CASCADE & STEPHENS PONDS skiing, hiking, camping, canoeing
Mar 12, 2012 - CASCADE POND from Lake Durant. NPT. Up to 2' of snow, a bit icy in the am, softening up in the pm with temp rising to 60F - good skiing. Long break at the lean-to. Pileated woodpeckers tapping & calling. Aluminum canoe in decent shape at water's edge. Otter feeding going on & off a rock on the pond. Pond looked wet & slushy. 5 hours.
Jan 22, 2012 - CASCADE & STEPHENS PONDS loop trip. 15", topped with 2"-4" of powder, some crustiness in the mix but still very good skiing. From the E end of Lake Durant we skied across the lake to the W end with Blue Mtn peering over our shoulders. The trail to Cascade Pond climbs very steeply at 1st, drops to a stream crossing then slowly gains elevation for a time before climbing a steep pitch to height of land (less effort with climbing skins). Lunched at the newish lean-to on Cascade (E of the outlet) - snow on the pond was silky smooth. Nice series of downhills on the way to Stephens & its lean-to, just watch out for some small wet streams at bottom of hills. Some slush on Stephens, skied to N end & took the shortcut path back to the Northville-Placid Trail, then fun mostly downhill to Durant Campground. 9.7 miles, 5+ hours .
Feb 21, 2010 - STEPHENS POND & NEW SECTION OF NORTHVILLE-PLACID TRAIL TO THE SOUTH. From Lake Durant Campsite. Added a couple of inches of powder to 2/17 total, very nice skiing. Trail well-used to Stephens leanto. After 40 mins. on NPT (1.5+ miles from start) look for an old beech on the left with red paint 10" circle. 100' further on the R there is an axe blaze on a tree with what looks like a 5 in it - the shortcut path to Stephens Pond goes off to the L & reaches the pond in 0.25 miles. Stopped at leanto for a break. Broke trail S along NPT on E slopes of Blue Ridge, have to pay attention to stay on trail. Slowly gain elevation in an up & down way, mostly open hardwoods. Turned around short of Brown's Brook. Out onto Stephens Pond as soon as we see it, go L or W of island, R or E has thin ice. Intermediate skiing. 11.7 miles, 5.7 hours.
Feb 17, 2010 - CASCADE & STEPHENS PONDS from Lake Durant Campsite. NPT packed by skiers/snowshoers; off-trail 10" base with bit of crunchy give + 5" powder; very nice skiing. Peaceful 1 hour relax at Cascade leanto - somebody left an old pair of skis & boots here!?. Crossed outlet on 2-log bridge with no guiderails, open water underneath. Continued W. New trail connecting to Wilson Pond Trail is marked with pink ribbons (0.5 miles from leanto when red trail takes a turn N at signs pictured below) & I followed that for 15 mins. - not an official trail yet so has some blowdown. Lots of downhill on way back. Took unmarked path (leaves NPT a little W of an old beech with some fading red paint on it) over to Stephens. Ponds have solid ice with 5" powder, did not run into any slush like I have in previous visits. Views of Blue Mtn from Lake Durant. 9 miles, 5.2 hours.
Feb 20, 2006 - STEPHENS & CASCADE PONDS ski, near Blue Mt Lake. 3"-5" powder over good base - temp in teens to low 20s. Another blue sky Sunday! Northville-Placid Trail goes thru Lake Durant State Campground (some snowmobile use) then heads S on an old truck road into the Blue Ridge Wilderness (no motors). Generally uphill for a mile (nice run on return). About 1.5mi. from campground look for a red paint circle about 10" in diameter on an old birch to the L. About 50' beyond bushwhack SW (230° magnetic) 0.25mi. thru open woods to shore of Stephens Pond. It is about 0.75mi. to the leanto at the SW end of pond but I take the long way around the E side. Blue Ridge dominates to the SW. Looking N from the S end one can see Blue Mt. Careful of thin ice E of the island - one of Hombrua's skis went thru. Leanto is set back from pond & lacks a view of it. Picked up the NPT behind the leanto & climbed for 0.6mi. to a junction (tricky downhill ski if going in other direction). L for 1 mi. to Cascade Pond. Skied perimeter of pond with good view of Blue Mt. Hung out at leanto before making the extremely enjoyable mostly downhill 3.5 mi. run out. 9 miles, 6hrs. Fischer Outbound skis.
Mar. 19, 2000 - Skied north on N-P Trail from Lake Durant for about a mile but too much southerly exposure had allowed too much snow to melt on many of the better hills so went back & tried N-P Trail south to Stephens Pond. Still enough snow on roads of Lake Durant Campground to ski on but won't last long. Early part of trail is wide & smooth & skiing was good. Closer to junction of trail to Cascade Pond conditions were a bit iffy - some bare spots & rocks. Turning south on N-P Trail also iffy with some thin spots & more rocks - southerly exposure hurts here. Took skis off couple of times but some nice skiing in between. Built fire at the leanto & beat Son of Nehasane in a couple of games of chess. 36F, not a cloud-in-the-sky sunny but a bit breezy. Skied back across the pond (couple of cold nights took care of any wet spots) where ice was still firm with a couple inches of snow on it. There was a little open water at northern shoreline - had to be careful picking safest route. At north end of pond is shortcut back to main trail avoiding all the thin & rocky parts. Over 1/4 mile there are only 2 orange ribbons marking this route since it is not an official trail. Ski back out was mostly enjoyable downhill over good snowcover.Cross country skiing Cascade & Stephens Ponds article.
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