DreamFarmer
Active member
(Saddleback, The Horn, Sugarloaf, Spaulding, Abraham, Baxter Peak, Hamlin, North Brother)
Saturday ( 7/5) I drove to Rangeley and checked in to the Town and Lake Motel about 5PM. I grabbed a snack, unpacked and got my pack ready for hiking Saddleback and The Horn on Sunday.
When I finished, I took a drive up to the Saddleback Ski area where I was meeting Pete Hogan & friends on Monday afternoon. I wanted to check out the condo we rented so I’d know where it was. We had rented the condo for our “base camp” for doing Pete’s hike that would conclude his quest for the 115. On the way back to town I saw 2 woman with packs walking along the road and looking a little stressed…no…desperate. I stopped to ask them if they had hiked Saddleback. Before I finished my sentence they were asking for a ride into Town or wherever I was headed. They had hiked Saddleback along the AT from the AT parking area on Rt 4. They were cold and beat after summiting Saddleback and didn’t think it was safe to hike back to their car along the trail. They figured they’d come down Saddleback to the ski area and take their chances catching a ride. They made the right call, because I drove them to their car. They were very relieved and I felt good about that.
Then I went to Sarge’s for a dinner and a couple beers. There was a band playing and a small, happy, local group showed up in celebration of their High School -20 year- class reunion. There were 9 or 12 people in that graduating class, depending on who I asked. It was fun watching these happy people. I chatted at length with Rodney, a logger, about the logging business in the area. I got educated.
Since I had all day to do my hike, I didn’t rush off on Sunday morning. I think I arrived at Saddleback ski area around 8AM and poked along towards the summit. I had some aerial photos with me to help find my way up the ski trails but they didn’t help much. I stopped to take a break and “bundle up” (cool and very windy) . As I sat there using the chair-lift building as a windbreak, I realized I was right where I wanted to be to catch the trail over to the AT. What a nice surprise! I pulled out my aerial photos and tried to figure out what I had done ..clueless. So, I proceeded up to the trail and over to the AT junction. It was very windy and cool. I was just so happy to be there. I had great views that day (and for my 3 other hikes). I saw a few people along the way including northbound and southbound Thru-hikers. I summited Saddleback, then The Horn, staying comfortable in the high winds and looking around at the views. The trip back down the mountain was uneventful and I finished around 3:30. I headed back to my room and had a nice nap, got cleaned up and headed to Sarge’s again. There was a band again, and another dose of education on logging from Rodney. I think it’s cool the way everyone in town seems to know everyone. I wonder what life is like there.
Monday I got up and headed for the Laundromat to wash my stinky hiking clothes. I knew I had to check out by 11 and then would have to kill 5 hours or so until Pete & friends Tom, Jessica and Emma got to town. After the Laundromat, I found a nice chaise-lounge at the Lumber Supply Store and bought it. I figured it would be nice to take an afternoon snooze while I was waiting for Pete. I also thought it would come in handy at the Lean-To I had reserved in Baxter State Park (Abol Campground) later in the week. After checking out of the Town & Lake, I decided to find the Rapid Stream Trailhead where we would drop my car Tuesday morning. The location of this TH shown on my map is not reachable by car ( on public roads) since the bridges washed out. My map showed 2 ways to get there so I wanted to see what worked. The route off Howard Rd in Salem lead me to a place where signs indicated the road was private so I turned around and headed for Kingfield. West Kingfield road, off Rt16&27, was the way to go. At the end of West Kingfield Rd, the pavement stops and you continue straight on to Rapid Stream Rd (there is a sign).
Rapid Stream Road was rough and I was concerned that after our hike, I’d have 5 people in my Corolla and I’d have to be careful not to “bottom out”. I had previously mentioned to our party that everyone might have to get out of the car in rough areas.
Weaving my way along Rapid Stream Rd, I looked for a sign indicating where the trailhead might be. Eventually I saw a hand-made sign (“Appalachian Trail”-“Mt Abraham”) pointing to the left. Going left, it’s about 100 yards to where the road ends at a tributary to Rapid Stream ( there’s a sign naming a “brook”). There is a small parking area here and I would drop my car here the next morning.
