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<title>Baxter State Park in Winter: North Brother and Fort</title>
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<h1>Baxter State Park in Winter<br />North Brother and Fort</h1>
</div> <!-- header div -->
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<!-- table of contents start -->
<h2><a name="toc" id="toc"></a>Table of Contents</h2>
<p>On this page:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="baxter2002.html#tocref1">Going Beyond the New Hampshire Fours in
Winter</a></li>
<li><a href="baxter2002.html#tocref2">Planning</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="baxter2002.html#tocref3">Itinerary</a></li>
<li><a href="baxter2002.html#tocref4">Gear and Food</a></li>
</ul></li></ul>
<p>On next page:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="baxter2002_2.html#tocref5">The Trip</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="baxter2002_2.html#tocref6">Getting Together</a></li>
<li><a href="baxter2002_2.html#tocref7">Day 1: Into Baxter State
Park</a></li>
<li><a href="baxter2002_2.html#tocref8">Day 2: North Brother and
Fort</a></li>
<li><a href="baxter2002_2.html#tocref9">Day 3: Kidney and Daicey
Ponds</a></li>
<li><a href="baxter2002_2.html#tocref10">Day 4: Back to
Civilization!</a></li>
</ul></li>
<li><a href="baxter2002_2.html#tocref11">Looking Back at the
Trip</a></li>
</ul>
<!-- table of contents end -->
<h2><a name="tocref1" id="tocref1"></a>Going Beyond the New
Hampshire Fours in Winter</h2>
<p>On the way down from Mt Liberty, my first winter Four done in
January 1998, the leader asked me whether I was planning to do the
remaining 47 peaks. At the time it seemed a dicey proposition, I
was not at all sure that I could do the major peaks that rise high
above treeline (Presidentials and Franconias), or those peaks
(Owl's Head and the Bonds) that involve a choice of either a very
long day or a backpack. By the end of the winter of 2000-2001 it
was clear that I would soon finish the New Hampshire Fours. In
addition I had done the five Vermont peaks plus Old Speck (which I
consider an "honorary New Hampshire" peak). I was, however, very
dubious about my ability to do the other peaks in Maine. Even the
peaks in the Rangeley and Stratton areas seemed dauntingly remote
in winter, while going to Baxter State Park was clearly a major
adventure.</p>
<p>In October 2001 I learned that a friend was planning to lead a
three day trip to the Rangeley and Stratton areas, staying in a
motel and attempting the Bigelows, the Crockers and Saddleback and
its Horn. I immediately (and without much thought!) told him that I
would join him.</p>
<p>It is strange how one thing leads to another! In early November
I found a message on my answering machine inviting me to join a
group of very experienced winter hikers on a trip to Baxter State
park, the plan being to bag the Brothers, Coe and Fort. I knew that
two of that group went to Baxter every winter, and that I could not
ask for a more experienced group of mentors. So first I called back
to say that I was coming on the trip, and then I started
worrying!</p>
<p>My main worry was that I had never spent more than one night
camping in winter. My "official" concern was keeping the sleeping
bag dry. I had read a lot about condensation wetting the bag, and
down losing its loft when wet. My many experienced friends
reassured me, almost all had spent multiple nights out with down
bags. My real concern was a vague fear of being out, in the cold,
at the end of nowhere, for almost a week. At one time I almost
bailed out, but my desire for adventure overcame my fears.</p>
<p>A second problem was skiing. I believed that it was essential to
ski in, and I am at best a very mediocre skier. The idea of going
downhill with a 70 pound sled chasing me was unsettling. Many
friends told me that walking in would not be a problem, and that
most parties had some skiers and some walkers.</p>
<p>I spent Presidents' Day weekend in Stratton, doing the Crockers
on Saturday and the Bigelows on Sunday. While I was too tired to do
Saddleback and its Horn on Monday, I had discovered that these
peaks were no different from our familiar New Hampshire ones
<img src="images/smile.gif" alt="Smile!" />. With five out of
fourteen Maine peaks done the New England Fours suddenly seemed
