| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
North Brother, ME |
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 | Trails: |
Williams Pond Road, Tote Road, Marston Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Monday, February 15, 2010 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parking area is about 1/2 mile past Mile Marker 35. Telos Rd. is plowed wide there, with enough space for 7 or more vehicles. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Several shallow little trickles. Mostly easy to step across, but some required care not to get snowshoes wet. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Sign post at NB-SB jct is too short. It was completely buried, and I almost didn't recognize it as a jct until the 4th time I passed by.
Lots of trees bent or otherwise moved into middle of trail and covered with snow. A number of times this made trail very hard to find. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
IIRC, no pets allowed in BSP |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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|
 | Comments: |
--Williams Pond Rd. well packed by snowmobiles for first 2.6 miles. After that, packed by group of 7, then me, skiing with sleds. Not packed well enough for barebooting. --Ditto the 1/2 mile ski trail through woods to Nesowadnehunk Field Campground. --Park tote road well packed by snowmobiles --Marston Trail well packed for 1.2 miles to jct. of Coe Trail. --Rest of trail to North Brother broken by me going up and down. A group of 2(?) headed in early this morning for NB, so it may be broken much better by now. --Above tree line it's unlikely tracks will be visible for long. Surface is mostly firm rime or windpack, and doesn't take much of a print.
--Required equipment--Skis so as not to ruin the sled track. (snowshoes would widen the track, making it less helpful for sleds. --Snowshoes for traction, then flotation further up. --Map and compass determine bearing of approach to summit in case reverse bearing is needed due to blown over tracks/poor visibility. Crampons not needed.
I couldn't find the NB-SB jct the first 3 times I passed through it. I was later told the sign isn't very high, and is buried. In the process of looking for it, I packed only the first ~200 yards of the S. Brother trail. At the NB-SB jct, that may give the impression that someone has been to SB. They haven't. The group that did Coe had to break trail, and said there were no tracks continuing to SB. Towards the very end of that distance I may not have been on the SB trail.
When I left this morning, local radio (94.9FM) was calling for 2-5" of snow tonight through tomorrow.
The previous group (I don't remember its size) to sign the Marston Register for NB was on 1/30. Their R/T time was ~7 hours from register. Mine was ~10 hrs. Surprisingly, traces of their tracks were still visible here and there. Next previous signed-in hikers were back in mid-November.
__________________ |
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 | Name: |
MarkL |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2010-02-16 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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