Elevation: 3,229 ft (overall) 3,884 ft (total)
Time: 2:02 (Chimney Pond) 4:14 (Hamlin Peak) 7:23 (Total)
Trails: Chimney Pond Trail, Saddle Trail, Northwest Basin Trail, Hamlin Ridge Trail, North Basin Trail, North Basin Cutoff
This hike was still needed because I wasn't able to get both Baxter Peak and Hamlin Peak in the same hike earlier in the summer. So this meant a second trip to Baxter State Park. This time I stayed at the Abol Campground and hiked up the mountain starting at Roaring Brook. Any early morning drive got me a good parking spot and also helped me get an earlier finish too.
The trail starting out from Roaring Brook is gentle and easy to follow. No hard obstacles or rough terrain. After a couple bridges and following the river a ways, the trail does get more rocky, but it's still pretty easy going. After a little more, you will see a short side path that leads over to Basin Pond. This is a small pond that has very clear water. Today, there was also a beaver swimming around nearby.
Chimney Pond Trail
Basin Pond
After leaving the pond, you'll come to a nice long boardwalk that has been built over a wet area along the trail. After this, you will also be going past the lower end of Dry Pond. Which right now is just a field of large boulders. I can see this being in the drainage area in the spring and having plenty of snow built up in it, but I don't see it becoming much of a pond. Beyond this, you will come to the Chimney Pond campground area. I made a quick stop her at an outhouse and then headed straight to the pond. Like Basin Pond, the water here is super clear. And even though the ridge and summits were in the clouds, being in front of the pond at the bottom of the basin was impressive. Definitely a cool spot to visit. I can see why many people camp here.
Chimney Pond
Upon leaving the pond, I headed up the Saddle Trail. Things started off being a bit steeper and rockier, but not much. After climbing up through the woods some, the trail levels out a bit and you can see the path you need to take up ahead of you. It looks pretty steep. The trail goes a bit further and then you start the climb. While still at least partly in the trees, there are some large rocks to go over and around. Being damp today, they were a bit trickier than normal I suspect. Soon though, you start to come up out of the trees. While steep, this does mean smaller rocks. Footing can can a bit loose in places, but you just need to look ahead. I found staying to the right helped. Shortly before the top, you'll come to a spot that has a large rock face to climb over. If you follow the blazes pretty closely, you'll have a good route.
Coming into the saddle
Climbing up the saddle
The hike from here to the summit is pretty easy. It doesn't get very steep and just follows along the ridge line. There are a couple larger rocks to go over though. One or two spots required paying attention to my footing, by mainly due to the damp conditions. It seems many people consider the summit of Hamlin Peak to be where the sign is, but to me it looked like a cairn just past it was on slightly higher ground. I took a few pictures in the wind and clouds and measured the temperature and wind speeds. 50 degrees and wind gusting to 23 mph. Then it was down the Hamlin Ridge Trail I went.
Hamlin Peak summit
Hamlin Ridge was interesting to come down. I didn't have any views into the North Basin due to the weather and the wind coming in from my right was blowing the clouds right at me and trying to send me towards the steep descent into the basin. This would be a nice trail to come up when I visit again. With the damp conditions and exposure to the wind, this route was tricky in a couple places. There were a couple short and steep descents and walking near edges with good drop offs. With taking care though, everything went well. With being in the clouds, I couldn't see overly far down the trail and it did seem like I was above treeline longer than I would have thought. Maybe this was just because of the careful pace I was taking.
Along Hamlin Ridge
More of Hamlin Ridge
Once back into the woods, it was a pretty quick descent back down to the car. It didn't take long to the get to the North Basin Cutoff, which I was taking because it looked a bit shorter than going back towards Chimney Pond and also because I figured there would be less people. After coming close to Basin Pond again, you'll pop out back onto the Chimney Pond Trail. From here on down it was pretty quick hiking. Near the end I didn't care much about getting wet anymore, even though the rain had mostly stopped. I also knew the conditions would be good all the way back down.
For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE
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