The rest of the Quest… (Continued from August 2021 print edition)
Part 2 of 2: A twenty-year quest to hike all fourteen of the Maine 4000 footers
By Nancy Dorrans
My first time up to Baxter State Park was in 2005 with a small group of adventurous friends. We stayed at Kidney Pond cabins where the moose and loons were neighbors and the views from the pond were stunning. Eight of us had made the plan to hike up Baxter Peak. After we inched our way up Abol Slide to the summit, we split into two groups. One group of more serious peak baggers went to “get” Hamlin Peak and four of us ventured out over the Knife Edge.
What a beautiful day up in the high peaks of Baxter State Park!
It also turned out to be quite a long day. Like many hikers, my friend Roxanne got spooked by the sheer enormity of the Knife Edge trail. Her fear of heights got the best of her. It took lots of breaks, chocolate, and coaxing but we made it down safely. It was dark and well after dinner time when we got back to the cabins, and it was my night to cook dinner. (Note to self: Next time you are camping at Baxter and do a big hike, ask the people that are not hiking that day to have dinner ready when you get back!)
A few years later, on my way to stay with friends on Saddleback Lake, I decided to hike up the AT from Route 4 to the Saddleback Mountain summit. On my way up the trail a few dads with a pack of young boys and one girl were on their way down. The girl stopped, looked up at me and sighed… “I got two words for you…Trick Hills!”
I realized she meant false summits and asked her how many.
“Like eight!!” Her dad winked and held up five fingers. I was glad for the fair warning.
A Thru Hiker Called Feel Good
In 2016 while hiking up the two Crockers also on the AT near Stratton, friends and I met a happy thru hiker nicknamed Feel Good! That day he was headed down to town to resupply his Snickers stash and find a place to camp. We had rented a house in town and had an extra room. When I invited him to stay with us, he raised both arms to the sky and exclaimed, “Trail Magic!!”
During our Mexican buffet feast, Feel Good raised his glass and entertained us with his trail stories. After breakfast he hit the trail North towards Kathadin’s Baxter Peak: clean, rested, and even happier!
Challenges at Mount Coe
On a late September outing to Kidney Pond cabins in 2017, I expressed interest in hiking North Brother and looping it in with Mount Coe. We had all day, and the weather was perfectly clear and cool with no bugs! We headed out clockwise. The website All Trails states: “The hike up to Coe has a wet slab that can be slick in wet conditions so use caution. It is recommended that this route be travelled counterclockwise. The hike is very challenging, especially if you add North Brother.”
Lesson learned a bit late.
The summit of North Brother has the most amazing views of the Katahdin peaks and both basins. It was here that we met a hiker coming up from Mount Coe. “Umm…you’re going down that way? You’re supposed go up it!”
Luckily, the Coe slide trail was dry. It was slow going, tricky, and frightening to say the least. Best advice is to “stay off the smooth slabs and stick to the gravel filled cracks and the edges of the slide near the trees.” Crossing over those smooth slabs to get to the gravel filled cracks was easier said than done. After a long, slow, careful butt crawl down, my friends Elaine and Nancy deservedly gave the Coe Slide trail the finger!
Ticking a few more off the list…
Later that month I checked off Mount Abraham, cast in a heavy wet foggy cloud, it deserves another shot. Labor Day weekend the following year a friend rented a place in Rangeley. We hiked Saddleback and added the Saddleback Horn peak that I left off the first time. That made ten! I was getting closer!
Last Fall I decided to push my quest a bit and spent two glorious flaming foliage weekends in Carrabassett Valley hiking Sugarloaf and Spaulding in one day and Redington a few weeks later.
A Solo Ascent at Hamlin Peak
There was only one left, Hamlin Peak in Baxter. Again, I organized a small group of MOAC friends to stay at Kidney Pond Cabins for three nights over the Fourth of July. Hamlin was my goal. Others wanted to hike Baxter Peak, Doubletop, and Sentinel, but I still had my heart set on Hamlin.
On the best day, between the rainy days, my friend Dan Lobel agreed to join me for part of the hike. We drove before dawn to Roaring Brook trail heads. I took the Hamlin Ridge trail turn off and he continued onto the Cathedral Trail to Baxter Peak. We connected on the Saddle Trail back to Roaring Brook via “The View” at Chimney Pond!
My magical and perhaps spiritual Hamlin Peak solo ascent with a clear view of the whole of Katahdin, North and West Basins completed my quest. I was on top of the world, by myself save an American Pipit flitting nearby. We were in our glory!
Nancy Dorrans is currently working as a Dedicated (in school) Substitute Teacher at Deering High School. She figured she could do something meaningful while we wait for travel to be safe again.
