Hi all,
I led a three-day trip up to the Rangley area over Labor Day.
Received some very helpful beta from VFTT members (http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=36925&referrerid=2786) and I hope that in return, someone will find this report helpful in planning their trips.
We drove up Friday night, and stayed at the Cathedral Pines Campground, in a group site. Nice place. Hot showers. Clean port-o-let in the tentsite, which was HUGE. Nice fire ring. It was a very nice place to stay.
On Saturday we did the Crockers and Reddington. I was very very concerned about the Caribou Valley Road (CVR). Amazingly, out of a big group, not one Outback or Forrester or large vehicle in the group, so we drove regular old Toyotas and other street cars. The CVR is passable, but it took us a half hour each way to do the four mile drive to the parking lot up the road, and there's simply no denying it, crossing the bridges is terrifying, and there was a spot where a large metal drain pipe allowing for a stream to cross under the road had elevated, and that needed to be negotiated carefully. I would say that each car mildly bottomed out once each way.
Drive until you reach a bridge that is formed by a metal grate. There is a good sized parking lot to the left. Immediately after the bridge, the road rises steeply. Remarkably, someone got a Honda up the road for another mile, and the road isn't in all that bad shape beyond the bridge, but still, none of us even thought about trying it.
If you have any kind of vehicle that rides slightly higher than a car, take it!
The trail to the Crockers is on right, walking up the CVR. It's quite easy to find, and is in very good condition. The hike up to both is fairly straight forward. We went out and back to South Crocker. Hiking up the trail, when you reach South Crocker, there is a trail off to the left for views.
Reddington. [Sigh] What a nightmare! There is a nice trail leading off from the viewpoint, just off the summit. The trail starts down to the right. It has been maintained: trees have been cut, it's easy to follow, although narrow at times. At the bottom of a ravine, the trail disappeared. Just disappeared. Right across from it, there is a yellow blazed trail. This is a boundary marker, DO NOT TAKE IT. I'm saddened to say we never found where the trail to Reddington continued, if it did. So we bush whacked. I suspect if we backed up a bit and looked left (from the view of coming down the trail), we might have seen something. But we didn't, and we bush whacked.
I don't know what to say about the bush whack. We did it. It took a long time. As far as bush whacks go, it was easier than most, no dense spruce anywhere, but still a royal pain the behind. Eventually we came out into an opening crisscrossed with old logging roads and trails, and I opted to have us keep bush whacking straight to the summit, as I had no idea where any of these trails led.
Now the nice thing about Reddington is that it is very distinctive from a distance, because it is clear cut on the summit, and it has a flat top when seen from a distance. Once at the summit, print out these directions and follow them exactly:
http://www.franklinsites.com/hikephotos/Maine/southcrockermtn-2009-0725.php
It's about four miles back to the car from the summit of Reddington. We met a fellow hiking alone on the Crockers who had brought a mountain bike and instead of bush whacking was going to go back to the CVR, bike to the Reddington trailhead, and hike up again. It's not a bad idea...
Next day we drove back over to the same place and went left off the road onto the AT. Sugarloaf, Spaulding, and Abraham. This was a twenty-mile day, and it's a full day. Wow. A lot of elevation gain up front getting onto the ridge. Drop packs for Sugarloaf. Spaulding is very disappointing. Abraham was really fun. When first seen from the spur trail, it looks huge. Massive. Like Mt. Adams from Madison Spring Hut. Again, in hindsight, I would suggest hiking up the slopes of Sugarloaf and going down the Fire Warden's Trail off Abraham. I would strongly suggest that. Much easier, also shorter.
Third day we drove to Saddleback. There is a lot right at the lodge. Don't park there. Instead, park just around the corner, all of fifty feet down the road. Staff were very friendly and supportive. Nice bathroom to change in. Staff have hiking maps. Take Gray Ghost to Tri-Color, and above that, the trail to the summit is found above a small hut that is secured by wires running to the ground. Very easy to spot. There is actually a nicely formed herd path up Gray Ghost. Trail to the Horn on the AT is simply beautiful. Really lovely. Wonderful hike. Just make a note of what the trail back down to the slopes looks like before you head over, and then enjoy!
Thank you to all the people who gave me beta for this trip. I hope someone finds this report useful in the future.
