HIKE MAINE III

“ok, here's that trip planning thread...

I'm sending in for BSP reservations with site/campground preferences in this order:

1) Chimney Pond. This is a 3.3 mile backpack to a campground at the base of the mountain. Cuts miles off the Katahdin hike, plus it's way cool to wake up there - and sleep there.

2) Katahdin stream or Abol campgrounds. Katahdin lovers will be able to hike the Hunt trail (AT) or Abol trails. There are other hikes on this side of the park for the non-Katahdin hikers.

preferrabley 3 lean-tos at whichever campground we get.

3) Avalanche Field or Nesowadnehunk group sites. We've done Avalanche Field twice and it works, Neso might not work so well. We're not guaranteed a parking spot if we stay there, so you'd have to be at a Katahdin trailhead at 5am.

Any thoughts?

We'll worry about the rest of the trip later!

woohoo, HIKE MAINE!
=D”

“Can I do Knifes Edge again..can I,can I..lol..I think staying at Chimney Pond would be way cool..What are your exact dates.On trip page it is 8/1-8/31..or can you commit to a date yet?
WooHoo!! HIKE MAINE..AGAIN”

“LOL @ trekkngirl, you are a NUT! :)

What's the matter, don't you want to spend an entire month in Maine? =D
The actual dates depend on what dates I get in BSP. My plan is to try for Chimney Pond first, take the dates we can get, then go from there.

I'm going to BSP January 2, maybe I'll know then, or at least soon after. Can ya wait that long? ;)

Is there a particular date I should shoot for first?”

“I would love to stay a month,actually..But there's this big matter of a Bolivian trip I am considering if Capt Bobo will have me..So the end of August would work best for me.. : )”

“you world traveller you - good for you! :)

I'll let you know the dates as soon as I know.”

“I'd put Chimney Pond as my number 1 choice. Up Cathedral, down Hunt and up Abol, over to the Knife Edge, and down Dudley to CP... yeah yeah, that's the ticket.

Seriously (or perhaps I was serious), CP would be great. Lots of options from there, and besides that, it's just darn cool there. KS or Abol would certainly be fun also. I'm not crazy about Neso though if we have to scramble for parking.

HIKE MAINE!!”

“omigawd...that's cause you really ARE a mainiac...

Hey if we get stuck with Neso, I'm sure some little monkey will wake you up so you can make the 5am cutoff, LOL!

=D”

“I should be living.... well, you know. And if I'm doing.... well, you know.. it could make getting the time off a bit difficult, but if I'm living... well, you know... I might be able to make it for a weekend.”

“well Artex, if you're living...well, you know...that will be great! but if you're doing...well, you know...then won't you already have the time off? Unless you won't be, well, you know...doing what I think you'll be doing...
???
=D

Keep your fingers crossed for Chimney Pond!

And...two or three nights in BSP?”

“Nah, I'll be doing.. well you know... and living in.. well, you know, come hell or high water.”

“ooooooooh...I see!
:)”

“I have never been to Maine. I would like to see Maine. I would need so much help with planes and getting around you may not want me.”

“Would love to have you MaryPhyl!

I'll help in any way I can. Cheapest places to fly into are Portland, ME or Manchester, NH. If you do Manchester and don't want to rent a car, you can take the bus to Portland where someone (like me) can pick you up.

There's a guy at work who has nothing to do and he loves to figure out the best deals and the best way to travel.
We can do it!
=D

couple of people who've flown to the Maine trips are Tom Terrific and trekkngirl.”

“Thanks twigeater!! My email is maryphyl at mail.com”

“2 or 3 nights in BSP? I'd like to spend 2 or 3 weeks there. I don't know about Neso. I'm skeered of lil monkeys. ;o) But then again, I'm one of the very few non Maineiacs who can pronounce it correctly.”

“And I pronounce it according to the old spelling "Sourdnahunk" and am always getting corrected...

Well, we have a whole week Bruce Almighty! (hey I just watched that movie) what do you want to do in BSP? Backpacking is kinda limited with a big group, but we could manage something. Lots of mountains anyplace we stay there.
I gotta know what I'm asking for when I get there January 2nd.
=D”

“Hey MaryPhyl, just you coming?
I'm flying in too. Maybe we can fly into the same airport about the same time to make it easyer on someone picking us up, or we could split the cost of a rental car.

Hey twiggy! Get your friend busy finding me a cheap flight from Mobile, AL or Gulfport, MS to Portland, ME or Manchester, NH.”

“wrong trip, Stovie...
:)

(sorry)

but I can ask my friend to check out flights and stuff for ya!”

“And just what if I wanted to go on this trip miss smarty pants?

Of course after meeting a saucy wench like you in March, I might not be able to go again later in the year. ;)

Yea, turn him loose on flights for March!”

“explain!! I'm confused--this is an August trip right?”

“LOL, well you can go on any trip you want Mr Flirtypants!

oooohhhh...so many comments running through my mind right now, LOL...there will definately be a bunny boiling in March!

=D”

“yes MaryPhil this trip is August.

There's also a Maine trip in March, that's the one I assumed Stove Stomper was referring to. Both trips are being planned/discussed at the same time.
And that's why we're all confused!
=D”

“Winter, summer, or fall.... if it's in Maine, I'm going!

