Date of Hike: 9/5/13
Martson Trail: 1.3 miles / Mount Coe Trail: 3.2 miles / South Brother Spur: 0.6 miles / Mount Coe Trail: 0.7 miles / Martson Trail: 6.3 miles
Total Miles: 12.1 miles (3,800 feet elevation gain)
Trip Report:
- Thursday was Tim's final hike to finish his New England 100 Highest along with the NE 67 4,000 footers. The weather was chilly, in the mid to high 40's above 3,500 feet but the skies were clear and the wind was 10 to 15 mph lower than yesterday's hike on Mount Katahdin.
- Before we set out on the hike another car with R.I. plates pulled up and it was none other than Marvin (OneSlowHiker). He was finishing up his NE 67 4,000 footers. Pretty cool for Marvin who finished his 48 - 4,000 footers in the early spring then continued on to finish the other nineteen before summers end. Congrats Marvin!!
- The highlight of the hike to Mount Coe was the hike up the Coe Slide, it started off narrow but then broke open over rock slab mixed with some boulders, but 80% of it was slab. There was some slime on the slab but overall it was one of the easier slides I've hiked on. It reminded me of the lower part of the Downe's Brook / Passaconaway Slide.
- View from Mount Coe over to Mount Katahdin were great. After hiking Katahdin the day before it was amazing to see how huge of a mountain it is from another peak! Also from Mount Coe, there is a really great view of Doubletop Mountain and it's Seahorse and Witch Slide.
- From Coe to the South Brother spur is a nice hike through the woods, the ferns and moss blanketed the trail which made for an enchanted forest look.
- We all took a lunch break on South Brother's summit. Once again views were spectacular. As we descended from the summit we ran into Marvin who was enjoying the brisk weather and sunshine, he was in good spirits and enjoying himself. Always great to run into another hiker from RI who enjoys the mountains!
- From South Brother to North Brother, Whitney and I took off and made great time to the summit where we took a nice break before the rest of the gang caught up. Not wanting to finish on Fort, Tim skirted around the summit and headed for Fort Mountain. This meant on the way back when he touched north brother he simultaneously finish his 100 highest and 67 on North Brother.
- The trail over to Fort Mountain was abandoned a long time ago, but blazes still remain here and there. The trail however on both summit cones are overgrown and you have to swim through fir waves while watching out not to trip on ankle-busters! It wasn't a hard semi-bushwhack as the ground was still worn beneath all the brush but one step in the wrong direction and you'd know you were off the way point. There was also flagging along the way that helped guide us through the thick spots.
- We made it to the summit of Fort Mountain about an hour after leaving North Brother. We all took a bunch of pics and looked for any evidence of a plane crash that happened in the mid twentieth century. The plane is off in the woods at the other end of the summit so we didn't explore that area since it was getting late in the afternoon. We did find part of a radio transmitter which was pretty cool.
- After a few minutes we headed back into the fir waves and scrub until we popped out just below the summit of North Brother. Along the way we ran into Marvin again who was in the final col before his final ascent up to his final peak of the 67 - 4,000 footers.
- At the summit of North Brother we all went ahead of Tim and raised our hiking poles for him to walk under as he summited North Brother for his final peak. It was a joy to see someone finish the 100 highest list as there are a few mountains that are far away and have no trails to the summit. What an awesome accomplishments, congrats Tim!
- Tim broke out some dark chocolate at the summit for all of us to enjoy and celebrate. It was a great time up at North Brother, we managed to get out of the wind, take in the views, and enjoy Tim's finish.
- Now was the long slog back to the car. It went by relatively quickly, Whitney and I would go ahead of everyone and stop at the junctions to wait for the others. Along the way we talked about odd, different, and spooky hikes in New Hampshire, like the ghost town of Livermore and the secret cave hide-away on Mount Monadnock! Really interesting stuff.
- Back at the car we had a celebratory beer before heading back to the cabin for another night filled with drinks, food, and laughter. It was a great ending to a great day of hiking.
- I really am happy I joined in on the four days in Baxter State Park trip. I am thankful to have been invited and really appreciated how nice and generous everyone was.
Martson Trail: 1.3 miles / Mount Coe Trail: 3.2 miles / South Brother Spur: 0.6 miles / Mount Coe Trail: 0.7 miles / Martson Trail: 6.3 miles
Total Miles: 12.1 miles (3,800 feet elevation gain)
Trip Report:
- Thursday was Tim's final hike to finish his New England 100 Highest along with the NE 67 4,000 footers. The weather was chilly, in the mid to high 40's above 3,500 feet but the skies were clear and the wind was 10 to 15 mph lower than yesterday's hike on Mount Katahdin.
- Before we set out on the hike another car with R.I. plates pulled up and it was none other than Marvin (OneSlowHiker). He was finishing up his NE 67 4,000 footers. Pretty cool for Marvin who finished his 48 - 4,000 footers in the early spring then continued on to finish the other nineteen before summers end. Congrats Marvin!!
- The highlight of the hike to Mount Coe was the hike up the Coe Slide, it started off narrow but then broke open over rock slab mixed with some boulders, but 80% of it was slab. There was some slime on the slab but overall it was one of the easier slides I've hiked on. It reminded me of the lower part of the Downe's Brook / Passaconaway Slide.
- View from Mount Coe over to Mount Katahdin were great. After hiking Katahdin the day before it was amazing to see how huge of a mountain it is from another peak! Also from Mount Coe, there is a really great view of Doubletop Mountain and it's Seahorse and Witch Slide.
- From Coe to the South Brother spur is a nice hike through the woods, the ferns and moss blanketed the trail which made for an enchanted forest look.
