BSP northern wilderness trip report

“Ok no report yet, but here are the pics...”

“Bait and switch!”

“Love the pics, the sun through the trees, the moon and sunset over the lake, the rainbow over the waterfall (pitch).

Crying in my cornflakes that I didn't get to go this year....

Looking forward to the trip report.”

“Ha, been out backpacking again!!!

Dang you :^P


Great photos, are you sure Pennsy wasn't there?”

“looking forward tothe repot”

“but, couldn't it have been a bit more spectacular looking???

J/k...awsome!!!”

“LtHiker arrived at my house around 6pm Thursday night. We had moose stew and I forced him to watch a boring moose documentary, LOL. We decided to get an early start Friday morning.

Day 1
We got up around 6am and were soon on our way to northern Baxter. We stopped at Dysart’s for yummy breakfast and drove up the scenic viewpoint to a disappointing fogged in Katahdin, however, the foliage was beautiful.

Arrived at the gate around 11am. The gate keeper said there was another party doing the “loop” only opposite of us. When I asked for the canoe keys for Frost Pond and Hudson Pond, he said the other party had them. I asked if he had more than one set and he did, so we scored the keys. We left my car at the west end and drove back in Lt’s car to check in and park at Trout Brook Farm.

Since I’d had to scrape the frost off my windshield three times the week before, we were prepared for chillier weather. Over the course of the trip we’d say many times…”I packed this because I thought it was gonna be cold…” LOL, well we were sweating every day, the weather was so nice!

We hiked in about three miles to the sawdust beach and had lunch there. It’s an interesting leftover from the logging days, and whatever walks on it leaves distinct footprints. No moose prints - we’d stopped at all the viewpoints but no moose - lots of partridge (ruffed grouse) though. Shortly we came to the trail to Frost Pond which was a new lean-to last year. I hadn’t stayed there yet and was really looking forward to it.

The lean-to was very nice, even had a table/bench kinda thing set up. We wandered around, bathed, ate, had a fire and canoed – probably not in that order, but anyway…The pond was beautiful and even though the book said the maximum depth was 32feet, we had a hard time finding a spot more than a few feet deep. It was flat calm and we had a pleasant canoe around the entire pond. I was fired as navigator after we hit several rocks, LOL. We saw a couple of canoes that were chained on the shore and wondered what they were doing there.

It was a full moon that night, and after we didn’t go full moon floating in the canoe on the water (LOL) we were serenaded by owls until we zonked out.

To be continued…”

“Tease!”

“Yeah, ya little minx :^P”

“Looks beautiful, Twig....wish we were there. Maybe next time. Sure Bruce Almighty wasn't there??? JK Couldn't have asked for better weather, eh?”

“kick-ass pictures there, twiggypoo!”

“Hey I made it home! Dang Maine is a big state, I left Baxter at 12:00pm and made it home around 11pm Lots of traffic must have been alot of leaf peepers out.

Great Trip report so far Twig. Awesome trip thanks again for taking the time to organizing it. I am looking forward to coming back up and doing some mountains next time.”

“I'm workin' on it! =D

I just heard that Maine's foremost moose photographer - Bill Silliker, Jr - dropped dead of a heart attack at Roaring Brook.”

“PS - day one was 5.4 book miles or 5.6 trail sign miles.
Also, we only saw two dayhikers this day.”

“Day 2
We awoke to another fine day, with the full moon reflecting on the pond. We had a short day today (haha, I messed up on the mileage by a teensy bit) so we planned on canoeing again and checking out the canoes we had seen the night before. We wanted to see how they got in there so we canoed over and walked around in the woods for a bit – mostly followed some logging paths.

There was a strange oval thing in the water and I wanted to know what it was, so we picked it up. Or I went to pick it up and it was squishy, so Lt picked it up. It was an egg that had been dropped in the water and was preserved – until we squished the gross thing, LOL. Then we paddled to the far side of the pond where we were in danger of bottoming out in the deep, deep muck, so we paddled back and headed out around 11am to the next lean-to.

Along the way we passed the Little East lean-to that was part of my original reservation. This lean-to is at the junction of Webster Stream and the Little East Branch of the Penobscot, and I’ve heard the wildest coyote howling ever at this spot on previous trips. There is a nice new lean-to and outhouse. A little further on we stop for lunch at the Grand Pitch, a 35ft waterfall.

