Troop 157 Outings & Photo Album
2002-2003
View the 2002-03 Calendar
Maine Appalachian Trail, Grafton Notch to Sugarloaf, June 27-July 4, 2003
We had the largest group yet for this year's AT trek: eight scouts and former scouts, and
Mr. Lee and Mrs. O'Donnell. The stalwart three -- Rabbit (Mike), Cream Puff (Ben), and
Skittles (Chris) -- participated for the fifth year in a row. They were joined by
three other trek alumni -- Goober (Watson), Jabberwocky (Jesse) and TC (Dan) -- and
by two newcomers -- Benedict and Johnny Reb (a scout from down South, and friend of Mr.
Lee and Mrs. O'Donnell). We started at Grafton Notch, the point where our 2001 hike had
ended, and hiked about 60 miles north to Sugarloaf. We drove up to East Andover on
Friday night (6/27), and stayed at a wonderful hiker hostel, The Cabin. Jamie (Mushroom Man)
was the caretaker at the hostel, as its owners, Honey and Bear, were away on a trip.
Jamie was a great host, and helped us enormously later in the week with an unplanned
shuttle. On the way up we shopped for breakfast supplies and dinner at a Subway/Grocery
store in Gray, Maine (where we observed one of the town's more entertaining
residents, a local who loudly entertained us with his rap star imitation). On Saturday
morning, Ben and Mr. Lee spotted Ben's car at Route 4 near Rangeley, while Mike
and Dan cooked breakfast. Jamie then shuttled us to the trailhead using Mr. Lee's
old Suburban (Jamie repaired the 'burban's tailpipe connection with a bungee cord and coat
hanger on the way back, we later learned). Skittles and Goober met us at the
trailhead, just as planned (they had hiked three days from Gorham). Saturday took us over the two
peaks of the Baldpates, and to Frye Notch Lean-To. On Sunday (6/29), we hiked down to a road
where we met David (Johnny Reb), who had just arrived from "down south" to join
us. We reached Hall Mountain Lean-To on Sunday. Monday (6/30) was our longest and most
challenging day. We hiked into and out of Sawyer Notch and another notch of equal
difficulty (each one involving a 1000 foot drop and 1000 foot climb). Then, it was
over Bemis Mountain, for a total of 13 arduous miles. That night we talked over
ways to shorten the hike, as our original plan had called for a 16-20 mile hike
on Tuesday. What we decided to do was contact Jamie, and have him meet us at
Route 17, and shuttle us around to Route 4, cutting out about 12-14 miles of the trip.
Fortunately, Mr. Lee's cell phone worked, and Jamie was able to do the shuttle.
Skittles and Goober decided to head home on Tuesday (7/1), and Ben and Mike drove them
to Gorham, while the rest of our band explored Rangeley. At the local pizza
restaurant (the Red Onion), the boys found creative ways to supplement their meals
with additional food (an activity that gave Johnny Reb a first draft of his trailname,
"Spare Crust"). When Ben and Mike returned, we hit the trail, and got as far as
Piazza Rock, a nice lean-to, but one that is apparently home to a rather large moose,
who showed up at about 9 pm, and hung around not far from the shelter for quite some
time. On Wednesday (7/2), we hiked over the Saddleback range, which includes about
3 miles of beautfiul, above-timberline trail. That night, we created our own campsite
along an abandoned railway right of way. On Thursday (7/3), we hiked over a series
of mountains, finally reaching Sugarloaf. The boys took a long, side trail to
Mt. Abrahams, which was as or more beautiful than Saddleback. Our accomodations that
night were in the Sugarloaf summit house, which is the abandoned skier restaurant
at the top of Sugarloaf. Not used for skiers since the gondola was shortened to its midstation
years ago, the summit house is left open as an overnight refuge for backpackers. A cavernous
building, complete with a functioning toaster and microwave!
Some of us slept outside on the balcony overlooking the valley. In the morning,
the boys hiked down the ski slopes to be picked up by Johnny Reb's parents, and
Mr. Lee and Mrs. O'Donnell continued their hike to Katahdin (going over the Crockers, and reaching
Stratton that evening). Everyone had a great time. We'll need to talk about
where to hike next summer. By the way, Mr. Lee and Mrs. O'Donnell -- who later
acquired new trailnames, "Stone" (Mr. Lee) and "Whistler" (Mrs. O'Donnell) -- did
reach Katahdin (250+ miles) on Sunday, July 20 (you will need to speak to them for an explanation
of their new trailnames). Click on thumbnail below to go to page with all the
photos.
