My friend Pete and I once took a group of folks into Chimney Pond at Mt. Katahdin in Maine for a week of winter fun at 30 below zero. It was that trip that I skied slowly across the frozen South Basin pond during a light snowfall and understood how important wild places were to our being. We also headed up to the summit in full winter conditions and did some skiing high in the south basin. Some of the folks also tackled some climbs on the Pamola Ice Cliffs near the camp. It stayed very cold that whole week, and the snow was so deep we dug down into a shelter to set up our kitchen.
That was in 1986, when we were still getting normal winters with big snowpacks.
This year may be close to those old days as they have had a great deal of snow up in northern Maine this winter. Pete just got back from a trip there and sent this great shot looking down the saddle towards the Pamola Ice cliffs and South Basin Pond beyond them. Pete reported 84 inches on the ground.
