.

Now go get some sleep twigeater, I got sympathetically tired from reading how tired you were!”

“Thanks for the great report and pictures. that's a nice pic of you and pennsy. You remind me of the friend I last climbed Kathadin with.

I am headed up in October (I think I mentioned this to you) and will consult back to this thread, or with you directly re: ideas. I am at Chimney pond night one, and roaring brook night two. HOwever, if we do The peaks before lunch, I won't want to just hike back out. Pamola caves sounds interesting!

My friend is Jonesing to see a moose (and so am I)!!

Caught a bare glimpse of one hiking in New Hampshire with my wife and kids two weeks ago. Rainy day and we had been following his/her tracks all day. Caught a glimpse of a shoulder across the clearing, but, by the time I got my wife's attention, and shut my kids up (WHAT???? WHERE????? WHO?????) it was crashing off into the bushes. Just saw a shoulder!! But everyone hear dthe crashing!


Anyhoo . . thatnks for sharing!”

“Whoops, I forgot to put that the total for the last day was 15 miles.

lee, there's also the Blueberry Knoll. That can be done as a hike from Chimney Pond, or as an alternative half loop on the way down picking up the cut-off trail. Hope you have a great trip!”

“Forgot fifteen miles?

So how far did you drag-asses go......all together?”

“The grand total is the same (82 for me, 86 for him) I just forgot to put the mileage at the end of Day 8 like I did the rest.”

“Well, here are my trip pics

Forget 15 miles? HA! I doubt we'll ever forget those last 15. Despite Twigeater's faceplant and me twisting both ankles, I still can't believe we did the last 9.4 miles in 3 1/2 hours. Of course we did have a carrot dangling in front of us... PIZZA and BEER!!

I would like to mention that Twigster set the pace for the entire day. In fact I'd say that I followed her pace for 95% of the miles on this trip. She can flat out hike! From day 1, I knew this would be an epic week of hiking. Warm up by "strolling" the 3 miles up to Doubletop with 2200ft of vert gain. Then finish the day with a 90 minute 3 mile uphill "dash" to Chimney Pond. Wahoo!! Twigeater should definately join us on the Adirondack Buttkicker trip.

I don't know how I can add to Twigeater's super trip report. She covered just about everything. I will say that if you go on a trip with Twigeater (and everyone should), it will be organized to perfection. Well almost.... there were just a few imperfections like cut-off times and 1 or 2 minor BSP rules infractions. ;o) BUT, you will not go hungry and you will definately HIKE.

Dang, did we eat good. The 6 pack at Chimney Pond and the apple schnaups weren't bad either. With all that hiking, I only managed to lose a lb or 2. Plus, we had LOTS of food leftover to probably last us another week. Next trip we'll do a bit of meal planning. We did come up with some great recipes though. Well.... I had part of 1 and Twigster the rest. Maybe she'll post the recipes here, or perhaps save them for a Titanium Chef visit. Hmmmmm...

2 locations mesmorized me... Pogy Pond and Upper South Branch Pond, especially Pogy. There is only 1 lean-to at each pond and with no other camping allowed, we had both ponds to ourselves. WOW!!!! Pogy is a paradise on Earth. Canoeing on the pond, listening to the frogs and loons seranade at night, hanging out on the rocks with a fantastic view of Katahdin, a doe that practically walks up to you, no other humans for miles, roaring campfire... it does not get any better than that. Upper South Branch is a close second and Wassataquoik Stream was pretty special as well. Wassataquoik Stream has a 2nd lean-to so it is not as remote as the others, but it was kind of interesting bumping into Baxter Hiker there.

Ok.... a 3rd spot mesmorized me... the hike up to Davis Pond. Hanging out by the pond and taking in the views of Katahdin's north basin and the northwest basin can't be beat. Plus, I got to sit on the famous Thundergod Throne, ranked by Backpacker as one of the top views from an outhouse. Woohoooo!!

Actually, everyplace we visited mesmorized me. I could go on and on so I better stop soon. OK.... NO, I did not whiz in any springs. Sheesh!! Besides, the outhouses in Baxter are so clean, who would pee anywhere else? But I did do laundry, hang lines, hauled water,swept out the lean-tos etc... Visit my website at pennsysherpaboy.com. Oh.. bugs.. I used Gforce's donated Adventure16 Bug Bivy a few nights and it worked out well. Thanks pal!!

Ok, that's enough... Look at the pictures for the visual story.

NOW WHAT TWIGEATER?”

“As usual, Pennsy, you took some amazing pics!”

“thanks Tara, but the pic I am most impressed with is Twigeater's "Evening Glow from the Ranger's Cabin" at Russell Pond. I love that shot! Of course, I didn't get the chance to see that scene. While Twigster was over flirting with the ranger, Sherpa Boy was busy at the campsite tending to the fire and other duties. ;o)

Oh... and I think I'll hang onto Pennsy Hiker thank you very much. But Bruce Almighty! does have a nice ring, doesn't it?”

“so Pennsy, was this trip a warmup to try out for the caravan club?

simply awesome pics Bruce . . . really wish I could have been there, but would have only slowed you two hiking machines down!!!”

“Slow us down? That's a funny one G-man. ;o)

Note to Windwalker - if you noticed Twigster's pics, I was wearing a hat the whole time. I wouldn't do that to her. However, after 9 days without a razor, I think some of it grew back. Weeeeee!!”

“hmmmmmmmm. It looks like you two had a good time.”

“Nice Hike Pennsy and Twigeater! I think Maine might be calling my name the next time there is a group trip up there!”

“Pennsy- Man you really have it. Just stunning. Really. I think there are few ideas I just picked up from you.

You also got some great shots of Twigeater. She looks happy. At peace.

Wonderful trip report Twigeater. Entirely enjoyed your photos.”

“Those pics are incredible.”

“I see moose but vut about skvirrel?

Very nice you guys!

I don't recognise any of that stuff without the snow!”

“Great pictures sherpaboy - errrrr, I mean Bruce Almighty!, LOL! Next trip you could get promoted to cabana boy if you perform those duties shirtless. ;)

Oh yeah Indidana Long Legs - YOU slow US down, right-o! :)

LtHiker, next HIKE MAINE! trip is September, it's on the trip page. It's a more "relaxed" trip. Next Maine BSP winter trip will probably be South Branch Pond.

tekdude, BSP is peace and happiness. I never tire of visiting the same places - it's always different, amazing, mezmerizing, peaceful and serene...and I'm going back this weekend! =D”

“ps gforce, what's the "caravan club?"”

“I finally had a chance to look through all the photos and loved them! You two took some great pictures and had a terrific hike. Thanks for sharing them with us.”

“9 days in Baxter State Park, wow what a great trip. I’ll check out the pics tonight.”

“Finally was able to sneak enough time here to read all that and look at the pix. As usual, the Almighty photographer took incredible pictures. Glad you two had such a good trip and that you are safe. Thanks for sharing the wonderful time with us...”

“Pennsy was safe from harm as long as he stuck with the twigeater.”