Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument

I had a few pals intown last week and they wanted to see the new National Monument in the snow. So we packed up the gear and loaded the sleds. The entrance to the park is a little over 100 miles north of Bangor. We have a hunting camp in the area thats about 10 miles into the woods. With no open roads in winter, its a snowmobile ride into camp, toting all the provisions for the weekend. The area had received a good foot of snow the day before, and the trails had not been dragged yet. Made the going a little tough, but we got thru without a hitch.

After we got the wood stoves going, we went for a ride into the new windmill farm they put up along the ridge last summer. There are 50 of those things whirling. It was real windy that day so the blades were churning pretty good. We drove right up next to one and man it was loud.

We picked up the latest trail map to plot our route. The new park has one major parcel that's adjacent to Baxter State Park on the easterly side, and several small "satellite" parcels. The main park, like Baxter, does not allow snowmobiles for the most part. Many of the old trails are closed off. They do allow access in a few areas, so that's where we headed the next morning. It was about 60 miles from the camp to Shin Pond, the last fuel stop before we entered the park. We pulled into the fuel area around noon and were surprised to see at least 40 other sleds. Thank god the majority were headed in the other direction. We grabbed a nice lunch, a few Baxter Brewing Stowaway IPA's and took off. Here's a few shots...

bridge into the park....back door.....

river views

the crew

deer tracks

bunny tracks

If you have been backstage at an ABB show, you may recognize this guy