The road used to continue on , crossing 2 bridges, and then you’d take a right and drive ½ mile to the official trailhead shown on various maps(there is a sign at the official TH indicating the trail to Mt Abraham). The 2 bridges are gone now and there are not even remnants of the bridge next to the brook where we parked.
I was glad to have found the trailhead and turned around to head back to Kingfield, then Rangeley. I was concentrated on the road, hoping I would remember the bad spots for the next day. There was one place where the road was washed out leaving a ditch completely across the road. A few logs were laid into the gap to fill in the space. I “bottomed out” there on my way out, so I bought a package of firewood at the market in Rangeley and used the pieces of firewood to fill in the gaps a little better when we drove in the next day for the car-drop. I had lunch in Kingfield and headed back towards Rangeley and our condo at Saddleback. I set up my new lounge in the shade of the deck, looking over the valley…and zzzzzzz.
Late in the afternoon, Pete called and announced they had arrived in Rangeley. I drove in to town to meet everyone, have dinner, and get supplies. We headed back to the condo, unpacked and had a strategy meeting for the next days hike. We would drop my car at the parking area I had visited, and then drive around to the Sugarloaf Ski Area to begin our hike. We would hike Sugarloaf, Spaulding and then Abraham, Pete’s #115. Then exit down Abraham and hike the 4.5 miles to my car. We decided to leave the condo by 6AM.
Tuesday, I woke up around 4:30 and got ready to roll. It was going to be a long day but a great day for Pete. It took us a little longer than expected to leave the condo and by the time we dropped my car and drove to Sugarloaf it was around 9:30. We didn’t see any signs about where to park or what trail to hike. Pete went in one of the buildings and asked someone how we should proceed. We parked in one of the resort parking lots near the Security Office ( one level down the hill). Our route would be the Tote Road ski trail and we would find our way by looking at the occasional trail signs along the slopes. There was a dirt service road to our right most of the way up and I will guess that would have worked fine but we were warned there would be a lot of heavy equipment using the road that day. It was steady climbing until we reached the open rocky top. Jessica and Emma led the way and seemed unaffected by the climb. Us guys were not as fast and had to stop from time to time. The sun was beating down on us and I was going faster than I would normally go.
We took a break at the summit and I went looking for a wind-break downhill from the summit. I found a building near the top of a chairlift with a nice place to sit down. I was ready for a lengthy break but when no one else showed up I went looking for the group.
I spotted Pete and the group near the trail to Spaulding and they appeared to be ready to go ! (the trail to Spaulding is easy to find. There is no sign but it’s downhill from the summit in the direction of Spaulding in the vicinity of a fenced-in area). I went back to my spot to get my pack and when I returned to the Spaulding trail only Tom was there. Hmmm…now what ? Tom didn’t know where the rest of the group was either, so we assumed they had taken off towards Spaulding, so we did too. We walked down to the AT intersection and still didn’t catch them so we knew something was goofed up. I got out my whistle and occasionally gave it 2 blasts to let Pete, Jessica and Emma know where we were. There was no response ( they never heard my whistle). We reasoned that they would never continue on towards Spaulding from the intersection so we just waited. They showed up in a few minutes, blowing their whistle as they came. After discussing what had happened it seemed there was a perfect combination of incorrect assumptions. I learned something, like on most hikes.
On to Spaulding we went ! At the intersection of the trail to the summit we dropped our packs and scampered to the summit. #114 for Pete ! One more to go. I still was craving a long break and when we got to the Spaulding Moutain Campsite I got it. There is a good water source there and I filled my bottles, had a sandwich and a smoke. I drank 6 Liters of water that day-the most ever on one hike.
From the Spaulding Mountain Campsite to the Mt Abraham Side Trail it was a very pleasant walk. The pleasantness continued as we hiked the Side Trail all the way to the open talus field that took us to the summit of Abraham. Pete surmised we would run out of daylight on the way out and the sky looked threatening so we didn’t linger too long on Abraham. We had some banners commemorating Pete’s #115 and took a bunch of pictures then away we went. Pete is such a class act and a very wise and experienced outdoorsman. I continue to learn from him.............continued
Saturday ( 7/5) I drove to Rangeley and checked in to the Town and Lake Motel about 5PM. I grabbed a snack, unpacked and got my pack ready for hiking Saddleback and The Horn on Sunday.
