Elevation: 2,965 ft (overall) 5,029 ft (total)
Time: 3:28 (North Brother) 4:16 (Fort Mtn) 5:17 (North Brother) 6:35 (South Brother) 7:50 (Mt. Coe) 9:28 (Total)
Trails: Marston Trail, Bushwhack, Marston Trail, Mt Coe Trail, Marston Trail
Having hiked North Brother before, I needed the other three peaks today for my New England Hundred Highest list. Until Last night, I was thinking I would do today's loop counterclockwise, going up the Coe Slide. But with rain last night, I didn't want to try that if it was too wet. Having been to North Brother before, I also knew what I was in for if I went clockwise instead. This would also have the added benefit of getting the bushwhack done earlier, instead of waiting until I was more tired. Having a few days in Baxter State Park as well, if the bushwhack didn't go as planned, I could also more easily split this hike into two hikes if I stopped after North Brother and Fort Mountain.
Early section of trail
Either direction, you still have to take the Marston Trail at the start. It starts out pretty flat, then gradually gets steeper. It stays at a pretty good incline until a little before the lower junction with the Mt Coe Trail where it flattens back out some. I turned left at the junction and headed towards Teardrop Pond. The hike to the pond goes by pretty quickly and is similar to what you have come up so far, but with some wet sections with rocks to step across.
Teardrop Pond with clouds above the ridge
The pond is small, but an interesting little spot. There is a short path that leads out to a big rock on the shore you can stand on and look up at the ridge between this hikes peaks. After the pond, the trail works its way up the ridge line next to the pond. An early section of trail was relocated to avoid a steep eroded section, but after that the trail again stays steep with some roots and rocks exposed. At the top of the climb though the trail levels out and is quite nice. It goes up for a bit more before then coming downhill some to the upper intersection with the Mt Coe Trail.
Above Teardrop Pond
The trail from here to North Brother starts flat, but steepens as it goes. There was some running water and plenty of wet rocks on the way up thanks to last night's rain. As you keep going, the trail gets very eroded and becomes a bit of a trench with large rocks and roots to climb up and over. Eventually though, you start to come out of the trees and only have a few small scrambles to negotiate before the summit.
Eroded section of trail
View from North Brother
The bushwhack out to Fort Mountain starts with a few small cairns that are easy to spot near the summit of North Brother. Above treeline, the herd path is easy to follow. But as the path enters the trees, the branches get thick and tight, and it is much slower going. You'll need to keep looking down at the ground to make sure you are following the herd path. The trees are thick enough you could lose is pretty easily if you aren't paying attention. Looking down some is also a good idea as there are some hidden drops and holes along the path that would normally be obvious on a standard trail. I actually stepped into one on the return trip.
At the first split in the herd path I took a left, which paralleled the treeline a bit. I had found some GPS tracks to use as reference in case I got off the path and all but one took the left here. As you follow the path, there are more splits you will come to. Most of them seem like they would meet back up either way you went, but I can't say for sure since I didn't try any other options on my way back. Currently there are some pieces of flagging that help you find the way. At almost all of the splits there seemed to be flagging in one direction or the other. This might get taken down in the future, so don't rely on just that to find your way. There was only one short section on the bushwhack that doesn't have you pushing through branches. It was a nice break, but no where near long enough. On the way back from Fort to North Brother, the branches all seem to be facing the wrong direction and it is much harder to push through them as you near North Brother than it was heading to Fort Mtn.
Most of the bushwhack looks similar to this
Fort Mountain summit
Once back down off of North Brother, the trail to the South Brother Spur is pretty nice. The corridor was wide, but the tread way was a bit narrow and eroded in places. The trail doesn't have any steep spots on it and it made for a nice walk that wasn't too difficult. The trail out to South Brother is mostly easy, but does have some large boulders that could be a bit tricky before the summit. The high spot is a large rock above treeline which made for a nice place to sit and rest while taking in the great views.
View from South Brother
Continuing on to Mt Coe, the trails drops in elevation more than I thought it would, but it then follows the side contour of South Brother before gradually climbing up Mt Coe. There is one last semi-steep section just before the summit, but it wasn't that bad even as I was getting tired. The summit are of Mt Coe is small, but again has great views, especially of the Klondike between it and Katahdin.
Ascending Mt. Coe
Looking across The Klondike from Mt Coe
Coming down the slide wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The only tricky spot is right near the top. On the way down, the trail mostly follows the right hand side until it nears the bottom and funnels into a narrow section of slide in the trees. At times it took some looking around to make sure I was following the blazes, but I never felt off trail. What surprised me most is how many rocks and how much loss dirt is on the slide. It is steep enough and smooth enough that it seems like more of that should have made its way down the slide or that is easily could in the future. After the slide, the trail follows the ravine and small brook that leave the bottom of the slide area. You'll cross the brook 4 times with the last one being a short distance from the junction with the Marston Trail. From here out you just follow the same route that you took to start the hike.
Looking down the slide
Looking back up the slide
For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE
Google Earth representation of the hike
