Page Type:
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Route |
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Lat/Lon:
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45.95611°N / 69.01377°W |
Route Type:
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Hike |
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Time Required:
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Most of a day |
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Difficulty:
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walk-up / scramble |
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Approach
Loop overview map
Trailhead is at Slide Dam Picnic Area. See Getting There section on The Brothers page.
Route Description
Can be done in either direction; here I will describe it clockwise.The trailhead is at the Slide Dam Picnic Area. Head East along the Marston Trail about one mile, until it intersects the Mount Coe Trail.
View toward Doubletop
From here the Marston Trail bears more northerly for almost a mile, passing a pond before climbing sharply and turning eastward to reach the North Brother Trail about a mile after that. This section of the trail offers fantastic views of Doubletop Mountain.
Follow the North Brother Trail eastward to the summit of North Brother (a bit more than half a mile), then backtrack. (Optionally, continue northeast past North Brother in a bushwhack to Fort Mountain - reports indicate a use trail is not too hard to follow.)
Note: as of late 2016 I am seeing reports that the spur trail onto the summit of North Brother is in poor shape - very eroded, with lots of blowdowns, and not seeing much or any maintenance. Some are speculating that the Park will do a complete reroute of this trail section - but probably not for a few years yet.
Take the North Brother Trail southwestward about half a mile, then take the short spur trail east to the summit of South Brother. Return to the North Brother Trail and continue south about a mile to the summit of Mt Coe.
The rest of the loop descends a rockslide, consider backtracking instead if conditions are bad.
The trail becomes the Mount Coe trail, follow it south about a quarter mile to the intersection with the O-J-I Link Trail.
Optionally, take a short detour to bag Mount O-J-I, then return to the Mount Coe Trail.
Follow the Mt Coe Trail northwest about a mile and a quarter to return to the Marston Trail.
Essential Gear
Nothing technical for most of the year.In winter, snowshoes may be needed for much of the route, and crampons and probably an ice axe may be useful on the Mt Coe slide.