- We all took a lunch break on South Brother's summit. Once again views were spectacular. As we descended from the summit we ran into Marvin who was enjoying the brisk weather and sunshine, he was in good spirits and enjoying himself. Always great to run into another hiker from RI who enjoys the mountains!
- From South Brother to North Brother, Whitney and I took off and made great time to the summit where we took a nice break before the rest of the gang caught up. Not wanting to finish on Fort, Tim skirted around the summit and headed for Fort Mountain. This meant on the way back when he touched north brother he simultaneously finish his 100 highest and 67 on North Brother.
- The trail over to Fort Mountain was abandoned a long time ago, but blazes still remain here and there. The trail however on both summit cones are overgrown and you have to swim through fir waves while watching out not to trip on ankle-busters! It wasn't a hard semi-bushwhack as the ground was still worn beneath all the brush but one step in the wrong direction and you'd know you were off the way point. There was also flagging along the way that helped guide us through the thick spots.
- We made it to the summit of Fort Mountain about an hour after leaving North Brother. We all took a bunch of pics and looked for any evidence of a plane crash that happened in the mid twentieth century. The plane is off in the woods at the other end of the summit so we didn't explore that area since it was getting late in the afternoon. We did find part of a radio transmitter which was pretty cool.
- After a few minutes we headed back into the fir waves and scrub until we popped out just below the summit of North Brother. Along the way we ran into Marvin again who was in the final col before his final ascent up to his final peak of the 67 - 4,000 footers.
- At the summit of North Brother we all went ahead of Tim and raised our hiking poles for him to walk under as he summited North Brother for his final peak. It was a joy to see someone finish the 100 highest list as there are a few mountains that are far away and have no trails to the summit. What an awesome accomplishments, congrats Tim!
- Tim broke out some dark chocolate at the summit for all of us to enjoy and celebrate. It was a great time up at North Brother, we managed to get out of the wind, take in the views, and enjoy Tim's finish.
- Now was the long slog back to the car. It went by relatively quickly, Whitney and I would go ahead of everyone and stop at the junctions to wait for the others. Along the way we talked about odd, different, and spooky hikes in New Hampshire, like the ghost town of Livermore and the secret cave hide-away on Mount Monadnock! Really interesting stuff.
- Back at the car we had a celebratory beer before heading back to the cabin for another night filled with drinks, food, and laughter. It was a great ending to a great day of hiking.
- I really am happy I joined in on the four days in Baxter State Park trip. I am thankful to have been invited and really appreciated how nice and generous everyone was.
Martson Trail Sign Info
Martson Trailhead at Slide Damn
Tim making an easy 1-2-3 rock hop across a small brook
Martson Trail
Bottom of Coe Slide
Whitney leads the way up the Coe Slide
Witch Slide
Coe Slide
Looking over to Mount Katahdin
A slide in the middle of nowhere on Mount Katahdin
Baxter Peak
South and North Brother
Mount Katahdin wilderness valley
Doubletop Mountain
Old slides below Mount Coe
Seahorse Slide
Seahorse and Witch Slide
Mount Coe Trail
Stef and Mike taking in the views from South Brother
North Brother
South Brother Summit Sign
Mike and Stef with Mount Katahdin in full view
Another Glacial bowl of Mount Katahdin
Mount Katahdin's northwest flank
Knife Edge
Knife edge and Baxter Peak
Baxter Peak
Mount Katahdin
Northwest shoulder of Mount Katahdin
Glacial bowl of Mount Katahdin
Roberta descending South Brother
Marvin!
Whitney leads the way to North Brother
Martson Trail to North Brother
the trail becomes a trench in places
Looking back to the shoulder of North Brother and Mount Coe
North Brother Summit
North Brother Summit Sign
Katahdin
Northwest Wilderness of Mount Katahdin
Lake Cowles
Knife Edge and Baxter Peak
Tim and Whitney heading into a fern wave
The old trail has some ankle trippers underneath the ferns
Old section of the Martson Trail
Trail / bushwhack
Trail / bushwhack
Roberta and Mark head up to Fort Mountain
North Brother
Making their way to Fort Mountain
Trail / bushwhack
Tim on top of Fort Mountain
Tim enjoying Fort Mountain's summit rock
Fort Mountain summit area
Whitney posing for a pic on top of Fort Mountain
Fort Mountain
High clouds above Katahdin
The Travelers!
Tim found and old blaze
Whitney enjoying the fern waves!
Swimming through the wave of ferns
Looking back to Fort Mountain
Mount Katahdin from North Brother
Katahdin
Tim leaving the peak of North Borther, his final summit of the New England 100 highest mountains!
Awesome! Not many people make it to Fort Mountain. Did you find a pair of Oakley sunglasses? I dropped a pair there back in '09.
ReplyDeleteThe plane is just South of the East end of the summit ridge, it's not hard to find once you get there.
Didn't find your sunglasses, lol! Next time I go back I will venture to the plane, we were running out of daylight and wanted to make it back to the car before dark to enjoy some cold ones!
DeleteFantastic pictures Chris.
ReplyDeleteIt was good to finally meet you in person, as well as the rest of your group.
I don't follow your hikes as much as I used to (before I retired) because my home computer is too slow for your .5 meg pictures.
I still havent posted my report/pics for this trip or Katahdin but should by this weekend. Maybe I'll just refer to your site for the pics (lol). Looks like you were bouncing all over the place that week.
Keep up the great quality pics, maybe I'll just go to the library to view them.
-Marvin
Thanks Marvin! I'm glad we finally met and our group ran into you on South Brother and the Fort Mountain bushwhack. Congrats on your finish!
Delete