feasible!</p>
<h2><a name="tocref2" id="tocref2"></a>Planning</h2>
<h3><a name="tocref3" id="tocref3"></a>Itinerary</h3>
<p>You can view a map showing
<a href="http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=19&n=5088632&e=493776&size=m&symshow=n">
an overview of the area</a> in a separate window. It shows the
roads and the mountains, but the roads are not labelled and trails
are not shown. The DeLorme map of Baxter State Park shows both the
access roads and the trails, while the AMC map only shows the
trails.</p>
<p>The plan was to camp at the Slide Dam picnic area, which is
where the Marston Trail starts. We would drive along Telos Road to
the north end of Harrington Lake, then continue for a short
distance to the east, to a fork. An unplowed road (Williams Pond
Road) leads east from there to the park boundary, at Nesowadnehunk
Field Campground. From there we would go south along the perimeter
road to the Slide Dam picnic area, it is not marked on the online
map but is opposite the center of Doubletop Mountain.</p>
<p>We would travel to Millinocket on Sunday March 3<sup>rd</sup>,
and spend the night there. On Monday we would drive to the fork,
and hike or ski in to the campground, about nine miles. We had
reservations until Sunday, to allow for the weather, and to give us
an opportunity to take one or more rest days to explore some of the
lakes and ponds in the park should we so desire. We also agreed
that we could leave sooner if we wanted to after bagging the
peaks.</p>
<p>It is possible to do all four peaks in one very long day in
summer, but in winter that did not seem an option. We therefore
decided that we would do North Brother (the one Four in the area)
and Fort on the first day, and South Brother and Coe on the second
day. Fort, South Brother and Coe are on the New England Hundred
Highest list, and Fort is a bushwhack from North Brother.</p>
<h3><a name="tocref4" id="tocref4"></a>Gear and Food</h3>
<p>Basically a week long camping trip requires the same gear as an
overnight, with more food and fuel. The extra weight makes a sled
almost essential, and that was the only item I did not have. Since
many of my friends have sleds I knew that this was not going to be
a problem, and several of them offered to loan me theirs.</p>
<p>The sled did allow me two luxuries that I do not normally carry
on backpacks. Normally I take two sleeping pads, one Z-rest and one
Thermarest. This time I took a second Z-rest for more insulation. I
also took a Thermarest chair kit, into which the pad can be
inserted to make a camp chair. Camp clothing consisted of a down
jacket and heavy fleece pants (which I always carry on day hikes as
emergency gear) plus down booties.</p>
<p>I brought a stove plus two pots, one just for boiling water
(since we would camp near a stream we knew that we would not need
to melt snow), the other (smaller one) to cook and eat in. One bowl
for my morning oatmeal, a mug and a spoon completed my cooking and
eating gear.</p>
<p>Planning for the food was easy, I brought what I usually bring
on an overnight trip, multiplied by seven.</p>
<p>My basic camping breakfast is two packages of instant oatmeal
with some raisins, and coffee. For coffee I use Coffee Singles,
much like tea bags, both Folger and Maxwell House make them.
Instead of sugar and milk I add one packet of instant cocoa, it
improves the taste of the coffee. For lunch I eat gorp, so I
brought a large amount of dried fruits (pineapple, apricots, dates
and raisins) plus peanuts. The peanuts were to be used both as part
of the gorp and as camp snacks if I was hungry. I also brought some
crackers as snacks.</p>
<p>For the evening I brought lots of instant soup, both to make hot
drinks after returning to camp, and to flavor the food. I also
brought fine noodles to add to my hot soup if I felt very hungry.
The basis of my main dish was couscous, which I cooked using
instant soup rather than water. All this is dry and weighs very
little, so I allowed myself to bring some pre-cooked chicken and
vegetables to add to the couscous. I froze them at home, they
stayed frozen in the camp until I added them to the boiling water
to make the couscous.</p>
<p class="next"><a href="baxter2002_2.html">Next Page</a>
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