All the best,
Brian
I led a three-day trip up to the Rangley area over Labor Day.
Received some very helpful beta from VFTT members (http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=36925&referrerid=2786) and I hope that in return, someone will find this report helpful in planning their trips.
We drove up Friday night, and stayed at the Cathedral Pines Campground, in a group site. Nice place. Hot showers. Clean port-o-let in the tentsite, which was HUGE. Nice fire ring. It was a very nice place to stay.
On Saturday we did the Crockers and Reddington. I was very very concerned about the Caribou Valley Road (CVR). Amazingly, out of a big group, not one Outback or Forrester or large vehicle in the group, so we drove regular old Toyotas and other street cars. The CVR is passable, but it took us a half hour each way to do the four mile drive to the parking lot up the road, and there's simply no denying it, crossing the bridges is terrifying, and there was a spot where a large metal drain pipe allowing for a stream to cross under the road had elevated, and that needed to be negotiated carefully. I would say that each car mildly bottomed out once each way.
Drive until you reach a bridge that is formed by a metal grate. There is a good sized parking lot to the left. Immediately after the bridge, the road rises steeply. Remarkably, someone got a Honda up the road for another mile, and the road isn't in all that bad shape beyond the bridge, but still, none of us even thought about trying it.
If you have any kind of vehicle that rides slightly higher than a car, take it!
The trail to the Crockers is on right, walking up the CVR. It's quite easy to find, and is in very good condition. The hike up to both is fairly straight forward. We went out and back to South Crocker. Hiking up the trail, when you reach South Crocker, there is a trail off to the left for views.
Reddington. [Sigh] What a nightmare! There is a nice trail leading off from the viewpoint, just off the summit. The trail starts down to the right. It has been maintained: trees have been cut, it's easy to follow, although narrow at times. At the bottom of a ravine, the trail disappeared. Just disappeared. Right across from it, there is a yellow blazed trail. This is a boundary marker, DO NOT TAKE IT. I'm saddened to say we never found where the trail to Reddington continued, if it did. So we bush whacked. I suspect if we backed up a bit and looked left (from the view of coming down the trail), we might have seen something. But we didn't, and we bush whacked.
I don't know what to say about the bush whack. We did it. It took a long time. As far as bush whacks go, it was easier than most, no dense spruce anywhere, but still a royal pain the behind. Eventually we came out into an opening crisscrossed with old logging roads and trails, and I opted to have us keep bush whacking straight to the summit, as I had no idea where any of these trails led.
Now the nice thing about Reddington is that it is very distinctive from a distance, because it is clear cut on the summit, and it has a flat top when seen from a distance. Once at the summit, print out these directions and follow them exactly:
http://www.franklinsites.com/hikephotos/Maine/southcrockermtn-2009-0725.php
It's about four miles back to the car from the summit of Reddington. We met a fellow hiking alone on the Crockers who had brought a mountain bike and instead of bush whacking was going to go back to the CVR, bike to the Reddington trailhead, and hike up again. It's not a bad idea...
Next day we drove back over to the same place and went left off the road onto the AT. Sugarloaf, Spaulding, and Abraham. This was a twenty-mile day, and it's a full day. Wow. A lot of elevation gain up front getting onto the ridge. Drop packs for Sugarloaf. Spaulding is very disappointing. Abraham was really fun. When first seen from the spur trail, it looks huge. Massive. Like Mt. Adams from Madison Spring Hut. Again, in hindsight, I would suggest hiking up the slopes of Sugarloaf and going down the Fire Warden's Trail off Abraham. I would strongly suggest that. Much easier, also shorter.
Third day we drove to Saddleback. There is a lot right at the lodge. Don't park there. Instead, park just around the corner, all of fifty feet down the road. Staff were very friendly and supportive. Nice bathroom to change in. Staff have hiking maps. Take Gray Ghost to Tri-Color, and above that, the trail to the summit is found above a small hut that is secured by wires running to the ground. Very easy to spot. There is actually a nicely formed herd path up Gray Ghost. Trail to the Horn on the AT is simply beautiful. Really lovely. Wonderful hike. Just make a note of what the trail back down to the slopes looks like before you head over, and then enjoy!
Thank you to all the people who gave me beta for this trip. I hope someone finds this report useful in the future.
All the best,
Brian
