By Ebba McArt and Mary Wormwood
Photos by Ebba McArt and Leslie Moses
On a crisp morning in late February 2012, a group of 10 residents boarded the Eastman Recreation van with Leslie Moses and Charlie Taber at the controls. Destination: the Gauge Road Trailhead for the Maine Hut to Hut Trails, the starting point for our four-day, 45-mile, cross country ski adventure. When we arrived at the trailhead, located near the Sugarloaf Ski Area in western Maine, there was deep new snow. The first test for each of us was to load a big backpack onto our back and – while pondering whether we might have over-packed just a little—skiing up a steep climb and more hills for 2.5 miles to the Poplar Steam Falls Hut, our eco-lodge destination for the night.
The hut was warm and welcoming. The hut-keepers were three funny, enthusiastic, dyed-in-the-wool New Englanders, not long out of college. The length of their beards bore witness to the time that had elapsed since they skied into the hut at the beginning of the season. They were our greeters, hosts and cooks. All huts feature locally sourced, organically grown, hut-made meals. Dinner that night was delicious, and our hosts packed each of us a substantial lunch the following morning.
They also gave us a “green tour,” proudly demonstrating the high-tech, wood boiler heating unit and the super-efficient composting toilet system. Showers were efficient too: a token purchased us exactly three minutes of hot water. Some of us challenged ourselves to see if we might be able to finish showering before our time ran out. Most of us were still showering when the hot water ended. We slept in heated, rustic bunk bed cabins, six to eight women or men to a room, which brought back childhood camp memories.
On day two, our goal was the Flagstaff Lake Hut, about 12 miles down the trail. The day was sunny and beautiful with perfect snow. Thankfully, our big backpacks were delivered to the next hut by snowmobile and only the lunch-packs weighed us down. The terrain was varied: woods and open terrain, rolling hills and flat areas. We set a comfortable pace and made rest stops. Roughly mid-way, we had our lunch break at a yurt, piling inside to get out of the chill.
The Flagstaff Lake Hut was beautiful. Two young women who ran it greeted us warmly. Before long, Betty Kargacos was using her physical therapist stretching skills to help us restore our sore muscles. A few blisters and ankles needed attention too. Later, we were joined by a lively group of women, all outdoor magazine journalists. They told stories and shared their cocktail hour with us. Their guest for the night was none other than the owner/creator of the nonprofit hut trail enterprise. We learned how the trail came to be and of plans to expand it from 45 to 180 miles, making it the longest hut-to-hut ski and one of the longest hiking trails in the country. Dinner was hearty and we all felt justified in eating a lot.
After a night’s sleep and another solid breakfast, we were ready to ski 12 miles to the last destination: Grand Falls Hut. We encountered our most challenging trails to date—steep slopes and a few scary turns in the woods – but also beautiful open areas with views. Our ski legs seemed to emerge. Charlie and Leslie gave us the support we needed for all levels of skiing. Near the end of the trail, we crossed the fast running Dead River on a narrow bridge. Spectacular views of Basin Mountain, Little Bigelow and other peaks to the west awaited us. The Grand Falls hut-keepers were a friendly young couple. We stretched, relaxed by the fire and enjoyed another big tasty dinner. A huge, challenging puzzle and games of Farkel – a Recreation trip specialty—occupied us late into the night. Joe Holmes was the indisputable puzzle master.
Our final day on the trail was a return 12-mile ski to the Flagstaff Lake Hut (and our departing trailhead) on the same trails we had navigated successfully the day before. This time we got an earlier start because we needed to make good time. The morning was sunny but frigid, motivation enough to keep us moving through a short, final lunch stop. We arrived happy but exhausted at the trailhead and our waiting van, and were homeward bound by mid-afternoon.
We had enjoyed a wonderful ski adventure, though, perhaps, it’s not for the faint of heart. Each one of us was justifiably proud of our own effort. The conditioning that the Maine hut-to-hut excursion had generated became readily apparent to us on our next Eastman ski outing, when old hills suddenly seemed nonexistent and barely an extra breath was wasted.
Trip participants included Maureen Connelly, Renee Gustafson, Dick Hocker, Amy Hoffman, Joe Holmes, Betty and Andy Kargacos, Ebba McArt, Judy McCarthy and Mary Wormwood. Recreation will not be sponsoring a trip of this kind this winter, but if you want to challenge yourself to a ski trek, you can go to their website at www.mainehuts.org or call them at 877-634-8824.
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