The North Brother Mountain is located in Baxter State Park, Maine. Although in the shadow of it's more popular sibling Katahdin, the North Brother is worthwhile to to do for a few reasons. Firstly, at 4151ft, the North Brother is on the NorthEast 111 peakbagging list and for anyone interested in completing the 111 (115) peaks over 4000ft in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.  Secondly, it's a great hike for those not interested in the crowds or steep scrambly elevation gain on Katahdin. This is a great hike for a beginner mountain hiker.

Before the hike, we camped at Katahdin Stream Campground. It is home to 12 lean-to's, 9 tentsites, and 3 group sites, and the nicest smelling and clean outhouses I have ever used. Reservations are strongly recommended. That said, this campground can be busy as it is also home for Appalachian Trail (AT) thru-hikers that will or have completed their 3500km journey at the summit of Katahdin. The first day we arrived we heard lots of cheering and hoots of joy as the finishers rolled in.  Meeting the ranger on the first night, she warned us of bear actitivity and encouraged us to put our food in our car. Of course we did, but I woke up to my food being attacked by mice overnight. They had got into the car! Be warned as I lost about half my food.

The drive to the Slide Dam parking lot from Katahdin Stream Campground took about 10 minutes. Elevation at the parking lot is almost 1200ft, so were were looking at a 3000ft ascent. Our plan was to ascend the North Brother via a loop over Mt Coe and the South Brother. Unfortunately it had rained significantly overnight and our group of three wasn't interested in climbing a wet slide and not seeing any views. Our mission was to summit the North Brother as one of our group members was completing her final peak of the NE 111(115) list. We chose to hike the Marston trail.

The trail can be characterized by going up 3 big steps. It starts on a flat dirt path and then gradually ascends about 1000ft before the first junction towards Mt Coe. After turning left, the trail flattens out again and travels alongside an Unnamed Pond with a short lookout. For us, it was the best lookout of the day as low-lying cloud hung over the summits. After hiking around the pond the trail heads up again another 1000ft and then flattens out once again in a wooded saddle. Here, there is a final trail junction to head over to South Brother. Turning left to North Brother, you meet the last part of the ascent. The final up is a mainly above the treeline and over some boulders to the summit itself. In a few areas, you will have to scramble (using hands and feet) to get up and down these sections. 

Our summit day was not a pretty one as there were no views above the treeline. Stuck in a cloud and in the rain we carefully placed each footstep on the slippery rocks and finally saw the summit marker itself. As our group member Deb reached the summit, Mike and I blew up balloons and opened up a big sign for Deb's big moment. Standing on your 115th peak must have felt incredible, and I hope to one day feel that same sense of accomplishment.

We returned down the same way we came and finished the hike in 5.5 hours. We ascended a total of 3193 ft and hiked 13.1km. We were back to the campground in time for a late lunch and warm up of soup and tea! 

Mount Katahdin is located in Baxter State Park in the State of Maine. It stands at 5267ft and has 2 prominent peaks: Hamlin and Baxter. Both of these tall eastern peaks are on the NorthEast 111(115) peakbagging list and so our hike was to summit both peaks via a loop on September 20th, 2016. Our Plan A was to ascend the Helon Taylor Trail followed by a traverse of the famous Knife Edge Ridge then summit Baxter Peak at 5267ft and then continue on a saddle over to Hamlin Peak at 4756ft and then down the Hamlin Ridge Trail. This route is the classic way to summit Katahdin as a day hike and we are all have a background in rock climbing with exposure and are comfortable in that environment. There are other ways to get to Katahdin's summit and you should pick the route that is right for you.

Our group of three tent camped at Roaring Brook Campground the night before the hike. This campground is home to 9 Lean-To's, 10 tent sites, and 10 bunkhouse beds. Reservations are strongly recommended. The campsite has clean outhouses and a small brook as a water source (better to bring water in). After waiting for a sunny weather window for 3 days, we woke up at 5am to the unexpected weather change of rain. In fact, it had rained hard all night and we woke up with our spirits dampened. Poor weather such as rain, wind, and low-lying clouds were NOT optimal conditions for hiking the famous Knife Edge Ridge. We had to make a Plan B.

We decided to try to loop in the opposite direction as planned, hoping that the weather forecast would hold true and that by the time we got up on the ridges we would be able to do the Knife Edge. Starting just behind the Ranger Cabin, we took the Chimney Pond Trail up to Basin Ponds. The trail is rocky but has been engineered well for drainage of water. I decided to take off my gaiters an hour into this hike. 

Heading onto the Hamlin Ridge trail, we started to gain elevation and quickly. Rocky boulders started appearing and the rock was wet from the overnight rains. As soon as we crossed the treeline, we entered into a cloud and began our scramble up some boulders. Reaching the Hamlin Peak summit marker 3 hours and 3600ft later, our bodies were dripping of sweat. The humidity levels were definitely high today.

​Donning our shell jackets, the cloud we were in was windy and drizzling water vapour on us. We descended down some slippery rock boulders onto some small ball bearing type rocks. These rocks if stepped on incorrectly will sit you down on your butt before you know it. Crossing the saddle, we lost approximately 400ft of elevation gain hiking through gravel paths and alpine scrub.

We continued on over to Baxter Peak, the highest point on Katahdin at 5267ft by ascending 900ft of rock steps to the summit. In some places red rock stones the size of a nalgene bottle create a path upwards and is easy to walk on. The grade of the ascent is manageable, especially after already ascending 3600ft. The summit sign on Baxter Peak of Mt Katahdin cannot be missed. It's a large sign and great for photos. Unfortunately today there were two compounding problems. One, we had no views being in a cloud, and two, there were about a dozen AT thru-hikers finishing their epic 3500km journeys with beer and wine to boot. AT hikers ascend the Hunt Trail from Katahdin Stream Campground. Luckily we were able to squeeze a quick summit pic in with our group amongst the crowds. At this point, we had hiked 10.5km and ascended over 4500ft. We sat down and had a lunch break beside a large rock cairn.

Looking over to where the Knife Edge is supposed to be, we saw nothing but cloud. One of our group members had done the ridge before and knew that under these less than ideal conditions, our goal of doing the Knife Edge Ridge was not meant to be on this day. Instead, we decided to descend the Cathedral Trail, a trail that descends right off Baxter Peak and connects with the Chimney Pond trail we started on to make a loop.