Photos by Roger Lee
Maine North Woods Snowshoe & Toboggan Trip, January 17-20, 2003
On one of the coldest weekends in several years, our band headed for the far northern
stretches of the Maine woods (Andrew M., Paul E., Zach M., Mike H., Greg M., Mr. Heath, Mr. M., Mr. S.,
Mrs. O. and Mr. Lee). We spent Friday night at Shaw's Boarding Home in
Monson, the well known thruhiker hostel, where the proprietors, Keith and Pat Shaw, and their son, Keith Jr., treated
us like family. Breakfast was just amazing ("how many eggs, how to want them, how many
bacon, how many pancakes, with or without blueberries, homefries", and so on until we
were stuffed). We drove north from Monson to Greenville, and then along the east side
of Moosehead Lake into the unorganized northern territories of Maine, covering about
the last 35 miles on snow covered dirt roads. After reaching the trailhead alongside Pine
Stream, we loaded up the toboggans, and set out along the frozen stream bed, which
wound north. The day was perfect -- sunny and about -2F, with only a little wind.
In about an hour we stopped for a large lunch spread out on a table cloth on the snow
(pepperoni, salami, crackers, peanut butter, jams, cheese, hot tea, hot cocoa, chocolate,
and candy). After lunch we completed our hike to the campsite, which was in the woods
above the stream bed. There, we set up the large cotton tent and three smaller tents,
and gathered wood for the stove that would keep us warm all weekend long. The wood
came from dead trees that were felled, sawed, and split. Dinner was steak, potatoes,
and vegetables, with hot drinks, and for dessert we had apple/pear crisp with vanilla
ice cream. With all the food and exercise of the day we turned in pretty quickly after
dinner, but not before going out to the stream for a clear view of the full moon lighting
up the surroundings. Awesome sight. Saturday night was fairly cold, getting down to about -10F at dawn. But everyone
managed to get through the night OK, with just a couple of people having to bundle up
with all their clothing layers inside their bags. In the morning we had the first of
two large home-cooked breakfasts, cooked as were all the meals by Mrs. O'Donnell, whose
trail cooking is unparalleled. Bacon strips with bunker biscuits covered with powdered
sugar. Yummy. Sunday was our "day off", and we used it to take day hikes along the frozen
stream. Temperatures rose to about 24F. Half of our party headed south back to the cars
to recover some items left there on Saturday morning. The other half headed north
further up Pine Stream. Back in the campsite by about 3:30, we cut more wood for the stove,
and got ready for dinner, which was a wonderful chicken stroganoff with garlic bread, topped
off with freshly made brownies. Sunday night was a bit warmer, getting down only to about -4F
at dawn on Monday. After breakfast (pancakes with blueberries and syrup, with sausages)
we took down our camp, and packed our toboggans and sleds for the return trip. We
reached the cars by about 11:30 am, and carefully repacked the cars while watching for
logging trucks, which on Monday were regularly roaring by our parking spot. From
Pine Stream we drove to Greenville, where we had a nice lunch at the Tree Frog, which
overlooks beautfiul Moosehead Lake. The trip home to Weston turned out to be an adventure,
as well, with Mr. M's car breaking down, and the boys being all transferred to Mr. S's car
for the rest of the ride home. It was a great weekend, and one that we will need to do
again next year.
Photos by Roger Lee
Nobscot Cabin Trip, December 7-8, 2002
Carter Notch Hut Backpacking Trip, November 2-3, 2002
Nature Hike, Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, October 20, 2002
Warm weather, clear skies and peak foliage provided for a most enjoyable fall
outing in New England. Scouts Alex and William N., Andrew M., Greg M., Mike H.,
and Brooks D., Webelos Scout Spencer S., and parents Nelia and John N., Jay M.,
Laura M., Paula and Harold S., and Jed D. hiked the 2 mile Dike Trail at the
Concord Unit of the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. The group worked
on poisonous plant and animal and plant identification for Tenderfoot - First
Class Advancement and bird identification for Bird Study and Nature Merit
Badges. The group identified 26 species of animals and 33 species of plants.
Highlights included 7 freshly built muskrat lodges, a pair of soaring Northern
Harriers, a playful Pied-billed Grebe, a raucous Laughing Gull, a large number
of Green-winged Teal, and a Wild Turkey seen by some en-route.
Photos by Jed Diehl
Greenleaf Hut Backpacking Trip, September 21-22, 2002
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