Katahdin/Baxter - Need Help

Hey all,

I'm looking for a little climbing brotherhood/help from the community. A friend and I have planned a trip up to Baxter SP to climb this weekend. Knowing the restrictions on camping, gear, time constraints, etcetera, I just gave a call to Baxter S.P. to confirm that I would be alright for the weekend. They just informed me that all the parking spots are taken up for the weekend and that I can't walk/bike in. She said the only way I would be able to access the park that weekend would be to get a lift through the gates and that I would be fine to enjoy the park. 

I am hoping that I can bribe a fellow climber to let me and my partner sit in the back seat to go through the gates on the morning of 9/23. I would be more than happy to pay for the parking pass and buy beer. As a side note, we wouldn't need a ride out unless it just happened that you passed us as we were thumbing our way out of the park. Please let me know if you can help out. 

Thanks!

Jack

jackkelly00 wrote:

Hey all,

I'm looking for a little climbing brotherhood/help from the community. A friend and I have planned a trip up to Baxter SP to climb this weekend. Knowing the restrictions on camping, gear, time constraints, etcetera, I just gave a call to Baxter S.P. to confirm that I would be alright for the weekend. They just informed me that all the parking spots are taken up for the weekend and that I can't walk/bike in. She said the only way I would be able to access the park that weekend would be to get a lift through the gates and that I would be fine to enjoy the park. 

I am hoping that I can bribe a fellow climber to let me and my partner sit in the back seat to go through the gates on the morning of 9/23. I would be more than happy to pay for the parking pass and buy beer. As a side note, we wouldn't need a ride out unless it just happened that you passed us as we were thumbing our way out of the park. Please let me know if you can help out. 

Thanks!

Jack

What planning have you done?  What is it you hope to do?

Hi Eric, We were planning to head up Friday, camp outside the park, and do one of the classic routes such as Pamola IV, American Beauty, Armadillo, Flatiron, etc. on Sat. 

...Or possibly head up Thursday and climb the route early Friday morning depending on the availablility of parking help. We would seek an alternate route with the folks helping us so as not to interfere with the plans of the party helping us. 

Part of the allure of Katahdin is it's solitude which is in part due to the bureaucracy you have to deal with just to get into the park. The bureaucracy is both a blessing and a curse. Doing a route there without staying overnight in the park (either at roaring brook or chimney pond) will be challenging but doable if you're quick.

Good luck with getting a ride. If I was going up that weekend I'd certainly help you out! 

...just bumping up this thread for my brother jack.  Him and his partner are great guys and will definitely take care of anyone who helps them.  Good luck bro!

For what its worth  the four times I've gone climbing on Katahdin (all on weekends) I have never purchased a day parking pass. That being said we had arrived usually more then an  hour early and were within the first five cars in line at the gate. It wasn't until the last planned trip we had at the end of this last August that I looked for the first time on the website and realized that all the day parking passes were taken (subsequently not going), but was also told by a coworker that climbs up there a lot that they allow 4-5 extra cars in on top of the day parking permits. I don't know how accurate that statement is but I think we had been lucky being able to get there really early in order to be the first few cars in. Best of luck, Katahdin is such an amazing place to climb.     

Thank you for the feedback Charlie and Zak.

Chris, take a day off work and come climbing!

Thanks to the people who provided feedback.