timmus
Well-known member
10 days after leaving Maine, I couldn't resist going back when Meo told me about this hike. We drove the evening before, and I had my first experience of semi-winter-camping in one of the Sugarloaf/usa parking lots. I was cold all night, and we manage to sleep in (never heard the alarm). So it was 8am when we hit the ski slopes. What is more boring than that ? And tough on the legs too !
It took us 1.5h to reach the summit shelter. It's a nice spot to eat and refresh our spirits. On the way out we tagged the summit, stashed the mini-skis (Meo's) and headed toward Spaulding. I have to mention that since the middle of the night, my feet were numb from the cold. Well on the way up Spaulding they were still at the same state. We did the short trip to our second summit of the day (#74 for me, Winter#100-something for Meo) and realized that nobody used the trail between Spaulding and Abraham since MEB last week. No pain no gain we thought, and here we were braking in 8 of fresh snow. Nothing terrible after all, this white stuff is so much fun when going downhill, especially with those unexpected hidden rocks that brings you to do challenging moves.
On the way down my feet went through the hurtful unfreezing phase, and then I felt really good. We took a brake at the lean-to and of course it was long enough to bring my poor feet back to numb. On the way to Abraham we saw tons of moose tracks, as well as pee and fresh scats on the trail. Some tracks we going up the steep section just before getting off the woods. I was expecting a moose above treeline, didn't happen...
We geared up and did the final pitch with beautiful views all around. The blue sky from the morning was now covered, but the surrounding mountains we still very clear. This mountain is great, definitely the best climb of the day. What is that metal structure BTW ? We took few pics and that was it for the summit. The wind was strong and at 2pm, we still had to backtrack all the way. We knew headlamps would be required, and thought this was the price to pay for sleeping in...
From there to the lean-to was still very pleasant. But the climb up Spaulding was painful. Funny how I smiled and laugh when I reached Meo at the junction, because 5 seconds before, I was ready to cry and yell. This is one thing I love about hiking: body and emotions goes from one extreme to another in seconds, impossible to get bored. The Sugarloaf Side Trail junction seemed like it didn't exist anymore, it took forever to get there. I was worried about the last 600 ft climb of the day, but the idea of butt-sliding down the slopes was keeping me going.
Once near Sugarloaf's summit, we agreed on taking a last break at the shelter in order to change to dry clothes, eat and get ready for the final ascent. For few minutes, we were looking for the shelter but couldn't see it. The wind was blowing and I didn't have my shell on, I was damped from the last climb, and it got kind of alarming to be up there, freezing and lost (almost). Then Meo's headlamp reflected in the large shelter's windows and we were save.
Meo was very excited about using the mini-skis. I was concerned about going down by myself (I tend to get sissy at the end of long days), and when I couldn't see Meo's headlamp anymore I knew all I had to do was, well, going down. Pretty easy. No buttslide for me since I couldn't find any steep trails. I ran and boot-skied, it was fun enough. The vehicules (?) were working on the ski trails, and I didn’t want to get a warning or something (I don't think we were suppose to be there), so I turned-off my lamp. Right after it passed me, I saw two snowmobiles going up toward me, and I thought I'd better hide in the woods. Maybe they were looking for us ? Probably not, but it was trilling to think so. I needed some excitment I guess, since I was not skiing.
I was back to the car not so long after Meo, and he said the mini-skis are not easy to control, so he couldn't let go and enjoy as much as he wanted.
Burger and beer at the resort's pub were very satisfying after that demanding and fun day.
***MY PICS***
It took us 1.5h to reach the summit shelter. It's a nice spot to eat and refresh our spirits. On the way out we tagged the summit, stashed the mini-skis (Meo's) and headed toward Spaulding. I have to mention that since the middle of the night, my feet were numb from the cold. Well on the way up Spaulding they were still at the same state. We did the short trip to our second summit of the day (#74 for me, Winter#100-something for Meo) and realized that nobody used the trail between Spaulding and Abraham since MEB last week. No pain no gain we thought, and here we were braking in 8 of fresh snow. Nothing terrible after all, this white stuff is so much fun when going downhill, especially with those unexpected hidden rocks that brings you to do challenging moves.
On the way down my feet went through the hurtful unfreezing phase, and then I felt really good. We took a brake at the lean-to and of course it was long enough to bring my poor feet back to numb. On the way to Abraham we saw tons of moose tracks, as well as pee and fresh scats on the trail. Some tracks we going up the steep section just before getting off the woods. I was expecting a moose above treeline, didn't happen...
We geared up and did the final pitch with beautiful views all around. The blue sky from the morning was now covered, but the surrounding mountains we still very clear. This mountain is great, definitely the best climb of the day. What is that metal structure BTW ? We took few pics and that was it for the summit. The wind was strong and at 2pm, we still had to backtrack all the way. We knew headlamps would be required, and thought this was the price to pay for sleeping in...
From there to the lean-to was still very pleasant. But the climb up Spaulding was painful. Funny how I smiled and laugh when I reached Meo at the junction, because 5 seconds before, I was ready to cry and yell. This is one thing I love about hiking: body and emotions goes from one extreme to another in seconds, impossible to get bored. The Sugarloaf Side Trail junction seemed like it didn't exist anymore, it took forever to get there. I was worried about the last 600 ft climb of the day, but the idea of butt-sliding down the slopes was keeping me going.
Once near Sugarloaf's summit, we agreed on taking a last break at the shelter in order to change to dry clothes, eat and get ready for the final ascent. For few minutes, we were looking for the shelter but couldn't see it. The wind was blowing and I didn't have my shell on, I was damped from the last climb, and it got kind of alarming to be up there, freezing and lost (almost). Then Meo's headlamp reflected in the large shelter's windows and we were save.
Meo was very excited about using the mini-skis. I was concerned about going down by myself (I tend to get sissy at the end of long days), and when I couldn't see Meo's headlamp anymore I knew all I had to do was, well, going down. Pretty easy. No buttslide for me since I couldn't find any steep trails. I ran and boot-skied, it was fun enough. The vehicules (?) were working on the ski trails, and I didn’t want to get a warning or something (I don't think we were suppose to be there), so I turned-off my lamp. Right after it passed me, I saw two snowmobiles going up toward me, and I thought I'd better hide in the woods. Maybe they were looking for us ? Probably not, but it was trilling to think so. I needed some excitment I guess, since I was not skiing.
I was back to the car not so long after Meo, and he said the mini-skis are not easy to control, so he couldn't let go and enjoy as much as he wanted.
Burger and beer at the resort's pub were very satisfying after that demanding and fun day.
***MY PICS***
