Exploring the Ice Caves in the Debsconeag Lakes Wilderness

On Tuesday, August 10, 2021, we spent our last day in the region of Mount Katahdin by exploring another area:  the Debsconeag Lakes Wilderness.

The Nature Conservancy owns and manages the Debsconeag Lakes Wilderness Area, which is considered a vital link in nearly 500,000 acres of contiguous conservation land that includes Baxter State Park, Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, and other protected preserves.  The Nature Conservancy acquired this 46,271-acre preserve in 2002 and simultaneously helped secure a working forest conservation easement on 195,000 acres adjacent to the Debsconeag Lakes and Baxter State Park.  "Debsconeag" means "carrying place," named by native people for the portage sites where they carried their birch bark canoes around rapids and waterfalls. The Wilderness Area contains the highest concentration of pristine, remote ponds in New England, as well as thousands of acres of mature forests.  Nearly half the forests in the Wilderness Area show no signs of past logging. Trees as old as 300 years are found in more remote areas. Old, undisturbed forests like these are rich in diversity and complexity. The forest floor is covered with logs and mosses and ancient trees, whether standing or fallen, provide habitat for many woodland creatures.

Except for some areas around pre-existing camps, the Nature Conservancy manages the Wilderness Area as an ecological reserve. Ecological reserves are areas set aside for conservation and study of ecosystems. Ideally, the reserves are large enough to withstand storms, diseases and other natural disturbances and to provide secure habitat for wide-ranging species like moose, fisher, bobcat and pine marten. Ecological reserves are important to scientists studying how nature responds to challenges such as climate change, forest pests and diseases, and airborne pollution.

Kathy found, in her online research, that one of the more interesting hikes in the Wilderness Area is a short hike to Ice Caves which contain ice year-round and are accessible to typical hikers.  We thought this would be a great adventure, because it would acquaint us with the Debsconeag Lakes Wilderness Area, give us access to the Appalachian Trail where it leaves the 100 Mile Wilderness and enters Baxter State Park for its climb up Katahdin, and might give us ideas for future visits.

To access the Debsconeag Lakes Wilderness Area, we needed to drive up the Golden Road from Millinocket, south of but paralleling the entrance road to Baxter State Park.  The Golden Road is a 96-mile private road built by the Great Northern Paper Company that stretches from the St. Zacharie Border Crossing with Canada, south to the company's former mill at Millinocket, Maine.  The road, which parallels the West Branch of the Penobscot River, was built between 1969 and 1972 to bring raw wood to the mill from the company's 2.1 million acres of woodland in the Maine North Woods. Great Northern has always allowed private drivers access to the North Woods sections of the road and it is a major thoroughfare into the North Woods for sportsmen and whitewater paddlers on the Penobscot River.  The road is believed to have been named after its appearance; the color of the dirt is so yellow that the road appears to be the color gold.

Here, Dusty stands proudly at the entrance to the Debsconeag Lakes Wilderness Area:

Our drive into the Wilderness Area turned south from the Golden Road along the West Branch Penobscot River on a side road where we had impressive views of Abol Falls on the river:

Reaching the parking area for the trailhead, we had only to cross a footbridge to access the trail:

The bridge crossed a beautiful, stony brook with moss-covered rocks along its banks:

Finally, we reached the trailhead itself, and Kathy pointed the way:

The trail was notable for its woodsy beauty, the fir-duff under foot on the trail, and the innumerable roots crossing our path:

Huge glacial erratics rested near the trail, dwarfing the trees and hikers:

Our trail led us to three possible destinations:  the Ice Caves, a viewpoint over First Debsconeag Lake, and the shoreline of the lake.  Based on recommendations of hikers we met as we headed toward the Ice Caves, we climbed to the viewpoint first.  The lake was pretty and much larger than we anticipated:

Then it was back down to the Ice Caves.  We found the entrance and David drew the short straw, so he was the first to climb down the steel-run ladder into the abyss to search for ice:

Kathy peered down into the cave to discover David demonstrating his own version of a belay.  Don't let the camera angle fool you; it's pointed straight down at David:

We were warned that, while the caves have ice year-round, the ice is least extensive in August.  This proved to be true.  We found this large patch of ice just below our feet in the bottom of the cave, and our camera picked up other patches of ice deeper within.  However, the ice wasn't nearly as impressive as it can be earlier in the year.

To give you an idea how deep we climbed, here is David's photo of Kathy from where he stood at the bottom.  Kathy was halfway down.

We finished our hike and, in the Jeep drove back to a boat ramp on Hurd Pond, where we ate our lunch and enjoyed the view:

As we drove back up along the West Branch Penobscot River, it had cleared up since morning, and we were treated to an imposing view of Mount Katahdin over the river!

When we reached the Golden Road, we found these volunteers staffing the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association tent, which offered Trail Magic to through-hikers passing along the Appalachian Trail -- a scrumptious breakfast before they arrived at Baxter State Park!

We took this opportunity to hike both ways along the Appalachian Trail as it followed the Golden Road for a short distance.  First we walked East, across Abol Bridge toward the Abol Bridge Campground & Store and got another wonderful view of Katahdin:

Abol Bridge Campground & Store is a rustic operation that appears to operate off the grid.  It offers supplies to through-hikers and provides support to visitors who want to paddle or float the West Branch Penobscot River:

Having explored the eastern portion of the A.T. along Golden Road, we drove West to where the Appalachian Trail approaches Golden Road from the south.  While we could not see ourselves hiking the length of the A.T., we had a chance to see and share what friends and acquaintances (not to mention writers and bloggers and other hikers) have experienced as they emerged from the wilderness:

As it turned out, this outing seemed a fitting end to our visit to Baxter State Park and the surrounding area.  We had no idea how extensive and diverse the opportunities are for wilderness outdoor activities.  Despite feeling that we have seen the best parts of Baxter State Park and Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, we have discovered that there are enough other destinations in this area to keep us interested and excited for more than one more visit to the Maine North Woods in the future.

Now, on to the White Mountains of New Hampshire!