amstony
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On Saturday, August 20, Alpinista, Stevehiker and I met up to hike more Maine 4,000 footers as our NE 67 quest continues on.
Alpinista was already up there, having called me on Friday from Avery Peak, and having a great time. Stevehiker and I met up at the Portsmouth Exit 3 Park and ride along I-95, and off we went in his over 200,000 miles on the odometer Jeep Grand Cherokee to Maine. The ride up was nice, except for the very slow service in the I-95 Kennebunk rest area again (we never learn) and the HUGE MOOSE that darted out onto the Interstate as we neared Auburn, causing near wrecks and coming real close to us!
At 8:30 we met up with Alpinista in Kingfield and after a lenghty discussion decided to forego a trip to Abraham, the weather was deteriorating rapidly (weather report was partly sunny, 78 degrees at Sugarloaf ) and did not want to be on the long exposed ridgeline in bad weather. So we switched to Plan B. We'd drop off Alpinista's VW Bug at Sugarloaf, and then take Stevehikers Grand Cherokee in as far as we could go on the Caribou Valley (Pond) Road.
So we did the car spots and prepped for the hike. CVR was in bad shape, although a group of young hikers from Quebec had driven an Echo all the way to the AT Trailhead! No one knew how they'd get it out.....
Finally, we began our trek up to Spaulding. The Carrabasset River was crossed with minimal difficulty- then it started to rain......and rain.....and mist.....and rain...and mist......and temps dropped.
We slogged up the AT and the higher we went up the exposed ridgeline the windier and wetter it became and visibility deteriorated. We met up near a sharp turn on the trail in the woodline and threw on rain jackets, long pants and got our hoods ready to put on. We then moved out.
As we neared another open area the rain stopped and who should appear on the trail returning from Spaulding but LUV2Hike and her hubby! After a great meeting and a few minutes discussion we both went our separate ways. Isn't it great to meet people from VFTT on the trail!!
The trail junction for the AT/Sugarloaf trail is clearly marked and we met up with the Canadians with the Echo in the AT parking lot. They were very concerned about getting the car out, being not sure how'd they'd actually got it in that far! They had just come off Sugarloaf, where they reported zero visibility and very high winds.
We then headed off towards Spaulding. After an hour or so we were at the Spaulding link trail. We dropped packs and headed up to the summit. It is viewless and has nothing noteworthy about it...except it is a NE 67 4,000 footer! After refueling and photo ops, we headed down, shouldered our packs and went to Sugarloaf. The weather continued to get nastier.
As we approached the steep link trail to Sugarloaf, we could hear the winds blowing hard above us,and the rain continued. I was the first up to the edge of the woods before the summit and could see exactly nothing. I decided I'd better wait and cross as a team. The giant antenna visble for miles around was a vague shadow and invisible, the winds were howling, and rain coming down. I waited for Stevehiker and Alpinista to catch up and we crossed the open area to the summit together.
Hiting the open area was an experience, we had a hard time standing due to the high winds, rain was pelting us, and visibility was near zero. We could barely hear our voices in the wind. Despite this we found time for summit pics!! Alpinista then located an area out of the wind and rain so we could get our bearings and find the quickest route out of this tempest!
We found the sign for the Binder trail and Tote Rd (Thanks Sugarloafer for the tip) and began a hasty descent. Once out of the clouds the weather improved and we made it safely off the summit.
Another great hike completed. Then it was a very late dinner at Applebees in Auburn and we split up, Stevehiker went on and I went with Alpinista to the park and ride in Portsmouth.
Alpinista was already up there, having called me on Friday from Avery Peak, and having a great time. Stevehiker and I met up at the Portsmouth Exit 3 Park and ride along I-95, and off we went in his over 200,000 miles on the odometer Jeep Grand Cherokee to Maine. The ride up was nice, except for the very slow service in the I-95 Kennebunk rest area again (we never learn) and the HUGE MOOSE that darted out onto the Interstate as we neared Auburn, causing near wrecks and coming real close to us!
At 8:30 we met up with Alpinista in Kingfield and after a lenghty discussion decided to forego a trip to Abraham, the weather was deteriorating rapidly (weather report was partly sunny, 78 degrees at Sugarloaf
) and did not want to be on the long exposed ridgeline in bad weather. So we switched to Plan B. We'd drop off Alpinista's VW Bug at Sugarloaf, and then take Stevehikers Grand Cherokee in as far as we could go on the Caribou Valley (Pond) Road. So we did the car spots and prepped for the hike. CVR was in bad shape, although a group of young hikers from Quebec had driven an Echo all the way to the AT Trailhead! No one knew how they'd get it out.....
Finally, we began our trek up to Spaulding. The Carrabasset River was crossed with minimal difficulty- then it started to rain......and rain.....and mist.....and rain...and mist......and temps dropped.
We slogged up the AT and the higher we went up the exposed ridgeline the windier and wetter it became and visibility deteriorated.
We met up near a sharp turn on the trail in the woodline and threw on rain jackets, long pants and got our hoods ready to put on. We then moved out.As we neared another open area the rain stopped and who should appear on the trail returning from Spaulding but LUV2Hike and her hubby! After a great meeting and a few minutes discussion we both went our separate ways. Isn't it great to meet people from VFTT on the trail!!
The trail junction for the AT/Sugarloaf trail is clearly marked and we met up with the Canadians with the Echo in the AT parking lot. They were very concerned about getting the car out, being not sure how'd they'd actually got it in that far! They had just come off Sugarloaf, where they reported zero visibility and very high winds.
We then headed off towards Spaulding. After an hour or so we were at the Spaulding link trail. We dropped packs and headed up to the summit. It is viewless and has nothing noteworthy about it...except it is a NE 67 4,000 footer!
After refueling and photo ops, we headed down, shouldered our packs and went to Sugarloaf. The weather continued to get nastier.As we approached the steep link trail to Sugarloaf, we could hear the winds blowing hard above us,and the rain continued. I was the first up to the edge of the woods before the summit and could see exactly nothing. I decided I'd better wait and cross as a team. The giant antenna visble for miles around was a vague shadow and invisible, the winds were howling, and rain coming down. I waited for Stevehiker and Alpinista to catch up and we crossed the open area to the summit together.
Hiting the open area was an experience, we had a hard time standing due to the high winds, rain was pelting us, and visibility was near zero. We could barely hear our voices in the wind. Despite this we found time for summit pics!!
Alpinista then located an area out of the wind and rain so we could get our bearings and find the quickest route out of this tempest!We found the sign for the Binder trail and Tote Rd (Thanks Sugarloafer for the tip) and began a hasty descent. Once out of the clouds the weather improved and we made it safely off the summit.
Another great hike completed.
Then it was a very late dinner at Applebees in Auburn and we split up, Stevehiker went on and I went with Alpinista to the park and ride in Portsmouth.
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