When I finished, I took a drive up to the Saddleback Ski area where I was meeting Pete Hogan & friends on Monday afternoon. I wanted to check out the condo we rented so I’d know where it was. We had rented the condo for our “base camp” for doing Pete’s hike that would conclude his quest for the 115. On the way back to town I saw 2 woman with packs walking along the road and looking a little stressed…no…desperate. I stopped to ask them if they had hiked Saddleback. Before I finished my sentence they were asking for a ride into Town or wherever I was headed. They had hiked Saddleback along the AT from the AT parking area on Rt 4. They were cold and beat after summiting Saddleback and didn’t think it was safe to hike back to their car along the trail. They figured they’d come down Saddleback to the ski area and take their chances catching a ride. They made the right call, because I drove them to their car. They were very relieved and I felt good about that.
Then I went to Sarge’s for a dinner and a couple beers. There was a band playing and a small, happy, local group showed up in celebration of their High School -20 year- class reunion. There were 9 or 12 people in that graduating class, depending on who I asked. It was fun watching these happy people. I chatted at length with Rodney, a logger, about the logging business in the area. I got educated.
Since I had all day to do my hike, I didn’t rush off on Sunday morning. I think I arrived at Saddleback ski area around 8AM and poked along towards the summit. I had some aerial photos with me to help find my way up the ski trails but they didn’t help much. I stopped to take a break and “bundle up” (cool and very windy) . As I sat there using the chair-lift building as a windbreak, I realized I was right where I wanted to be to catch the trail over to the AT. What a nice surprise! I pulled out my aerial photos and tried to figure out what I had done ..clueless. So, I proceeded up to the trail and over to the AT junction. It was very windy and cool. I was just so happy to be there. I had great views that day (and for my 3 other hikes). I saw a few people along the way including northbound and southbound Thru-hikers. I summited Saddleback, then The Horn, staying comfortable in the high winds and looking around at the views. The trip back down the mountain was uneventful and I finished around 3:30. I headed back to my room and had a nice nap, got cleaned up and headed to Sarge’s again. There was a band again, and another dose of education on logging from Rodney. I think it’s cool the way everyone in town seems to know everyone. I wonder what life is like there.
Monday I got up and headed for the Laundromat to wash my stinky hiking clothes. I knew I had to check out by 11 and then would have to kill 5 hours or so until Pete & friends Tom, Jessica and Emma got to town. After the Laundromat, I found a nice chaise-lounge at the Lumber Supply Store and bought it. I figured it would be nice to take an afternoon snooze while I was waiting for Pete. I also thought it would come in handy at the Lean-To I had reserved in Baxter State Park (Abol Campground) later in the week. After checking out of the Town & Lake, I decided to find the Rapid Stream Trailhead where we would drop my car Tuesday morning. The location of this TH shown on my map is not reachable by car ( on public roads) since the bridges washed out. My map showed 2 ways to get there so I wanted to see what worked. The route off Howard Rd in Salem lead me to a place where signs indicated the road was private so I turned around and headed for Kingfield. West Kingfield road, off Rt16&27, was the way to go. At the end of West Kingfield Rd, the pavement stops and you continue straight on to Rapid Stream Rd (there is a sign).
Rapid Stream Road was rough and I was concerned that after our hike, I’d have 5 people in my Corolla and I’d have to be careful not to “bottom out”. I had previously mentioned to our party that everyone might have to get out of the car in rough areas.
Weaving my way along Rapid Stream Rd, I looked for a sign indicating where the trailhead might be. Eventually I saw a hand-made sign (“Appalachian Trail”-“Mt Abraham”) pointing to the left. Going left, it’s about 100 yards to where the road ends at a tributary to Rapid Stream ( there’s a sign naming a “brook”). There is a small parking area here and I would drop my car here the next morning.