Great day hiking, the foliage was beautiful, it was very warm, and no moose – lots of sign, but no critters. We arrived at our lean-to and repeated the events of the previous night except no canoeing. I checked between my toes for bloodsuckers after each trip in the water, yuck!

Something screamed off in the woods once, we couldn’t decide what it was. We heard owls, and coyotes off in the direction of Little East. The night was bright with the moon and it was colder than the night before.

7.4 book miles or 7.6 trail sign miles
we saw 0 people today.”

“Twigeater- Great report and great pics. Since I'm so close, I'll have to make it over to one of these Maine trips soon.”

“There was a strange oval thing in the water and I wanted to know what it was, so we picked it up. Or I went to pick it up and it was squishy, so Lt picked it up. - twigeater

LOL, so it's whatever guy you are hiking with's job to pick up anything 'squishy'?
Girly Girl! LOL! ;)

Nice trip reports, can't wait for the next one.”

“hmmm...I smell a plant, Stomper...you been talkin' to Lt?

day 3 on it's way...”

“Nope, I didn't say a thing you girly girl!”

“Lt., she DOES have those bumps on the front of her shirt so I guess she has to be a girl.
Not picking up something 'squishy' is certainly 'Girly'. ;)”

“Day 3
It was cold when we woke up this morning. I was glad I had my fleece things. It quickly warmed up though, and we had another beautiful day of hiking.

Again we hike along Webster Stream, beautiful hiking. We meet the party who was going opposite of us - they ask if we’ll drive their car over to Trout Brook and we agree. They also ask if we’ll keep our eyes open for a nalgene canteen they lost. After 2 miles, we drop our packs, grab our lunches and some water and hike the 2.4 miles to Webster Lake to hopefully see some moose. Since no one was there we hung out at the outlet lean-to which is right on the water and has a nice beach.

Lt tells me there’s a bee on me, and I figure that’s ok as long as he’s not bothering me. Then I see the little guy polishing up his stinger and when he starts heading down my shirt, I decide it’s time for him to go. He won’t leave, so I take off my shirt and shake him out. Soon he comes back. This time I just give him my shirt as he seems to be quite attached to it, LOL.

We don’t see any moose here, but we do see a UFO and watch an eagle fly around hunting for a while. (we also saw an eagle the first day, on Matagamon Lake) I really need to check into this UFO thing, I must live under a rock or something. Lt had said a friend of his warned him of the UFO sightings in BSP. I figured he was making it up, then saw some graffiti in the Webster Stream lean-to about it. Along the way we had seen lots of coaxial cable, which led to much discussion about the “secret things” that BSP does when the park is closed for overnight use for 6 weeks between seasons. We decided the park was open for aliens during that time and the cable was for contacting them.

It’s a nice sunny day so we eat lunch and hang out at the lake, then go through the bushes to check out the outlet. Now we’ve seen the stream from end to end.

On the way back we meet a couple who are staying at Webster Lake, then hiking the entire 14.6 mile Freezeout Trail the next day. One of ‘em didn’t seem too excited about that.

We picked up our packs at the trail junction and hiked the next 2 miles to our lean-to. I found the spring that I’d heard was in the area. Even though we had the key to the canoe, we didn’t go out in the boat. The lean-to was kinda listing to one side, which threw me off completely, so I sat way inside so I didn’t fall out, LOL. This lean-to and the last one were kinda small and Lt’s feet hung out.

I washed my hair, we ate, had a fire, then it started raining. It poured all night. We didn’t hear the coyotes that we’d been promised by the first party we met, but we did hear sounds that sounded like jets flying low - continuously. We must've been in the flight path of the aliens. We’d probably be abducted in our sleep…

8.8 miles
we saw 4 people this day

last day coming up :(”

“Great report and pics... I'm looking forward to the finale.

Whooda thunk Twiggy would get such a kick outta taken pitchas of terlettes!? Or that Twiggy would take art photos with portentious titles like "Life from Death." Way kewl!”

“Yeah she does have a thing for Toilet pictures. At least she didn't take one with me sitting on it.”

“Must be a 'Girly' thang! ;)”

“Nice pics, sounds like it was a great trip.”

“Lottsa of fun Must Hike! Maine is definately a great place for Backpacking.”

“Day 4
We get up around 6:30am as LtHiker has a long drive home and we have 8.4 miles to hike to my car. The rain has stopped and the sky is turning blue again.

