Oncoman
Active member
I recall having read in one of Papa Bear’s reports that their car had once gotten stuck in mud on one of Maine’s back roads and that they had to call in a towing truck. I had told myself at the time that I would damn make sure that such a mishap would not happen to me. Well as they say you must never say never…
On my way towards the AT trailhead on Caribou Valley Rd at 4,3 miles from ME27 at 01h30 on the morning of 29th April, my car headlights spotted at the last moment this huge mud hole right in the middle of the road. I desperately tried to avoid it but only succeeded to ditch my car even more into the deeper truck tracks. When I felt the entire front of my minivan drop down by over a foot, I immediately knew that I was in deep mud “shit”. After 15 min. of wheel spinning I gave up and decided to sleep in my car right there and then, and advise in the morning.
The most ironical is that Arm had sent me a private message 2-3 days before, suggesting that I go up Sugarloaf via the ski trail thus avoiding the bad CV road as well as the crossing of the Carrabassett river. But I had waived that idea, since hiking up a ski trail didn’t seem very appealing to my wilderness-graving mind.
Got up at 06h00, ate, gathered my gear and decided to head off towards Spaulding, the 2 Abraham pks and then retrace my steps to bag Sugarloaf, go down one of the ski trails, reach ME27, hitchhike to Stratton and call in a towing truck.
It only took me 10 min. to reach the AT trailhead and I was at the Carrabassett river at 06h50. There was a board across the river thus making an easy & dry traverse; but beware, wood can be very slippery especially when wet and with temps close to freezing point in early morning. At 08h10 I was at the Sugarloaf spur trail junction. After a brief pause and rehydration, I moved on towards Spaulding. The snow was grispy and hardened with no postholing, allowing for a fairly rapid pace. Just over an hour later I was on the Spaulding flat summit with no good views, being under tree level. There was a non-official wooden sign fixed with rope onto a tree to identify the summit, though I had the impression that the true summit, about 2-3 ft higher, was a bit farter on straight ahead in moderately thick bushes.
After 10 min. of obsessive wandering on this uninteresting summit, I turned around and headed back down to the AT, retrieved my packsack and sailed off towards Abraham, whose rocky summit I reached at 11h30. Now that’s the kind of summit I enjoy! Superb 360° view, minimal wind & fairly warm temps. I had a very good view of the entire Abraham range. I walked the rocky range to a nearby peak, about a ½ mile away to the south-east. There were 4-5 cairns on it. My Suunto watch altimeter read 3860 ft. Further off on the range , about another mile to the S.E., I could see another slightly lower peak with a big cairn on its summit, which had to be Middle Abraham. I dropped my pack & studied my route. No need for compass or map. I descended approx. 600 ft via a rock slide on the south side, traversed a wood clearing and then up the rocks to the summit of Middle Abraham. There I found a glass jar with a note pad which I signed and then read a few of the previous hiker’s comments. My Suunto watch now indicated 3740 ft, thus reassuring me that this was indeed M. Abraham.
I had noticed a few cairns on the south-west side on my way up, but there were even more cairns on the north side of M. Abraham likely heading towards the Fire Warden trail. However I preferred to go back by the same way I had arrived. After the wood clearing I entered the bush, but somehow mist the rock slide. I must have swayed too much to the north. In any case I just kept going uphill with a fairly open bushwhack and eventually came unto the F.W. trail which I followed and then climbed back up onto the rocky ridge. I was back to the summit of North Abraham by 14h30. It had taken me 3 hrs to bag Middle Abraham. In retrospect I could have saved a good 30 min. by having taken the F.W. trail and then followed the cairns up the north side of M.A.
On my way back towards the A.T., I started to posthole every 5-10 steps, the warm afternoon temps having considerably softened up the snow. I therefore decided to put on my snowshoes. At the A.T./Abraham spur junction, I noticed some fresh boot tracks which changed into snowshoe tracks just before reaching the Spaulding Lean-to area. I was not alone after all on the trail that day. I started hoping that if I could catch up to them, then maybe they could bring me into town thus avoiding me to have to hitchhike. Well I did catch up to them at the Sugarloaf spur junction. It was a couple putting up their tent and preparing to settle in for the night. Bye-bye my ride! They had left ME4 two days ago and were hiking the A.T. to ME27 where they had spotted a car. After 10 min. of chatting we parted. It was then 18h45. I decided to go up Sugarloaf to admire the sunset, and then go back to my car to pass another night before seeking help, figuring that it would be dark by the time I would reach ME27 and that I could have trouble finding a ride at such a late hour. I also ignored if I could find a public phone at the ski resort to call in a taxi.
