11: Becoming Mainers
On Thin Ice

On Thin Ice

After picking the brain of one of the locals at the sports shop downtown, we set out discover our first Maine ice, Frankfort Quarry: quarry by spring / summer / fall, but during the winter, a place for snowy hikes and icy climbs. We found the spot easily enough (“turn at Waldo Mountain Road, park on the left when you get to the gate”).

 

Hiking up the trail towards the quarry, we crossed paths with a runner on his way down. Asking him about the ice climbing area – which must be accessed by crossing a frozen pond – he replied in his wonderfully odd Maine accent, “I wouldn’t cross that pond – not yet anyways”.

 

Hmmmmmmmm…..

 

image
Hiking up to the quarry. A “warm” Maine day – 29 and sunny!

 

We kept hiking and figured we’d test the ice for ourselves. Friends of ours had climbed just the day before and had tested the thickness of the pond in several areas with their ice screws, so we felt fairly confident that the ice should hold…

 

image
Nearing the ice!

 

Upon reaching the quarry, our hopes of climbing some thick, epic ice were deflated. The ice was definitely there, but pretty thin in most places. Now, I was happy because this is all single-pitch ice. I go up, I get to come back down. Good practice climbing ice and getting more acquainted with my new tools and climbing ice in general. However, that being said, the ice needs more time to form. Or, we’ll have to get used to mixed climbing (where you climb using your tools on both ice and rock).

 

image
The ice we discovered at the Frankfort Quarry, Maine.

 

bozos
The ice we get to climb out west – Bozo’s near Cody, WY.

 

bozos2
Thick, solid, LARGE ice.

 

ourayIce
Our old playground, Ouray, CO.

 

So, yeah, all in all, a *little* disappointing but we know there’s more ice out there and we’re glad there’s any here in Maine at all.

 

Long story short: we approach the frozen pond, walking very gingerly over the surface and noticing a few refrozen cracks as we go. We get to what appears to be a little island in the middle and Myra breaks through. Stephane is able to grab her right away, pull her up and out and we hightail it home.

Live to climb another day!

image
It was still a nice hike outside in the snow. We were able to get a little elevation and see some nice views.

 

image
Quarry graffiti.

 

image
Snowy cairn.

2 thoughts on “On Thin Ice

    • Author gravatar

      Sara, Stephane — You scare me – thinking of you going out on the ice that is too thin. DON’T
      I know you must miss your Colorado ice but I’m sure you will find other outdoorsy things to do. XO

      • Author gravatar

        Thanks Grams – we are being careful, we always are. We’ve discovered some fun indoor things to do this winter – racquetball, indoor climbing wall, classes at our local gym! We’ll keep away from the ice until it gets cold enough!

Leave a Reply to Sara Hefti Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *