The 2015 Adventures started with our annual trip to Greenville, Maine and the entrance to the 100 Mile Wilderness. We've been continually increasing the group from our initial four snowshoers three years ago, to six of us last year, and stretching to eleven this year--Jim and Lisa Nowak, John and Suzanne Cimochowski, Leslie and Eva Sweetnam, Charlie and Kelly Bottieri, Carolyn Hart and ourselves.
As in past years we headed out from Woodstock in the late afternoon on Friday. The first stop was at an Applebee's in Tewksbury for a group dinner...
then on to the Morris estate in Standish, Me.
James and Stephanie graciously welcomed us all to camp out in various rooms of the house...giving us a great jumping off point for the last three hour drive on Saturday.
James provided not only stories, but a nice selection of single malts...along with descriptions and differences.
We left their house close to 6 am so we could be at Aunt M's diner in Greenville for breakfast and then at the Winter Parking Lot for a 10 am start to the snowshoeing.
Eight of us started out in -6 degree weather on snowshoes, and three (Eva, Kelly, and Suzanne) rode in with our luggage on a sled behind a snowmobile. Other than being cold and windy it was a beautifully clear day.
We travelled along the Katahdin Ironworks (KI) Road from the Winter Parking Lot on the map below for a little over a mile and then turned onto the Trout Pond Trail...
The original plan was to travel in completely on the Gorman Lodge Trail, but I didn't recognize that the snowmobile trail we crossed along the way was part of the trail...so we ended up missing that turn.
But in the end it worked out in that we found one of the campsite outhouses along the trail...and took advantage of our find...
From there we headed out on the alternate route...crossing Long Pond on a trail marked by small trees stuck into the ice and snow...
Fortunately the wind was behind us as we crossed the pond--pushing us...a little...instead of being straight into our faces. With the low temperatures and lower wind chill (estimated at one point to be -20 F or about -30 C) this was certainly a blessing.
With a short stop to eat our trail lunches along the way, it took us about 4 hours to make the trek into the Gorman Chairback Lodge.
The advance crew of three ladies were not idle as we were making our way along the trail. On arrival we found our bags in our cabins...wood stoves all lit and warm...and the Cimochowski's cabin set up for cocktail hour...we should have an advance group more often!
The lodge had a full turkey dinner for us that evening and some of us followed the meal with a trip to the wood fired sauna to ease out the muscle soreness from the day. Then a little bit of reading in our cabins before lights out and snuggling down into a well deserved sleep.
Sunday morning we loaded up with a hearty breakfast before splitting into two parties for the day's adventures.
Carolyn, Eva, Kelly and Suzanne decided to keep their travels closer to the Lodge and planned on snowshoeing around Long Pond and the nearby areas...although Kelly did venture out much further and snowshoed over some of the same trails the main party used on Saturday.
The rest of us started out on the Long Pond Trail for a little over 1.2 miles and then started up the ungroomed Third Mtn. Trail (the dotted red line on the map above).
The pictures don't do justice to the steepness and iciness we encountered at some points along the trail...but we pressed on making our way further up to the ridge.
After 1.5 miles we connected with the Appalachian Trail and turned north towards the Third Mtn. peak.
At one outcropping we met up with a couple that had been ahead of us and stopped for them to take a group photo.
Then it was another push to reach the Monument Cliff of Third Mountain and limited, but spectacular views (limited because of blowing snow below us and a wintery mix of weather around us).
From Monument Cliff we continued north and began our descent towards the Lodge. Climbing up over icy patches earlier in the day was tough, but climbing down over them after already hiking for 3.5 miles made them a new challenge.
Some attacked the downhill areas by turning around and stepping backwards (using the crampon portion of the snowshoe to dig into the ice)...and some of us faced down the hill and pushed onto the balls of our feet to engage the crampons. It was an effective and stable way to go down unless you sat back a little and then your feet would slide out from underneath.
Either way...we did it and about half way down the trail stopped for our lunch.
Then it was back to the Lodge for some quick naps, cocktails, dinner, sauna and another deep sleep (it's becoming a routine...but a very enjoyable one).
During the night the wintery mix of weather turned into rain and then the temperature dropped again. With the freezing rain and "dodgy" trail conditions the Lodge staff offered additional sled trips out to the Winter Parking Lot.
So we split up again with the Nowaks, Cimochowskis and Carolyn riding behind the snowmobile, and another group of us braving the trails to head out...of course we had to first call upon John to clean up any spare bottles...and pay the bar tab.
Instead of crossing the pond following the recommendation of the staff, we took the Gorman Lodge Trail out. While on the groomed trail in the woods the snowshoeing was not too bad, but once we got into the open areas we were breaking through the crusty cover and sinking down about 8-10 inches and breaking trail for more than half of the hike out.
We stopped at the new Phoenix Shelter by the Trout Pond for a mid morning snack. This is a nice shelter and would be an enjoyable place for a future stay and some fly fishing (as long as it wasn't black fly season).
As we approached the last hill on the Katahdin Ironworks Road the snowmobile and our companions went by. We were just far enough behind that the cars were all warmed up and packed by the time we reached the lot.
It was a fairly quiet ride home...sharing the driving and taking naps. By 7:30 that night we were all safely home...smug in our accomplishments of the weekend.
A great first Adventure of 2015!
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