By nightfall, around 20h15, I was halfway down the A.T. towards C.V. road. Thereafter the going was slower due to the steepness of the trail and the difficulty following the trail by headlamp. Luckily there was no ice or snow on this steeper portion of the trail, so no need for crampons. I was back to my car by 21h30. Barely 10 min. prior to reaching the road, I had seen a car’s headlights heading out on C.V. Rd towards ME27. Another missed opportunity for help that evening.
The next morning I left for ME27 at 07h30 on another beautiful sunny day. And then 10 min. later 2 moose stopped right in the middle of the road barely 50 yards from me. We all starred each other in the eyes for a few minutes and then went on our ways. What a lovely sight, which greatly cheered me up. One hour later I was at the highway, and in less than 5 min. a good samaritan picked me up. He turned out, would you believe it, to be a French-speaking Maine citizen working in the lumber industry, as well as for the Sugarloaf ski resort. He was driving a pick-up truck with a winch and was more than eager to help me out.
About a mile before reaching my stranded car, we caught up another truck heading in the same direction as us. We all rendezvoused at my car in distress and by 09h00 I was again on firm ground. The other truck driver turned out to have a cellular phone such that I was able to call my wife to reassure her that I was well and not to call in the rescue team. My French-speaking saviour even offered me to take a hot shower before heading back to Montréal, which however I kindly declined. Talk about Maine hospitality! I was back home at 12h45. The Canadian border custom officer teased me about my muddy vehicle, asking me if I had travelled all the Maine back roads that weekend.
What a memorable hiking trip it was, with beautiful views on the Abraham range, 4 peaks bagged and a close encounter with 2 moose, not to mention my most charitable saviour. Truly the wilderness Gods were with me on this one.
Pierre
On my way towards the AT trailhead on Caribou Valley Rd at 4,3 miles from ME27 at 01h30 on the morning of 29th April, my car headlights spotted at the last moment this huge mud hole right in the middle of the road. I desperately tried to avoid it but only succeeded to ditch my car even more into the deeper truck tracks. When I felt the entire front of my minivan drop down by over a foot, I immediately knew that I was in deep mud “shit”. After 15 min. of wheel spinning I gave up and decided to sleep in my car right there and then, and advise in the morning.
The most ironical is that Arm had sent me a private message 2-3 days before, suggesting that I go up Sugarloaf via the ski trail thus avoiding the bad CV road as well as the crossing of the Carrabassett river. But I had waived that idea, since hiking up a ski trail didn’t seem very appealing to my wilderness-graving mind.
Got up at 06h00, ate, gathered my gear and decided to head off towards Spaulding, the 2 Abraham pks and then retrace my steps to bag Sugarloaf, go down one of the ski trails, reach ME27, hitchhike to Stratton and call in a towing truck.
It only took me 10 min. to reach the AT trailhead and I was at the Carrabassett river at 06h50. There was a board across the river thus making an easy & dry traverse; but beware, wood can be very slippery especially when wet and with temps close to freezing point in early morning. At 08h10 I was at the Sugarloaf spur trail junction. After a brief pause and rehydration, I moved on towards Spaulding. The snow was grispy and hardened with no postholing, allowing for a fairly rapid pace. Just over an hour later I was on the Spaulding flat summit with no good views, being under tree level. There was a non-official wooden sign fixed with rope onto a tree to identify the summit, though I had the impression that the true summit, about 2-3 ft higher, was a bit farter on straight ahead in moderately thick bushes.
