Sugarloaf, Spaulding, & Abraham (Maine) - 9/7/13

Ahhh.....To me, hiking Maine's 4000-footers offers that little bit of variety that is needed sometimes from the White Mountains. When it was finally time for buddy Mike to take on the wild Sugarloaf, Spaulding, & Abraham, I was ready to go. When I hiked it last October, my brother and I had great time, being scared to hell by a bear at our car at midnight and then seeing a moose the next day during our bushwhack. With this September hike a few weeks ago, I had wondered what we might get this time around!

About a half mile up the road to the AT crossing 

I now consider myself a fairly frequent visitor to the Caribou Pond Road trail head, and the previous 4 times I've been there, the road has been in great shape up to the barricades. This time, upon our arrival in my car, which is a sedan, it was a bit different. Softball size and larger rocks seemed to be all over the road. Lo' and behold, after a mile of dodging them, we see the culprit - a pick-up truck with a road grader in tow. It took about 40 minutes for us to get down the road, and only once a rock scraped the bottom of the car, but it was pretty dicey not having an SUV this time, but it was obviously just luck of the draw that they were grading the road that day. As we were about to hit the road towards the AT crossing, we saw a sign drawing attention to the search for a missing hiker, and how to report any information.

The AT leading down to the river from the road

Mike crosses the Carrabassett and breaks the bridge in the process

We started our ascent up the steep section of the AT towards Sugarloaf. This part of the trail is really nice. As we climbed, we took in nice views of the valley, the Carrabassett River below, and across to the Crockers & Redington. As we hiked up over one of the ledges, we caught glimpse of a low-flying helicopter coming through the valley.

Steep section on the AT southbound 

Mike climbs alongside the steep ravine off the back of Sugarloaf 

Quite a steep ravine - not a place to fall into! 

A helicopter flies low over Carrabasset Valley

Feelin' good, we made it to the Sugarloaf spur trail, which continues up a nice grade to the summit. Despite the abundance of rather unsightly summit buildings, breaking out onto Sugarloaf's summit offers incredibly expansive views all around. In my two times here there has been a stiff wind, but undeniably the cool weather and endless views on this day gave us a big boost of morale, as Bear Gryll's might say. We still had a tough hike ahead.

Sugarloaf Spur Trail 

2nd time to Sugarloaf summit

View south from Sugarloaf summit 

View north-ish from Sugarloaf summit 

Where's Mike?

After enjoying the summit for a few minutes, we headed back onto the spur trail, and back down to the AT. The trail between here and Spaulding is relatively flat until you approach Spaulding, but there are so many roots and stuff on the flat sections, its easier said than done.  We were moving quickly, but along this stretch we took a solid break since I was trying to be reached for an emergency call and had to stop. We used this time so I could resolve the issue and have some pepperoni and cheese and trail snacks. Then we were on our way. After a few minutes of hiking along this incredibly beautiful stretch of trail, we heard a noise off into the woods or somewhere ahead. It sounded like a ghost making a woooooo sound, but it sounded natural. Immediately we stopped, and in seconds we saw some shadows coming around the bend, we got pretty spooked, stopped short and braced ourselves for whatever would be coming down the trail. Hilariously though, it was a couple of thru-hikers enjoying their hike making some funny noises.

Appalachian Trail between Sugarloaf and Spaulding 

Mike hikes towards his 64th New England 4000-footer  

150 Yards to Spaulding summit 

Spaulding Mountain summit

Who says there is no view to enjoy from Spaulding Mountain?

Now with two of three 4000 footers done on the day, we still had quite a ways to go, but since we've been hiking often we were still going with some good energy and a good pace. Since Mike's outdoor blog is called the Outhouse, we took an obligatory Outhouse photo at the Spaulding Mountain Lean-to.

Appalachian Trail near Spaulding Mt. lean-to

On this particular hike and chosen route to get all 3 peaks, leaving the AT for Mt. Abraham is where one is pretty much committed to about 6-7 more miles before completing the hike. And that is if you plan to bushwhack to the road after getting back to this junction. Otherwise, its longer if one re-traces their steps back on the AT to the crossing of the river. This is what makes these 3 peaks together a tough day. Off we went to Abraham.

