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Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks Mt. Katahdin (Baxter Peak), Mt. Katahdin (Hamlin Peak), ME
Trails
Trails: Chimney Pond Trail, Cathedral Trail, Saddle Trail, Northwest Basin Trail, Hamlin Ridge Trail, North Basin Trail
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Monday, July 4, 2016
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: We reserved a parking pass for the Roaring Brook parking lot in advance.  
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Dry Trail 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment:  
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: The Chimney Pond Trail has wonderful wooden bridges across the water crossings.  
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: Trails were in great shape 
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes: No dogs allowed in Baxter State Park 
Bugs
Bugs: In late afternoon the black flies emerged and followed us along the Hamlin Ridge, North Basin and Chimney Ponds Trails. Even though I wanted to be in my tshirt, I put on a hooded long sleeve to keep them away as best I could.  
Lost and Found
Lost and Found:  
 
Comments
Comments: We originally planned to hike the Helon Taylor trail to Knife's Edge on our ascent to Baxter Peak, and were feeling optimistic because it was a beautiful day on the ground, but the ranger at the Roaring Brook parking lot warned us of 35 mph gusts along Knife's Edge and was not encouraging. After having experienced 50 mph winds atop North Brother the day before, which were difficult to simply stand upright in, we were cautious of potentially getting stuck at The Chimney and having to turn back, or finding Knife's Edge scary/dangerous in the wind and not being able to enjoy the hike. The ranger recommended the Chimney Pond Trail to Cathedral Trail as an alternative route to Baxter Peak. Deciding it was more important for us to hike Baxter and Hamlin Peaks than to hike Knife's Edge in iffy wind conditions, we followed the ranger's advice. Wow! What a hike! Chimney Pond is a typical ascent through the woods, though a big shout out to the people who build and maintain all those great bridges and log walks on the route. At the end of Chimney Pond Trail is a gorgeous view of Katahdin with the pond as foreground. After a few pictures, we headed up Cathedral, which we discovered is 1.1 miles of 2-hands-needed bouldering up a very steep side of the mountain. The 3 "cathedrals" along the way are very cool, as is being able to see the entire Knife's Edge, and turning around and seeing the entirety of the Great Basin as you ascend. When we got to Baxter Peak, we met a number of people who had just completed Knife's Edge and said it wasn't too bad in the end. We went out on it for a bit, for purposes of taking photos, and then headed out to Hamlin Peak. The trails and views on the way to Hamlin Peak were amazing and surreal; possibly my favorite part of the hike. After hitting Hamlin we descended down Hamlin Ridge, which was a beautiful and rocky open ridge that felt a lot like Knife's Edge, so we ended up feeling like we got the full Katahdin experience. What a mountain!

Note: the ranger warned us that the shorter .3 mile leg along the North Basin Trail back to Chimney Pond Trail was washed out by beaver dams. He recommended taking the slightly longer .4 mile stretch instead, which we did.  
Name
Name: KLBS 
E-Mail
E-Mail:  
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2016-07-05 
Link
Link: https:// 
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