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Baxter... new rules.

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    • Baxter... new rules.

      New Article---Source

      Concerned by the increasing number of Appalachian Trail long-distance hikers entering the park and climbing Katahdin, officials with Maine’s Baxter State Park will for the first time begin regulating AT thru hikers in the park in 2016.
      Park officials will begin implementing an AT hiker permit card system this year. And while there will be no limit to the permits in 2016, and the system appears to be geared toward gathering information on thru hikers, it could very well be a first step toward more strict regulation of AT thru hikers climbing Katahdin in the future.
      Baxter State Park has hosted the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail since it was established in 1933. But over the past decade, park officials have grown increasingly concerned with the growing numbers of AT thru hikers entering the park.
      In 1991, the total number of recorded AT long distance hikers in Baxter State Park was 359. In 2015, 2,137 AT long distance hikers were registered in the park. Use of the park by AT long distance hikers increased an average of 8% annually over this period.
      Processes to limit daily access to Katahdin trails to manage visitor experience in the park’s wilderness and to protect the park’s alpine zone have been in place for 30 years for visitors from Maine and elsewhere, with the exception of AT long distance hikers.
      To improve park management of AT long distance hikers in the years ahead and to be equitable to all Baxter State Park visitors, park officials say they will be implementing a new AT Long Distance Hiker Permit System in 2016.
      All northbound thru hikers, section hikers and flip-flop AT hikers entering Baxter Park in 2016 will be required to secure an AT Long Distance Hiker Permit Card. Southbound AT hikers will not be required to obtain a card.
      Permit cards must be acquired in person by the AT long distance hiker. There will be no limit to the number of AT Long Distance Hiker Permit Cards available in 2016, and there will be no charge for the cards.
      To acquire an AT Long Distance Hiker Permit Card, an AT long distance hiker will need to provide their name and trail name. The card will be dated at the time of issue and again at Katahdin Stream Campground in Baxter State Park at the time of the AT hiker’s completion of their Katahdin climb.
      Northbound Thru, Section and Flip-Flop AT hikers entering through the Togue Pond or Matagamon Gates will be required to show their card to the Gatehouse Attendant. An AT Long Distance Hiker Permit Card will also be required for AT long distance hikers staying at The Birches facility at Katahdin Stream Campground.
      The number of AT Long Distance Hiker Permit Cards that have been issued will be posted daily on the park’s Facebook page and website (www.baxterstateparkauthority.com).
      The park will maintain a list of the AT long distance hikers who were issued a completion date on their card. This list will be published on the park website at the close of the summer hiking season each year.
      AT Hiker Long Distance Hiker Permit Cards will be available at a
      number of locations including: park headquarters in Millinocket, the
      Appalachian Trail Lodge in Millinocket, the BSP/AT Steward at Abol
      Bridge, and Katahdin Stream Campground in Baxter State Pa
      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup:
    • Lottery perhaps WOO. I do not think BSP is in it for the money per say, but no doubt need to cover the costs associated with long distance hikers.

      One of the goals no doubt is to break up the large groups which can have a negative effect on the summit experience.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • The world is a big place and people from different places express themselves differently.
      I know someone who moved to Georgia because his wife wanted to be near their kids and grandkids.
      They sold their house and business in New York, had a custom house built on a lake in some part of Georgia, he lined up a job and they moved there. I saw him about 6 months later, thinking he was just back visiting, but he told me he couldn't live there because everything happened too slow and the people were "unfocused" . So, in some ways it's just a matter of what you are used to.
    • JimBlue wrote:

      Oh, I've been to Maine, down by the coast. It is beautiful. Its the residents' attitudes I can do without.

      I've been lots of other places that were beautiful. There was far less 'attitude' from the people who lived there.
      JB, nothing wrong with the Maineiacs. Oh, their sense of humor can be a bit peculiar, and their reserved nature may seem cold to an outsider, but most people from Maine are good, hard working folks who would give you the flannel shirt off their backs.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • Maine's a beautiful state, has the prettiest shorelines and the AT in Maine is awesome. Katahdin is like nothing else you'll find on the AT. Sugarloaf and Sunday River have some of the best skiing in the east. Gorham and Bethel are great little towns. One of the best Grateful Dead shows I ever saw was an outdoor show in Lewiston. Etc. etc. But they did elect an asshole tea partier for governor.
    • JimBlue wrote:

      And my dad, who was born there, refuses to go back. As I said, I've been there, I wont return.
      Had a buddy tell me she was getting lobster off the boat at a dollar per lb...all the more reason for me to visit.

