| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
North Brother, Fort Mountain, ME |
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 | Trails: |
Marston Trail, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Tuesday, September 15, 2026 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Steve drove and his truck was great on the tote road. The road is rough in spots but not bad at all. We were the first vehicles in the lot and when we returned there were only 2 others. It's a large lot so there is plenty of room. There is an outhouse on site. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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|
 | Water Crossing Notes: |
All were easy rock hops |
|
 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
The Marston Trail is in lovely shape with only a few step overs or go arounds. It is quite eroded in that last .8 miles due to water runoff. Bog bridges were all in good shape too. |
|
 | Dog-Related Notes: |
No pups in Baxter. |
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 | Bugs: |
Nonexistent in the morning down low. They were bad and biting at both summits and lingered as we descended. We were surprised that they were hanging around so late. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Nothing lost and nothing found |
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 | Comments: |
When you get up at 1:30am to head to Baxter, you know it's going to be an amazing day and it was. Our crew met up and headed into the park at 7am. The Marston trail is beautiful and the footing is soft and so nice. There were some wet areas along the way but it wasn't really wet until that last .8 miles to the summit of North Brother. There was water running down the trail there with some areas of mud and slick rocks. Once we were above that stretch, the rocks were dry and grippy. The bushwhack to Fort is tight in many places but if you can push through the trees you can usually find a footbed. There were slick roots and holes along the way which Steve called out as we moved along. Every so often we would reach an area that was less dense and there was great cheering. The climb up to Fort has one rock that is tricky to get up. We approached it from the left and used a tree for assistance. The quote of the day came from that spot and we laughed over that for the rest of the hike. This was another episode in the Thag and Uki show and we loved having Rachel join us. Huge thanks to Steve for agreeing to join me for this one and driving and supplying us all with snacks and entertainment. We will be back again this winter. Or so he keeps telling me. |
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 | Name: |
Uki |
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 | E-Mail: |
ukisukinaminanu@yahoo.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2026-09-16 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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