| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
North Brother, Fort Mountain, ME |
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 | Trails: |
Tote Road, Marsten Trail, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Monday, January 1, 2024 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
We were lodged at Kidney Pond and came in via Abol Bridge & Abol Stream Trail to the Tote Road. There was very little snow on the road; we rigged wheels to sleds & used them for the ingress & part of the egress. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Black, Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
|
 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Stepping stones were visible. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
About 6 or so significant blowdowns, many smaller sticks down. Recent flooding seems to have worsened longstanding gullying & washouts on Marsten Trail. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
One of our party lost a sled rig wheel. |
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|
 | Comments: |
Left hand leg of Marsten Trail to N Brother then bushwhack & return the same way. Lower Marsten had about 2"-3" fresh snow over bare ground & scattered icy spots; we were able to bare-boot to the ridgeline beyond Heart Pond to the col, but put on spikes for the climb up N Brother where there was a lot of ice. On reverse, we wore spikes back to the pond. Up on the cols there was about 6" or so (more in places, less in others) of firm hardpack old snow (possibly old monorail) that survived the previous week's heavy rain. This made the bushwhack between N Brother and Fort more complicated & harder to follow with less headroom in the rabbit warren of krummholz (it took us over 3 hours to traverse 2 mile OAB between the peaks, and we had good GPS tracks to follow). |
|
 | Name: |
Barefoot Paul |
|
 | E-Mail: |
paulwgagnon@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2024-01-03 |
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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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