We get on the trail around 8am, the leaves are slippery and the trail is close with trees that are full of water. I’m in the lead so I get soaked. I find the lost nalgene hanging from a branch in the trail. Lt offers to hike in front and magically, the trail becomes wide open. We search in vain for moose.

Along the trip we saw lots of moose, coyote and bear scat, moose, deer and coyote tracks, lots of grouse, squirrels, a couple of rabbits, a variety of frogs, a few garter snakes and a newt (or salamander, whatever). We heard owls and coyotes and aliens and unidentified screaming things in the night. Not to mention snoring that rocked the rafters, LOL. The foliage was beautiful as were the streams and ponds and waterfalls. A couple of places along the trail we came across remnants of old lumber camps and snooped around the junk for a bit.

We arrive at the trailhead just as the woman who’s car we were supposed to shuttle arrives. She figured we’d be way later hiking out, so she hitched. We gave her the nalgene, packed up and continued on our way to Lt’s car.

Since Lt had a long drive, he got take out in Patten and I ate at the diner there. Patten was a happening place this weekend, what with the leaf peepers and moose hunters. We did see some dead moose along the way, but no live ones.

THE END”

“It’s been about 20 years since I’ve been to BSP and that’s much to long.”

“PS...
8.4 miles
0 people (on the trail) this day”

“Twig, Snoring? I didn't hear any snoring.”

“Really man, she laughs in her sleep :^P”

“Fritz, I hope you can make it to another Maine trip.
PS - Happy Birthday a day early!
=D

skiracer, It'd be great if you could join us sometime. Check out the winter trip in March on the trip page.

girly girl harumph! I'll sic my grandgirl on you boys!
(ps, don't tell about the lipstick, LT!) ;)

pedxing, I like to take pictures of the lean-to, the view from the lean-to and the toilette if it's different. I don't know why, but it's become a habit, LOL. I do like the wet willy's though, it's nice to be able to sit and look around...
My only complaint was the one at the outlet - it faced the privacy fence - how boring!”

“Lipstick I was more impressed with the compact.”

“And I held the squishy egg after Lt picked it up - it was stinky.”

“Oh wait that was the emergency signalling device.”

“that's right! you noticed that the mirror is in my first aid kit rather than my makeup kit, LOL.

It was fun hiking with you Lt, I had a great time! =D”

“Dang it, twigeater, you are just to cute for words.
Here I was thinking you were this no nonsense Maine hiking woman that throws her pack on over her head and now I read you pack lipstick and a compact.
My ol' my. ;)
I'm sorry I missed this trip!”

“Lipstick, huh?”

“Does drinking pond soup and licking schnapps off the floor of the lean-to redeem me in any way?
=D”

“Watch out she's a Mainiac!

Lol that song is still in my head!

Great hike Twig lots of fun can't wait to try Katadin. I picked up that book at LL Bean on the way home.”

“Oh, it was twigeater who packed in lipstick and a compact.”

“HEY!”

“Twigeater, you have too much fun!!!!”

“I just finished the pics. Nice weather, nice scenery.... We just did an overniter, wish we coulda joined you....”

“I do have a good time, LOL...

Where'd you guys go?”

“We went to the Caribou loop in Evan's notch.

http://www.thebackpacker.com/trailtalk/thread/26199.php

Here's a copy and paste of our trip report”

“Hey! How dare you have a good time in Maine without me!

Super trip report (I bet you took notes this time) and GREAT pics. What color! You even managed to grab a rainbow in the falls pic. The weather looked super too.

BUT, where's the talk about who did the dishes, laundry, shelter sweeping, feet rubbing etc?? FILTERING water? Twigstah always told me to drink directly from every water source there. Where's the adventure? No wounds, face plants, or even post hike party pics? Sheesh, how boring. ;o)











Did I mention that I'm crying because I couldn't make this trip? Waaaaaaaa!!!”

“Hey Almighty one! How was the family trip?

questions, questions, questions...the only way to know the truth is to have been there yourself...

;D

(ps - got any pictures of you crying, LOL?”

“**scratching head while thinking** hmmmmm . . . moose stew . . . it must be the moose stew . . . she feeds it to everyone that comes to Maine . . . it must be something in the moose stew that makes people keep wanting to come back . . . . . . OMG!! TWIGGY'S A CULT LEADER!!!

I can't wait to return too!! I could't help thinking of Maine while passing all those ponds on the LT. Great report and pics as always. Bruce Almighty didn't make this one?”

“Great pics Twiggy!!!!!


8)”