Mt. Abraham Trail 

The Abraham Trail, as it leaves the AT, is a really beautiful section of trail. We saw 3 living creatures within minutes of leaving the AT; a frog, a fuzzy caterpillar, and a spruce grouse! (check out the album for those pics) Not to mention the woods and scenery are quite awesome through this stretch. It got even better as we started to cross the scree on the ridgeline to Abraham. The afternoon views were great, and it was nice and cool. Mike in the lead to his 65th New England peak.

Mike climbs toward #65 

and tries to get to get to the highest point as possible... (we did)

Mt. Abraham for the second time. Awesome Maine peak!

Mt. Abraham's summit, although on the short end near 4000', is one of the best 4Ks in Maine, and was just as spectacular as my first time to its summit. It's amazing the difference in views between September and October. We could just see the start of the yellowing, when last year's October hike it was in full bloom. While there were some clouds in the sky, the views and setting were perfect, and on top of that, at this time of the afternoon, we had all of Mt. Abraham to ourselves.

Abraham summit views 

Mt. Abraham summit 

The tower on Mt. Abraham 

After a nice break of about 30 minutes on the summit, we headed back to the junction at a consistent pace and took another break to get situated for our bushwhack to the CVR. Last October, my brother and I successfully did this bushwhack, and I was looking forward to this again for weeks prior! I took the back end though, and let Mike lead us off into the woods on the obvious herd path at the junction.

The start of the bushwhack from the AT to CVR 

We followed the herd path straight, passing the AT boundary marker.  This time, we stayed straight on the herd path a little longer than we did last time. The first time, my brother and I didn't pay too too much attention to the compass and focused on staying straight all of the way. This time, and for the entire way, we stayed on an exact north bearing.

Mike navigates the easy bushwhack 

This brought us to the same dead-wood clear-cut area as last year, except about 100 yards further south than when my brother and I entered it last year. Now extremely familiar to me, we crossed the clear-cut right through the middle. Here, we had awesome views of the surrounding valley with an unique sky, and from a spot in the middle of nowhere. This is what its all about. This was the spot of my first ever in-hike moose sighting too! We paused here and took in Maine's awesomeness.

Straight across the clear cut, same one I passed through the first time 

Great views from the middle of nowhere

Beautiful view in Carabassett Valley 

On the other side of the clear-cut, we found several herd paths leaving it. We picked one, and continued to follow north shown on our compass. After the clear-cut, there is a zig-zag of herd paths and grown in roads (certainly not a place to be in after dark by any means). If you've been thinking about doing this bushwhack, do it! After doing this for a second time, just lock your compass on north and have at it by zigging and zagging your way down to the road! It took Mike and I just a touch under 30 minutes to go from the AT to the road.  Minutes later, we were passing the Caribou Pond outlet, and just a few miles down the familiar CVR back to the parking area, where a couple of hard ciders awaited! Congrats to Mike on getting #65. It was an awesome early fall day, and we did it in timely fashion, getting home to MA at a fairly reasonable hour.

Walking back to the parking lot on CVR

Hike Stats

Trails: Appalachian Trail, Sugarloaf Spur Trail, Spaulding Mtn. Spur, Mt. Abraham Trail, Bushwhack

Distance: 17.2 miles

Elevation Gain: 4,280 ft.

Actual Book Time: 9:00 (approximately)

A Wild Sugarloaf, Spaulding, & Abraham - 10/7/2012

Two weekends ago, we didn't get off to as quick of a start as we had hoped in Maine after a tough hike to the Bigelow's, but we were content with getting a second solid hike in on Sunday, with no rush to get home because of the Monday holiday, and coming back another weekend to continue on our goal. Up next was one of the hikes from the Caribou Valley Road. After our Bigelow hike on Saturday afternoon, we grabbed some food for now and for the next day and drove to the trail head 4.3 miles down Caribou Valley Road. Our next choice for tomorrow's early start was Sugarloaf, Spaulding, and Abraham, with a bushwhack from the AT to the CRV and back. It was pretty much raining all evening, so there was no chance of any type of hike starting soon. We ate our food, and relaxed as it poured outside. There were a couple of other cars in the lot, and within a few hours, they had returned and they were gone as light faded. We passed more time looking at the maps and studying the routes, before dozing off.

