Last Friday's storm brought upwards of a foot of new snow to the Park.  That's great!  Chimney Pond now has over 60" on the ground - still short of the 80" we had last year, but plenty of snow to get around on.  Visitors will have to break out trails that were well worn before last Friday's storm, and we advise all travelers in the high country of the Park should carefully evaluate avalanche danger in planning their routes and approaches.
Speaking of avalanche danger, many thanks to Jon Tierney of Acadia Mountain Guides for providing excellent training to Park Rangers this past weekend.
Some work in hauling supplies and materials remains to be completed at Chimney and Russell Pond and Holly Hamilton of Katahdin Lake Wilderness Camps tells me that her crews will be very busy hauling supplies for the next several weeks - so please be alert on Park trails as we work to complete this important effort before warmer temperatures soften the trail and herald the approach of spring.
While most of us concentrate on outside winter activities in the Park, much of the most important Park work happens behind the scenes during the winter months.  New Park Ranger vehicles often require substantial refitting for Park use, including the installation of bed racks, two-way radios and law enforcement equipment.  In the complex vehicles on the market today, this can be challenging work.  The Park is fortunate to have a skilled mechanic who makes it all look easy.  Park mechanic Frank George spends his winter months outfitting the new Ranger vehicles and keeping our snowmobile fleet up and running. Frank is one of the many Park employees who make it all happen and if you are lucky, you may even see Frank on a snowmobile in the Park!

Park Mechanic Frank George at work

On Tuesday, February 21, I had the opportunity to travel to Chimney Pond.

Along with the Chief Ranger, Naturalist and Resource Manager, I spent Valentine's Day on a patrol into Russell Pond.

Ben Woodard, Rick Morrill and Jean Hoekwater at Foss & Knowlton Pond

It's now at the point that I can't remember the date of the last significant snowfall - probably in late January.

It seems that winter is finally settling in. 

Chimney Pond received 12" of snow on Wednesday with a trace of rain at the end. 
Rangers have broken out the winter trail through Pogy Gap to Russell Pond and are continuing to work on setting this trail prior to beginning hauling supplies to Russell.