Maine Mountain Madness 9/2 - 9/7

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Tom Rankin

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 28, 2004
Messages
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Location
Bloomville, New York
Short form:

12 peaks (11 4k's plus NEHH)
55 miles
20K feet of elevation gain

Longer form:

Day 0 - Drove to visit Miss Margaret in Portland. Her car was broken, so we just spent the night and went on to Western Maine w/o her. :( Did we leave a map there?

Day 1 - The Bigelows, with the Horn thrown in for good measure. We met Rejean and another VFTT'r (sorry forgot your name), while on Avery. The hike was about 12.5 miles, over about 8 hours. Perfect weather! Incredible views, could see Washington and Katahdin! (No Moose at the 'moose pit' in Stratton. Stayed at the White Wolf Inn, for $20.00 per night!!! :eek: )

Day 2 - Drove from Stratton to Rangeley for Saddleback and the Horn. Went up the ski slopes. About 7 miles RT. Windy, but still great view! Met Chabela and s.o. on the Horn, as they were finishing the NE67! Congrats! We gave them a ride down to their car. (No Moose at the 'moose pit' again).

Day 3 - Did the Crockers and Reddington. Herdpath well defined, met a VERY obvious herd path at 3700' or so on Reddington, which came in from the left. Again, windy but great views! (No Moose at the 'moose pit').

Day 4 - Laundry, Internet, and rest! :D (Saw 3 moose at the Moose Pit and a bull along the road, near Sugarloaf).

Day 5 - Sugarloaf, Spaulding, and Abraham! 18 miles, 5000' of elevation gain, possibly the longest/most elevation gain I've ever done on the same hike! Whew! Once again, great views, a little windy, humid and hazy, but still not bad.

Day 6 - Old Speck! BLEAH! I did not remember how many ups and downs there were! We were tired from the previous day, and it seemed to take forever! The AT sure is in no hurry to get to the summit or make upward progress here! Hazy, hot and humid too! Yuck, Yuck, Yuck!

Great food and GREAT BEER everywhere in Maine! :D

Pics coming...

(Day 7 - Flags on the 48 - another TR...)
 
Very cool. Is Laurie working on the New England stuff now? I was just over in Maine a couple weeks ago bagging some of those same peaks, but I've been too busy/lazy to post a report.

Hey, if you get a minute, PM me your address, maybe I can ride up to Tillson some time and we could take a walk and/or get a beer at the Postage Inn or something.

Matt
 
mcorsar said:
Very cool. Is Laurie working on the New England stuff now? I was just over in Maine a couple weeks ago bagging some of those same peaks, but I've been too busy/lazy to post a report.

Hey, if you get a minute, PM me your address, maybe I can ride up to Tillson some time and we could take a walk and/or get a beer at the Postage Inn or something.

Matt
Yeah, she is. She's up to about 75. I'm going for round 2! :eek: :D
 
Last edited:
pics:

http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m1.jpg - View from the Horn West of Avery
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m2.jpg - Avery from West Avery
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m3.jpg - Tom and Rejean on Avery
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m4.jpg - The other Horn from Saddleback
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m5.jpg - Pond up on Saddleback
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m6.jpg - View of Bigelows from Crockers
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m7.jpg - AT Marker on North Crocker
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m8.jpg - Signing in at the only 115 Canister!
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m9.jpg - Laurie on Reddington
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m10.jpg - Slides on the side of Spaulding
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m11.jpg - Slides on the side of Spaulding
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m12.jpg - Abraham from Sugarloaf
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m13.jpg - Abraham from Abraham
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m14.jpg - Abraham fire tower
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m15.jpg - Sugarloaf and Spaulding from Abe
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m16.jpg - Guess what we were eating!
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m17.jpg - Can you find Mr. Hoppy?
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m18.jpg - The eyebrow near Old Speck
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m19.jpg - Bald Pate from Old Speck
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m20.jpg - Tower on Old Speck
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m21.jpg - Tom and Laurie after 12 peaks!
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m22.jpg - Great Blue Heron
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m10.jpg - Shhh! It's a moose!!! :eek:
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m29.JPG - What are YOU looking at :eek:
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m28.JPG - Taking a Drink
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m23.JPG - Bull-Winkle near Sugarloaf
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m24.JPG - One more time...
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m25.JPG - Name that Raptor!
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m26.JPG - One more time!
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/m27.JPG - Just gotta love him!
 
Wow, great trip! You had amazing clarity up on the Bigelows. Glad you had fun in "my" state, Tom. ;)
 
Congrats Tom for the 12 peaks, great to meet you on Avery. The other
hiker was Ray from VFTT. :)
 
Good job, sounds like a nice trip.

I have 6 more peaks in Maine. Next years plan. I will have to talk to you about them.
 
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