After 10 min. of obsessive wandering on this uninteresting summit, I turned around and headed back down to the AT, retrieved my packsack and sailed off towards Abraham, whose rocky summit I reached at 11h30. Now that’s the kind of summit I enjoy! Superb 360° view, minimal wind & fairly warm temps. I had a very good view of the entire Abraham range. I walked the rocky range to a nearby peak, about a ½ mile away to the south-east. There were 4-5 cairns on it. My Suunto watch altimeter read 3860 ft. Further off on the range , about another mile to the S.E., I could see another slightly lower peak with a big cairn on its summit, which had to be Middle Abraham. I dropped my pack & studied my route. No need for compass or map. I descended approx. 600 ft via a rock slide on the south side, traversed a wood clearing and then up the rocks to the summit of Middle Abraham. There I found a glass jar with a note pad which I signed and then read a few of the previous hiker’s comments. My Suunto watch now indicated 3740 ft, thus reassuring me that this was indeed M. Abraham.
I had noticed a few cairns on the south-west side on my way up, but there were even more cairns on the north side of M. Abraham likely heading towards the Fire Warden trail. However I preferred to go back by the same way I had arrived. After the wood clearing I entered the bush, but somehow mist the rock slide. I must have swayed too much to the north. In any case I just kept going uphill with a fairly open bushwhack and eventually came unto the F.W. trail which I followed and then climbed back up onto the rocky ridge. I was back to the summit of North Abraham by 14h30. It had taken me 3 hrs to bag Middle Abraham. In retrospect I could have saved a good 30 min. by having taken the F.W. trail and then followed the cairns up the north side of M.A.
On my way back towards the A.T., I started to posthole every 5-10 steps, the warm afternoon temps having considerably softened up the snow. I therefore decided to put on my snowshoes. At the A.T./Abraham spur junction, I noticed some fresh boot tracks which changed into snowshoe tracks just before reaching the Spaulding Lean-to area. I was not alone after all on the trail that day. I started hoping that if I could catch up to them, then maybe they could bring me into town thus avoiding me to have to hitchhike. Well I did catch up to them at the Sugarloaf spur junction. It was a couple putting up their tent and preparing to settle in for the night. Bye-bye my ride! They had left ME4 two days ago and were hiking the A.T. to ME27 where they had spotted a car. After 10 min. of chatting we parted. It was then 18h45. I decided to go up Sugarloaf to admire the sunset, and then go back to my car to pass another night before seeking help, figuring that it would be dark by the time I would reach ME27 and that I could have trouble finding a ride at such a late hour. I also ignored if I could find a public phone at the ski resort to call in a taxi.
By nightfall, around 20h15, I was halfway down the A.T. towards C.V. road. Thereafter the going was slower due to the steepness of the trail and the difficulty following the trail by headlamp. Luckily there was no ice or snow on this steeper portion of the trail, so no need for crampons. I was back to my car by 21h30. Barely 10 min. prior to reaching the road, I had seen a car’s headlights heading out on C.V. Rd towards ME27. Another missed opportunity for help that evening.
The next morning I left for ME27 at 07h30 on another beautiful sunny day. And then 10 min. later 2 moose stopped right in the middle of the road barely 50 yards from me. We all starred each other in the eyes for a few minutes and then went on our ways. What a lovely sight, which greatly cheered me up. One hour later I was at the highway, and in less than 5 min. a good samaritan picked me up. He turned out, would you believe it, to be a French-speaking Maine citizen working in the lumber industry, as well as for the Sugarloaf ski resort. He was driving a pick-up truck with a winch and was more than eager to help me out.
About a mile before reaching my stranded car, we caught up another truck heading in the same direction as us. We all rendezvoused at my car in distress and by 09h00 I was again on firm ground. The other truck driver turned out to have a cellular phone such that I was able to call my wife to reassure her that I was well and not to call in the rescue team. My French-speaking saviour even offered me to take a hot shower before heading back to Montréal, which however I kindly declined. Talk about Maine hospitality! I was back home at 12h45. The Canadian border custom officer teased me about my muddy vehicle, asking me if I had travelled all the Maine back roads that weekend.
What a memorable hiking trip it was, with beautiful views on the Abraham range, 4 peaks bagged and a close encounter with 2 moose, not to mention my most charitable saviour. Truly the wilderness Gods were with me on this one.
Pierre