I like 3 nights in Baxter (voting for Chimney Pond), and the rest of the week at either Bigelow or Donnell. Both places look great. It looks like Bigelow has mountains and the AT. Donnell looks very scenic being at the coast. Tough choice.”

“If we had more time we could do a "From the Mountains to the Sea" trip and get 'em all in.
Start with Bigelow, bp the range back and forth, do BSP, then bp at Donnell Pond. But with only a week I think we'd be scurrying.”

“twiggy--
just curious how long it would require to do non-scurrying Mtns to the Sea trip?”

“Well...when I was thinking about it, I figured 3 nights at Bigelow, 3 nights at BSP, which leaves 2 nights at Donnell Pond. Driving time between places is about 2 hours each I think.

I don't really know how many more days would make it more comfortable, maybe just a couple. I could look at it seriously this weekend, I need a coupla maps I don't have here at work.

Frankly, I think it would be fun to do all three, but "DRIVE MAINE" is echoing in my head...

=D”

“how many miles from mtn to sea? maybe we could hitchhike as part of the trip. hahahaha (j/k)”

“well it takes me 3 days to ride my bike from the mountains to the sea, maybe we could do it in one! :)

Bigelow is near Stratton, BSP is near Millinocket, Donnell is above Ellsworth.
Mapquest says it's 180 miles from Bigelow to Millinocket, almost 4 hours. I don't believe it - I looked at the directions and part of the distance is because it takes you back I95 which we wouldn't need to do.

Millinocket to Ellsworth was 100 miles, about 2 hours, we did that last trip.

Course we could always do BSP, then Donnell and Acadia.

ocean, mountains, ocean, mountains...

I can go to any of these places anytime, it's up to you guys what you want to see/do. I just need to know before January 2 so I know when to reserve BSP.
=D”

“Drive Maine 1 has already been done, It'd have ta be Drive maine II :P”

“LOL!
=D”

“okay, as I sit here in a sea of maps (in heaven) I think the "From the Mountains to the Sea" trip will go from BSP to Donnell Pond and areas in and around Acadia.

Three nights in BSP, a coupla nights to do Donnell Pond and then...whatever...

Off the top of my head there is the Petit Manaan Wildlife Refuge, short hike, but nice one to a cool beach and we could pick blueberries, Bartlett's of Maine where they make yummy wine and we could go in for a tasting (LOL) and let's not forget the one hike Pennsy hasn't done in Acadia yet - I think it's Schoodic mountain. Puny, but hey he may need to cross it off his list. :) Plus there's lots of great dayhikes in Acadia.

Bigelow can be done over a long weekend another time. I'll post when I plan on going in case anyone wants to join me.

Even though most places will be crowded in August, campsites in Bigelow are usually full of thru hikers at that time. I love western Maine but I think travellers will be more interested in BSP and the Maine coast.”

“Oh yeah, and we could maybe squeeze Gulf Hagas in between BSP and Donnell Pond...”

“I am toying with tagging along on this trip but it would have to be later in August because I am planning on going on the Winds trip August 7 - 14. What is happening as far as narrowing down dates? Also I would need some logistics help from Mainiacs - I would be flying in, probably to Portland.”

“pepperDog, I should know around the first of January what the exact dates are.
I can do the Portland run if need be.

hope you can make it!”

“cool. I will keep an eye on this thread.”

“Pepperdog - I might be able to help you out with at least one airport ride.”

“I put myself down as a maybe. I use to go up to Maine (Bath area) every year for vacation, but I haven’t been up in about five or six years. I’ll have to see, it’s still early for me to be making plans for August.”

“well I am down as a maybe, hopefully I can book a flight early enough that I can get a cheap rate.

Yam want to fly up together and maybe rent a car or have Pennsy pick us up on his way to Maine.

keep us posted Miss Twiggy”

“Hey Ewker, I might take you up on sharing a rental car if we can fly in to Portland within a couple of hours of each other.”

“Stove are you joining us in August?

:)”

“twig - If I can swing the time off, and nothing important freezes off of me on the March trip. ;)”

“Stove, I can get cheaper flights by flying in Manchester, NH than I can Portland, ME. If I go I will book early to get the best price. I won't wait like I did when I went to Mich.”

“Manchester or Portland, makes no diff to me as long as we can fly in about the same time. It will be around 5 or 6 in the afternoon for me.”

“I am flexible on the times so that isnt a problem for me.
So are we going to be dueling over Miss Twiggy on this trip or fighting Bruce Almighty for her ;)”

“LOL Ewker, she will enjoy that! ;)”

“ewker--
I will not know if I can go until after February. Plus....I do believe Twiggy still has to give the correct dates?? :-) It's not the WHOLE month, ya know!!!”

“Bruce Almighty has a big head start on us. He has hiked with 'Miss Twiggy' before and been her 'shelter boy'. ;)”

“LMAO! :)

yep, I'll have the dates soon - although an entire month would be great!

and I still keep waffling...do we go west or east after Katahdin? or do we do the AT? or...I keep telling the Russell Pond ranger I'm bringing you guys back...
too many choices!

But, it was great this last trip to go from the mountains to the sea, it was a nice contrast.”

“stove, maybe she has grown tired of Bruce Almighty. I bet she wants and needs some Southern Men in her life now ;)”

“Just how southern are you guys?”