Each of us were sound asleep at least for 2-3 hours, until my brother was awoken by some light scratching noises outside. it could have easily been a branch or mass of leaves blowing in the wind outside, anything...After just another moment later, my brother saw something right against the window, and I was then shaken and wakened to a frantic, "Dan, there's something at the window!" I had never been so reactive from a dead sleep in my life, it was insane. It could be a person, it could be anything. Just as quickly as we had our flashlights on and camera out, it was gone, but my brother clearly saw the bear run away between the our car and the other car that was there for multiple days. We waited quite a while to go outside. It was dark, cold, wet and raw, and undoubtedly a creepy fall night in Maine. We walked around the car to see mud marks all around the 3 front sides, and one clear print on the driver's side. It was a small one, but quite the experience, but he must have had a good nose for something inside, maybe those Nutter Butters?

Anyways, the next morning, after thankfully a few more hours of sleep, we were about to hit CVR towards the AT crossing. We found it no problem (marked with small flags), but its cool to see how natural it is as it crosses the CVR. We descended a steep bank to side of the Carrabasset River, where we pondered for a bit where the heck we'd cross. There was a crazy movable board tied to a rope, for AT use. Tied to the rope so that its usable in the most of conditions. In my opinion it would be nuts to leap onto a board that can move, so we opted for another route a short distance up the bank of the river. Talk about trying to get warmed up and ready to go on your hike. We just had a bear try to get in the car, now we can barely get started with this river crossing. Maine is TOUGH!

I was nervous about this one.... 

Bill led the way, and made it look easy 

I had a reason to be nervous, I made it over fine, but my right leg did not.

Finally we were off and running. I wasted no time simply removing my pant leg and attaching it to my pack to dry. With winter coming, it was good practice to make the quick decision to remove the wet piece of clothing and continue moving to stay warm. After all, we were just trying to get warmed up. So now up and down the side of the mountain we went as the trail hid under wet leaves. Eventually it got steeper with some pretty cool scrambles, but gee, pretty tough start again, and we've got a long way to go.

Ascending Sugarloaf on AT 

Nice yellow across the valley (Carrabasset River bottom right)

Pretty nice ravine on Sugarloaf, have a name?

We made it to the junction with the Sugarloaf side trail, and it was another steep 700 feet to the summit. The Appalachian Trail Guide to Maine states that it is worth the 700 feet ascent, to get one of the best views in the state. I would have to agree with that. Boy was it chilly on the top as we approached the summit. We took note of a section of frozen mud with ice crystals as we approached the summit. Its amazing how quickly the season is changing. We enjoyed the amazing 360 degree views from the summit of Sugarloaf, Maine's second highest mountain.

Sugarloaf Side Trail - 700 feet vertical to the summit from AT

Approaching the summit of Sugarloaf  

Summit of Sugarloaf

On Sugarloaf, with the rest of the way to go in the background 

We made our way back to the Appalachian Trail, and took a short break. Next it would be approximately 2 miles to Spaulding Mountain. The trail along this section (and mostly throughout this entire hike) was very pretty. It stood out to us as a bit easier walking, and the woods were just pleasant and amazingly quiet. It was nice to have some solid 2 mile sections of easier travel between the mountains. It broke up the hike into even sections. Along this section, we passed the marking of the spot where the last section of Appalachian Trail was connected to complete the link to Georgia. We thought about what it would be like to be a thru-hiker on the AT, and come to this point. on the way to Katahdin.

Appalachian Trail between Sugarloaf and Spaulding

Final link of the Appalachian Trail - Completed in 1937  

Civilian Conservation Corps plaque - Final link to AT

After some more trail, we came to the Spaulding summit spur, which is a short scoot up a spur to the summit. Surprisingly, the summit had a decent view down into the valley. Little did we ponder the short few minutes at the summit, Spaulding was number 60 of 67 on the New England 4000 footers list for us, just 6 more to go.

Spaulding Mountain summit spur 

View from Spaulding Mountain summit 

Summit marker, which still reads under 4,000ft

Next, we headed towards Abraham. It seemed like it was a solid distance to get there from Spaulding, but we made it to the junction with the Abraham Trail, and readied ourselves for a 2.4 mile round trip out and back to this junction. We eye-balled the possible bushwhack route that leaves this junction for later. The trail out to Mt. Abraham had quite a unique feel to it. From looking at the ridge before, you will see that you clearly go over a few humps, but in general, the trail seemed to skirt it, and it was easy going right out to the first talus slope.

