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View Full Version : National Geographic selects Katahdin one of 10 best summit hikes in the world



peakbagger
07-30-2015, 14:09
http://hashtagmaine.bangordailynews.com/2015/07/30/the-internets/mount-katahdin-named-one-of-10-best-summit-hikes-in-the-world-by-national-geographic/

Another reason to go hike up Katahdin. ;)

Of course all the folks who are voluntarily going to avoid the place out of general principle will leave plenty of room for those who decide to climb it after reading the article.

I expect the remaining DUPR passes will get a lot harder to obtain

Mfrenchy
07-30-2015, 14:27
I have got to agree, Katahdin was magical, but that might have something to do with all the miles before it.

Another Kevin
07-30-2015, 14:52
Another reason to go hike up Katahdin. ;)

Of course all the folks who have are voluntarily going to avoid the place out of general principle will leave plenty of room for those who decide to climb it after reading the article.

Alas, the people who would avoid the place voluntarily, simply because BSPA has asked us to, are in such a small minority as to have no significant effect.

Praha4
07-30-2015, 20:38
Oh yeah. "Wild" brought the mobs to the PCT. "Walk in the Woods" bringing more mobs to the AT. Now the yuppies from Boston who see that NatGeo mag will be crushing Katahdin even more.

peakbagger
07-31-2015, 06:18
Baxter is already operating at just about peak on weekends, thus an increase in hiker traffic really cant happen since the camping areas and the day use reservations are limited . For the Boston crowd its just to far of a drive for a day hike and logistically it only works on a long weekend thus they tend to get reservations. Except for the much discussion thru hiker issues, the park has crowding handled.

Pedaling Fool
07-31-2015, 06:59
Alas, the people who would avoid the place voluntarily, simply because BSPA has asked us to, are in such a small minority as to have no significant effect.I wonder if Baxter SP asked Nat Geo not to include them on the list, so not to advertise the park? Or maybe they just like to be included on the list and at the same time say, "Yes we have one of the best summit hikes in the world, but please don't visit our park...":D

rickb
07-31-2015, 07:31
Baxter is already operating at just about peak on weekends, thus an increase in hiker traffic really cant happen since the camping areas and the day use reservations are limited . For the Boston crowd its just to far of a drive for a day hike and logistically it only works on a long weekend thus they tend to get reservations. Except for the much discussion thru hiker issues, the park has crowding handled.

While I am not familiar with any recent expansion of facilities in the park (apart from The Birches which replaced the old thru hiker site) there has (obviously) been expansion to both parking and facilities in the past.

Can anyone shed some light on that?

I am interested in the history of Bunkhouse and Campsite/leanto, and parking spots at the Trailheads to Katahdin more so than the wonderful old cabins and drive-in campsites to the north.

I imagine most of the cabins were in place while Governor Baxter was still alive, but what of the rest?

Seem like there is a moratorium on construction, but wondering how long it has been in place.

peakbagger
08-03-2015, 12:15
My observations over the years have been that there haven't been expansions as much as relocations/repurposing. The thru hiker site at Daicey Pond was relocated to the Birches due to conflicts with Daicey Pond campers (partying thru hikers didn't fit in well with the Daicey Pond vibe which is generally very mellow). It also made sense to get the thruhikers near the KSC rangers cabin. I believe the bunkhouses at KSC and Roaring brook were repurposing of existing park accommodations. There was the boy scout facility at Abol Pond which existed on park land via a "handshake" but was never a formal accommodation in the park. Both groups sites at KSC and Roaring Brook were relocations of existing sites so no net increase in campers. There are brand new lean-tos on the Katahdin Lake addition. The park has been actively replacing older lean tos at Chimney Pond and perhaps other locations. In many cases they replaced leantos that were decidedly cramped for 4 with larger structures. The capacity remained at the same number per lean to, there is just more room. There is new lean to in the Russell Pond area which is part of a plan to put in more options for backcountry backpacking. They also have been very aggressive at upgrading outhouses to be handicapped accessible and switching them over to holding tanks which are accessible by truck.

As for parking lots, they haven't expanded any of the Katahdin lots. They did at one point limit the number of cars at KSC, Abol and Roaring Brook which is now managed by the DUPR. There still can be a line of cars at the lots parked in odd spots as the park allows campers in the park to occupy the DUPR spaces as long as they get there prior to the DUPR. This does create some overflow.

There is a large new facility on the Daicey Pond road for trail crews that may be a new structure (then again it may be a replacement).

Thus I don't know if there is specific moratorium on construction as much as very conservative approach to it. I do believe that the park authority has been struggling to reduce use of the summit trails for years and disperse the use around the park but that has not worked as Katahdin is magnet. The recent strengthening and enforcement of the groups size regs in 2014 were definite attempt to reduce large groups. I do not see the Park authority getting support to expand the number of camping slots that make more use of the summit. Even if they did try I expect citizens would sue them for trying. The last major initiative was Buzz Caverley's proposal to block off the Roaring Brook Road at Windy Pitch and turn Roaring Brook into backpacking only site. This would have in theory reduced the amount of day hikers on the mountain but was highly controversial and never implemented.

The only area which may have been expanded is the Trout Brook area in the north of the Park. I think the plans were in place while Baxter was alive but were not fully implemented until the budget could afford it.