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Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks North Brother, Fort Mountain, South Brother, Mt. Coe, ME
Trails
Trails: Road walk, Marston Trail, North Brother Trail, bushwhack, South Brother Spur
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Saturday, March 9, 2024
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: Parked at Abol bridge. The tote road North of foster field is completely snow free. You can't find it of you tried. 
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Dry Trail, Ice - Black, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Wet/Slippery Rock, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow - Drifts, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow - Spring Snow, Slush 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment: Snowshoes, Light Traction 
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: BSP Rangers advised us to heed caution on crossing ponds. We opted to avoid them on the way in. If you have ever heard the haunting noise of ice being formed on a lake, we felt OK with crossing them today, especially since the 6' of open water in front of our cabin froze over and an inch thick in a day. 
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: There are several blowdowns on lower Marston 
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes:  
Bugs
Bugs:  
Lost and Found
Lost and Found:  
 
Comments
Comments: Team BASSS! A FINE weekend in Percival's Woods. Our portion of the group went in Friday morning, and recent beta had us looking like the Beverly Hillbillies with overflowing packs due to the inability to use pulk sleds. This was true. I cannot believe how little snow is in the park, it's really sad. There are not many winter Fort's done - I am sure even fewer done without snowshoes... For a true "winter" adventure, we donned our headlamps at 0500 and set a scintillating pace set by Dragoon, whom seemingly took the Tote Road speed limits at face value. We covered the four miles in just north of an hour. We noted The Old Mountaineer's group successful summit the day before - Congrats team! NO SPIKE NATION to the summit of North Brother - no seriously. Bareboot. In March. The lower half mile of Marston has ZERO snow on it, and the snowpack is sparse until the pond. It begins to grow from there, but it's pretty abysmal. We made it to NB with minimal effort, which was welcomed for our next task. It's only 0.7 away, but its a beast. We donned spikes as the eastern slopes of North Brother where glaze ice - this was Fort's first defense. We donned spikes here and kept them back to lower Marston Junction. The second was the phalanx of stoic krumoltz that awaited us. I did have a track that I was able to use as a guide and just find path of least resistance, which was often throwing my entire body weight into it's frozen formations and being repelled, only to try again and break through. I was in some parts walking on trees. We eventually broke through this line of defense and found older growth guardians whom put up far less a fight - we where able to bob and weave through, much like an agility dog in the slalom poles. Fort's last line of defense was a more disorganized group of krumoltz and boulders. With a cairn in sight, we just pushed to the top and planted our flag, utilizing the radio on the summit to broadcast our victory. Retraced steps on the way out. South Brother and Coe had not seen recent traffic, but have through the winter, as they where an absolute dream consolidated drag strip. Snowshoes took a ride for the entire 24 miles. Three big ones for NE100W for many of us - and a solid weekend in Baxter. I am off to put a buffet out of business right meow im so hungry.  
Name
Name: The Teal Goat, Dragoon, Pretzel, Steve, BK 
E-Mail
E-Mail: sea2thebiscuit@yahoo.com 
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2024-03-10 
Link
Link: https:// 
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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