This past weekend a winter mountaineering training was held at Baxter State Park (BSP). Hosted by BSP and organized by Cecily S., 3 FSAR members spent 3 days training and trekking in Baxter State Park at Chimney Pond . Pete G from MDISAR also joined us.
On Saturday morning Cecily, Shannon, Pete, and Pat met Baxter State Park rangers, Mike and Greg at the BSP Abol parking area. Two park snow machines transported us on the SAR transport sled as well as, our gear all the way to Roaring Brook campground. At that point the rangers went ahead with our gear and the four of us snowshoed the 3.4 miles to Chimney Pond. On our arrival we were welcomed at the crew cabin with a nice warm fire and gear stowed inside. We settled in and spent the afternoon exploring around Chimney Pond, reviewed avalanche conditions, performed beacon and probe training, and familiarized ourselves with the BSP SAR gear and the equipment cache in the ranger cabin.
A highlight of the afternoon was navigating 40+ mph winds on Chimney Pond while getting drinking water.
Sunday was summit day. In the morning we assessed the wind and snow conditions and decided the best route for a summit attempt would be to go up the Saddle slide. We were met with rock, ice and wind on the tablelands but managed to reach Baxter Peak in good time. Enjoying the summit of Mt. Katahdin in the winter is something many people never experience. Spectacular visibility and ....no crowds in January.
Monday we explored the ice off the Dudley trail. We headed out before lunch. Mike and Greg had arranged for all our gear to be hauled back in the park sled. The 4 of us strapped on our skis and had a great run back to Roaring Brook where we hopped on the transport sled and were hauled back to our vehicles at Abol.
Many thanks to Baxter State Park and to Cecily for arranging the winter training. Baxter State Park really extends first class treatment to Maine wilderness SAR teams . Hopefully we can reciprocate and will be called on for assistance when help is needed.
(Thanks to Pat for this write-up and photo.)