[at-l] Baxter State Park on Labor Day Weekend

[cedric_maxwell at yahoo.com (Timothy Scott)]

If you like, you can skip right to the photos:

http://gallery.backcountry.net/chomp-baxter05-2

otherwise:

Well, it was a GREAT weekend at the park, once again. VSA and I left late on
Friday and spend the night in the "LOVE WAGON" at a park and ride in Lewiston.
Saturday, I woke up early (seriously, I woke up early) and headed to the
northern entrance. We got to South Branch around 11:30 and started hiking the
Traveler Loop counter-clockwise. The climb up Peaks of the Ridges was a BEAR,
and we were seriously concerned that we might not have enough time to do the
entire loop. Luckly, we ran into a group on Little Knife Edge going the other
way that told us it wasn't bad.

Well, the climb up Traveler was a piece of cake, and it was BEAUTIFUL!! We
lounged there for a while. We really enjoyed all the ridge walking until the
trail dives back into the brush. The final climb up N Traveler was a rough one,
but only because of how rugged the loop is to that point. We took another break
at the summit before heading back to the van. All told, we were on the loop or
about 6 hours... it was a little cloudy and a little windy, but the temperature
was perfect for hiking. We really loved this loop, as the terrain was
constantly changing. From the bizarre formations on POTR, to the little knife
edge to the open summit of Traveler to the crazy landscape on N. Traveler... it
was an incredible hike. It was a hard but rewarding 11 miles.

We took the tote rd and got to Abol just before dark. We cooked a little dinner
and had a Spencer quesidilla before turning in early. On Sunday, we hiked with
Darren and Carmel up Abol Slide to Baxter and South Peak. We were going to do
an out and back on Knife Edge, but the summit was in and out of the clouds, so
we chose to leave that for another day. Instead, we took the Hunt trail down
and walked the road back to the campground.

On Monday, we loaded up the van with Darren, Carmel, Spencer, VSA and myself
and drove to the nothern trailhead for Doubletop. it is only 3.3 miles to the
summit, its 2100 feet of elevation gain, and a good 1.5 miles of the hike if
FLAT... and I mean flat. The up sections of that trail are BRUTAL. Still,
monday was the best day of the weekend (totally clear skys - little wind) and
it was pure joy to sit on the summit and stare at Katahdin. Doubletop is a
special mountain. I really liked the fact that you could see Pamola and the
Chimney from South peak, but not the north peak.

Anyway, there you have it. It was just another great weekend in Baxter... We
got home at midnight, exaused and very, very happy.

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