      Lest we forget.....



      SSgt Ray Rangel - USAF
      SrA Elizabeth Loncki - USAF
      PFC Adam Harris - USA
      MSgt Eden Pearl - USMC
    • Blue Jay La Fey wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      the boss has declared this a no political website. take that schitt to whiteblaze.
      Sorry Mr. Alligator, please don't ban me.
      when the owner of the place who has invested time and money in getting this site off the ground makes one simple rule -- no politics -- i think that request should be honored. such an easy concept that so many have trouble understanding.
      2,000 miler
    • max.patch wrote:

      such an easy concept that so many have trouble understanding.
      A single word is not a concept and in this case the word can mean the existence of the AT and/or this website or it can mean nothing. Even if it was a concept this word of all words is not in anyway "easy". You have politics or you have violence PERIOD. People forget this and I feel it is the main reason civilization has to struggle to survive. As you have pointed out this is not my website and I certainly will honor your request and try to post only gear and/or football information. I do wish all ticks were poly.
    • Carl Wilcox of the Maine ATC posted a report on AT Thru hiker activity at Baxter State Park for 2022 on FB and it was interesting enough I thought I would repost it here...

      Baxter State Park year end numbers. I'm the chair of the Agency Relations Committee for the Maine Appalachian Trail Club. The primary focus is to keep the staff at BSP happy so the Appalachian Trail will continue to terminate there. It is not a given that it ends on Katahdin.
      Besides 13.5 inches of rain falling on the park in less than 24 hours on October 14 into 15 and then 2 days later another 6 plus inches, all of which did a lot of trail damage below the tree line due to upper mountain runoff and requiring the rescue of hikers, though none from the AT in the park and the Hunt trail is described by park staff as being rugged against rain, i.e. It is hard to washout boulders, the 2022 year end numbers follow.
      Nobo thru 1,479
      Nobo section 574
      Flip flop north 192
      SoBo thru 336
      SoBo section 178
      Flip flop south 135
      IT pretty much all Nobos who haven't had enough hiking and want to continue on to Canada and beyond, 6
      Organized hiking groups 22 with a total of 201 hikers.
      The Grand total number of hikers counted against the Appalachian Trail in 2022 was 2,900. That is 19 fewer than the all time record year of 2017.
      In 2017 to control use and limit summit crowds BSP put a limit of 3,150 AT hikers allowed to summit in a year. This year a very well known hiker complained that the summit was too crowded when they summitted. It did not provide the summit experience they desired. If the number is greater 3,150 when you arrive at Katahdin stream, which has not yet happened, you must leave the park, spend the night outside the park, and enter as a day hiker. If there is enough room for day hikers that day you can summit. Then you are counted as a day hiker. There is a daily day hiker limit.
      All in all it was a pretty good year for the staff with AT hikers. An annual occurrence is the last couple of weeks there are a lot of entitlement issues. Hikers don't want to pay the fee to camp in the park, illegal camping, hikers upset when the park is full and BSP does not provide them a place to camp, climbing the mountain after it is closed for the season which this year the last day was October 20th - same as last year.
      #appalachiantrail
      #appalachiantrail2022
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • IMScotty wrote:

      rhjanes wrote:

      I'm not sure how to read this line.

      IT pretty much all Nobos who haven't had enough hiking and want to continue on to Canada and beyond, 6
      I presume It should have read IAT = International Appalachian Trail
      That's what I also thought. "And for those NOBO's who haven't had enough hiking and wanted to continue on into Canada and beyond, 6.".
      It's so easy to be an armchair editor.....

      IMScotty, thanks for posting this report. I'm also guessing that Baxter has perhaps the most accurate numbers? The 'park' (land Trust) is tracking numbers of every visitor. I guess some thru hikers could enter, summit and not state they were thru hikers, but I'm guessing that number is small. At the southern terminus and all other ATC locations, it's the honor system to stop and check in.
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork
    • odd man out wrote:

      I had a very clever sockdolager composed for Drew, but then realizing it was FB, I figured why waste the time.
      I don't think he realized how much of a dick he sounded.
      its all good