Mt. Abraham Trail

Rugged trail

Heading out to Mt. Abraham

We ascended the talus over the first exposed hump. We were the only ones around, seeing one person on the summit of Sugarloaf, and only passing only one other hiker on the AT that day. Abraham is impressive, and has a Presidential feel to it, despite it barely surpassing 4,000 feet. The views in all directions were beautiful, with patches of fall color everywhere. After a long haul to here, and the best feeling of the day thus far, we had a shot of some Glenlivet and let it take the chill off by warming us up from the inside out :). We checked out the emergency shelter on the summit, which was pretty cool, and we were on our way.

The hike back to the AT was uneventful. It had been a long day so far, but we were looking forward to our first bushwhack other than the Black Pond Bushwhack. Following the route suggestions others have taken in the past, we left the AT right at the junction with the Abraham Trail, and we headed into the woods on a well trodden path. Our goal was to hit the Caribou Valley Road, and follow the road whatever distance back to the metal grate bridge. We followed the beaten path for a while in a straight westerly direction. Our plan of attack was to take a somewhat NNW bearing. After the beaten path got rugged, we headed on that general bearing and made some progress and eventually got into some pretty serious bushwhacking.

Now, we were crossing countless animal paths and many different types of animal droppings. We thought, there could be a bear (a much bigger one than the one that visited us) hanging out in any one of these little open areas we came to. Or, we could have turned around and a moose could be standing right there. It was a pretty intense and nerve-racking experience at some points along the way. Should we go through this or follow this path a little bit longer? We made some noise approaching certain areas to alert anything that we were coming through.

We seemed to be doing OK. Maybe halfway into the whack, Bill was leading the way as we broke out into this large area of downed and dead trees. Looking at the picture below, our decision was to aim towards the end of the pine trees on the left of this open area, and then pick up a hard NNW track so to not come out beyond the end of Caribou Pond, which I was really worried about. The thick stuff kept us going WSW slightly. About 2/3 of the way into this open area, a brown mass among the white birches caught my eye. I said quietly, "hey Bill, look, there is a pretty big moose standing right over there." We stopped for a few moments to see how it acted and take in the moment. We were a good distance away, causing it no stress, but it had its eyes peeled on us every single second until we were out of sight, in the trees again. As we were looking to our left at the moose, to our right, there were grayish-blue and white birds (not gray jays, I don't think) flying around and perching on the abundant dead wood. It was a pretty sweet moment to be traversing this remote section being surrounded by wildlife. We kept a careful eye on the moose. It was dead silent around us, like it had been the entire hike, and our senses were on such high alert given all that's happened.

Wow look at this! (No idea yet that a large Moose is right near us)

First sight of the moose a good distance away, dead center 

There is a gray and white bird in this picture, dead center

  

Best shot of the moose

Now that we were passed this, we were faced with some more difficult vegetation. There were wet bogs too as we pushed forward, which required more careful steps, and more exertion. Eventually, I could sense that were getting closer to the road. Finally, we came out onto the logging road, and were relieved, and felt much more confident that we were doing fine all along. We came out somewhere just beyond the mile 8 marker, I believe.

After at least 1 mile of walking on the very rough CVR, I noticed I didn't have my GoPro. I thought I had it in my right pocket, and it wasn't there. I KNEW 100% that I had dropped it and it might have fallen out of my pocket, because we were playing Olympics and trying to long-jump the streams that crossed through the road. (Hey, gotta have some fun after it being a rather sketchy and stressful couple of days) I ran back about a mile, and lo-and behold, my GoPro was sitting on the ground in the middle of the road....ALL of the way back where we came out of the woods. I had put some gear down as we took a break, and clearly just didn't pick up the GoPro as we began the walk. I ran all of the way back to where Bill was waiting on the road. It was an extra 2 mile run for me on the back-end of this hike. We still had a few miles to go along the road, and light was fading. The rest of the walk out was pretty tough, we were exhausted, but we made it without the aid of headlamps, and we were thankful to close this one out, and thankful, actually, that we were alive!! We'll be back up for 3 more hikes to complete Maine and the NE67 before winter begins.

Hike Stats

Trails: Appalachian Trail, Sugarloaf Side Trail, Appalachian Trail, Spaulding Summit Spur, Appalachian Trail, Mt. Abrham Trail, Bushwhack.

Distance: 15 miles (approximately)

Elevation Gain: 4,280 ft.

AMC Book Time: 10hrs 30min (approximately, with the short bushwhack)
Actual Book Time: 12hrs