Caribou Valley/Pond Road and other ME 4k questions.

[MarkL]

I've searched the older discussions first, and have a general picture of the CVR, but a couple of questions remain. I hope to climb several ME 4ks from Dec. 25-29.
How far down the CVR can I expect to drive and be able to park with my compact Saturn? As far as the metal bridge? Should I just forget about using that road at all given current conditions? I should add that I don't want to have an interesting CVR tale to tell afterwards. I've got real snow tires and FrontWD, but not a lot of clearance, maybe 5-6" according to the specs.
How about to that gravel pit about 1.3 miles in?

Most of the 4k's are in that region of Maine. (all but Old Speck and the 3 in Baxter SP.) Which of these might require an ice ax, and on which approaches would that be?
Thank you.

 

[lx93]

Mark,

I did Redington in March 2006, drove in CVR w/ a 1992 Integra w/ great snows, and in April 2006, drove in CVR on a 1999 Civic w/ lousy snows. The condition of CVR is lousy, the worst road I have ever driven on. You can drive in as far as you want, I just drove really slow.

In April, I drove past where it was plowed (I'm guessing 1 mile b4 the AT crossing, 3? miles from the "normal" road), and got stuck. I called Don, the owner of the hostel in Stratton (perfect 4 hikers- clean, safe, heated but affordable lodging) where I stayed at, and he was nice enough to come tow me out. He prob would've done it for free, but I gave him a nice gratuity. PM me & I'll give you his #.

I also did Saddleback/The Horn, the 2 Averys (can see Kathadin from there), Crocker/S. Crocker in March and Sugarloaf/Spaulding/Abraham (locals call it "Mt. Abram") in April. Funny thing, Crocker/S. Crocker & the AT from Sugarloaf to Abram even that late in the season required snowshoes despite very little snow, due to so few other hikers to pack it down. I don't recall any sections where I used my ice ax, or even regretted not having crampons (I did have StabilIcers).

The most difficult parts would've been finding the Mt. Abram trailhead, and navigating to Redington, as there were numerous logging roads. No problems telling where the summit was on any of the peaks, but if you like I can e-mail you pix.

 

[Mike P.]

This will be mostly determined on whether or not they are logging off of CVR. They were logging off lower parts of the road last year. Keep watching the ME trail conditions.

 

[weatherman]

Re: needing an ax-
Of course you will hear many opinions on this one. Some will say you never need one in this area, and most of the time they are right. Generally:
Crockers, Spaulding, and Redington- no ax, can't see why you'd need one ever.

Abraham- we carried axes during an icy, low snow ascent 2 Januarys ago from the Kingfield side. We used them on the open slope above treeline just as insurance for 200 yards. Had we not had them, we almost certainly would have been fine, as long as we were careful. Other approaches may not need them ever.

Sugarloaf- yeah there is a bunch of above treeline stuff, but really no steep trails that are also above treeline. The dome is quite gentle. The bit of the AT on the CVR side of Sugarloaf below treeline is wicked steep though, perhaps one might be useful to pull yourself up, but I'd probably pass.

Saddleback- very unlikely you'd need one.

Old Speck- there are some quite steep places depending on which trail, but nothing that would create an extended fall. Really no above treeline stuff to speak of.

Bigelows- haven't done these in forever, so I can't remember well, but again not too much that is extended steep above treeline. Others can help more.

So in general, if you don't have one, probably unlikely to need to buy one for this trip. I would carry crampons though.
Weatherman

 

[MarkL]

Thanks Weatherman. I'll bring the ax and leave it in the car unless I hear local reports about lots of ice. I just sharpened my crampons, and always climb with 2 poles, so I think I should be good.

Re: needing an ax-
Of course you will hear many opinions on this one. Some will say you never need one in this area, and most of the time they are right. Generally: ....
So in general, if you don't have one, probably unlikely to need to buy one for this trip. I would carry crampons though.
Weatherman

 

[Raymond]

I haven't climbed any of these mountains at this time of year, but there is one spot going up Saddleback (on the approach from Route 27) that is steep enough to have metal steps stuck into the rock; watch you don't catch a foot in those.

The drop off of Saddleback toward The Horn is pretty steep, too.

The ridge at the top of West Peak is pretty narrow and the wind was howling when we were up there several Septembers ago.

Regarding Caribou Valley Road, the bottom of my Corolla banged coming off that last bridge before the Appalachian Trail crossing when we drove up there in 2002. I parked before it the next time; it's only a short walk from there to the AT anyway. We met someone atop Abraham I think who told us he had driven all the way up to Redington Pond, but I don't see how that would have been possible, as there was a big rock a couple feet high right in the middle of the (narrow) road somewhere along that road. There was also a wooden bridge that had a broken support beam.

Hey! Did it! Thanks, Papa!

 

[MarkL]

Belated thank yous

Hey, I'm sorry. I was going to make a final post in this thread when I got back from Maine, but didn't get around to it, and finally forgot.
Thanks to everyone who gave me suggestions and info about possible road conditions, which mountains to do when, where to stay, etc
It was a great trip, more successful than I had reason to expect or even hoped for! And I tend to hope for more than I have reason to expect.
Old Speck was easy to do before showing up for the planned ski weekend Friday evening. After the alleged ski weekend (rain all day Saturday), I drove to the Stratton area Sunday afternoon. I at first hoped to get maybe 5-6 peaks by the following Friday. then I thought, I don't want to drive all the way back here again, so it would be worth staying a few extra days if that's what's needed to get all 10 in the area.
Sunday afternoon-evening I scouted the CVR and saw a bull moose on the way out after dark!! That night I slept out at the Bigelow trailhead, ~3-4 miles down the ____ Pond Rd. Monday I climbed Avery and West.
Mon. night I slept out on the CVR, and Tues. climbed the Crockers and Reddington.
Tues night I stayed at the Maine Roadhouse and took Wed as a rest day.
Wed I met a group of peakbaggers staying there. Harry K was the only one I'd met before.
Thurs I joined them for Saddleback and The Horn.
Friday I joined them for an Abraham-Spaulding-Sugarloaf traverse.
That's it!! All 10 in that area by Friday! Yeeehaw!
I got back home and sat on my laurels for 2 weeks before climbing again!
I posted trail condition reports for all 5 hikes. the first 3 were by MarkL, the last 2 were by "VFTT hodgepodge from NY and Quebec"
Now I have "only" 3 peaks left to do in Maine.
Thanks again for making this possible.
Mark