The road used to continue on , crossing 2 bridges, and then you’d take a right and drive ½ mile to the official trailhead shown on various maps(there is a sign at the official TH indicating the trail to Mt Abraham). The 2 bridges are gone now and there are not even remnants of the bridge next to the brook where we parked.
I was glad to have found the trailhead and turned around to head back to Kingfield, then Rangeley. I was concentrated on the road, hoping I would remember the bad spots for the next day. There was one place where the road was washed out leaving a ditch completely across the road. A few logs were laid into the gap to fill in the space. I “bottomed out” there on my way out, so I bought a package of firewood at the market in Rangeley and used the pieces of firewood to fill in the gaps a little better when we drove in the next day for the car-drop. I had lunch in Kingfield and headed back towards Rangeley and our condo at Saddleback. I set up my new lounge in the shade of the deck, looking over the valley…and zzzzzzz.
Late in the afternoon, Pete called and announced they had arrived in Rangeley. I drove in to town to meet everyone, have dinner, and get supplies. We headed back to the condo, unpacked and had a strategy meeting for the next days hike. We would drop my car at the parking area I had visited, and then drive around to the Sugarloaf Ski Area to begin our hike. We would hike Sugarloaf, Spaulding and then Abraham, Pete’s #115. Then exit down Abraham and hike the 4.5 miles to my car. We decided to leave the condo by 6AM.
Tuesday, I woke up around 4:30 and got ready to roll. It was going to be a long day but a great day for Pete. It took us a little longer than expected to leave the condo and by the time we dropped my car and drove to Sugarloaf it was around 9:30. We didn’t see any signs about where to park or what trail to hike. Pete went in one of the buildings and asked someone how we should proceed. We parked in one of the resort parking lots near the Security Office ( one level down the hill). Our route would be the Tote Road ski trail and we would find our way by looking at the occasional trail signs along the slopes. There was a dirt service road to our right most of the way up and I will guess that would have worked fine but we were warned there would be a lot of heavy equipment using the road that day. It was steady climbing until we reached the open rocky top. Jessica and Emma led the way and seemed unaffected by the climb. Us guys were not as fast and had to stop from time to time. The sun was beating down on us and I was going faster than I would normally go.
We took a break at the summit and I went looking for a wind-break downhill from the summit. I found a building near the top of a chairlift with a nice place to sit down. I was ready for a lengthy break but when no one else showed up I went looking for the group.
I spotted Pete and the group near the trail to Spaulding and they appeared to be ready to go ! (the trail to Spaulding is easy to find. There is no sign but it’s downhill from the summit in the direction of Spaulding in the vicinity of a fenced-in area). I went back to my spot to get my pack and when I returned to the Spaulding trail only Tom was there. Hmmm…now what ? Tom didn’t know where the rest of the group was either, so we assumed they had taken off towards Spaulding, so we did too. We walked down to the AT intersection and still didn’t catch them so we knew something was goofed up. I got out my whistle and occasionally gave it 2 blasts to let Pete, Jessica and Emma know where we were. There was no response ( they never heard my whistle). We reasoned that they would never continue on towards Spaulding from the intersection so we just waited. They showed up in a few minutes, blowing their whistle as they came. After discussing what had happened it seemed there was a perfect combination of incorrect assumptions. I learned something, like on most hikes.
On to Spaulding we went ! At the intersection of the trail to the summit we dropped our packs and scampered to the summit. #114 for Pete ! One more to go. I still was craving a long break and when we got to the Spaulding Moutain Campsite I got it. There is a good water source there and I filled my bottles, had a sandwich and a smoke. I drank 6 Liters of water that day-the most ever on one hike.
From the Spaulding Mountain Campsite to the Mt Abraham Side Trail it was a very pleasant walk. The pleasantness continued as we hiked the Side Trail all the way to the open talus field that took us to the summit of Abraham. Pete surmised we would run out of daylight on the way out and the sky looked threatening so we didn’t linger too long on Abraham. We had some banners commemorating Pete’s #115 and took a bunch of pictures then away we went. Pete is such a class act and a very wise and experienced outdoorsman. I continue to learn from him.............continued
