| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
South Brother, Mt. Coe, ME |
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 | Trails: |
Tote Road, Marston Trail, South Brother Spur |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Thursday, March 16, 2017 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parked at Williams Pond Road (See Tim's report for more detail). |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction, Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
no issues |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
This trip started on Monday the 13th from the Williams pond road, pulling sleds over hard packed snow/ice wearing light traction to Nesowadnehunk bunkhouse 3.7 miles. Tuesday, the day of the storm, our group of 6 started at 5:30 hoping to get done before the weather deteriorated. Wore microspikes from cabin to about 1/2 way up the South Brother spur, then switched to full crampons as there was more ice and incline. Kept them on for Coe and didn't switch back until back we were about 2 miles from the Tote road on the Marston trail. Started snowing on Coe but did not ramp up til we were back to the col (junction with N Brother spur). Trees were as gnarly as anything we've ever encoutered (see Tim's report). Had originally hoped to get N. Brother and Fort but with this storm, we knew we had to get back safely. Trees made return trip almost as slow as the hike in. By the time we got back to the cabin, the wind was howling with sideways snow and were glad to be back, warm and out of the weather.
Next day (Wednesday), woke up to about 18 inches of fresh snow and with snowshoes on,3 of us broke trail from the cabin to about 1/2 mile up the Marston trail. It was quite hard and we realized we would need a much larger group to make the attempt to N. Brother and Fort. That hike will have to wait til next year. Gregg and I left the park today breaking trail with our sleds and snowshoes while Fran and the rest of the crew hiked Doubletop. We were absolutely delighted to see that the road to our cars was plowed out to just a few feet beyond our cars. Thanks to the plow people for that favor. Thanks to Fran M for organizing this group and to Dave, Ron, Doug and Gregg for the great companionship. |
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 | Name: |
Slow and Steady |
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 | E-Mail: |
suzanneblackburn@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2017-03-16 |
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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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