Also on this trip

Trails Used

Caribou Valley Road, AT, herd path

Trail Conditions

Notes

Two days in a row driving Caribou Valley Road-what a treat! Climb out of the valley is mellow until the pond Spur then it is straight up to the ridge- very steep but never too rough. After summitting South we found beginning of redington herd path marked by orange flagging tape and obvious corridor. Path is just like a lightly maintained trail-easy to follow and obvious. Just a tad overgrown spots and a few extra blowdowns. Second Out and back to North more straight forward on AT. Solid day two in Maine getting to 58,59, and 60/67 with the kiddos. Challenging and rugged hike-really great!

Parking

SUV or better recommended for CVR. Tons of potholes, rocks, washouts, culverts, etc. to navigate. No problem with clearance and going slow!

Wildlife

Not bad

Trails Used

AT and Heard path

Trail Conditions

Notes

Nice hike!

Parking

Caribou pond road need a vehicle with clearance.

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Ski trails, Sugarloaf side trail, AT, bushwack, herd path

Trail Conditions

Notes

After work overnight trip. Night of the 24th. Started up ski slopes around 645 pm after doing evening chores. Somewhat followed tote rd, but took some steep, more direct lines. Windy on the summit. Pre sunset glow was glorious. Got to Spaulding summit at the end on sunset, red glow through clouds with growing moon. A new view point has been cut at the summit sign looking ssw towards saddleback ridge. Very cool. Headlamp on to Spaulding tentsite arriving at 930 to a full shelter and several tents around. Hopefully I didn't wake anyone setting up my tent, but it sounded quiet. Maybe halfway down the climb from Spaulding, I crossed paths with a moose. It stood up as I passed, maybe 15-20 yards away. I saw the eyes and turned up my light. We looked at each other a few seconds then it took off into the woods. Very cool Thursday morning, up and out at 6. Whacked west to caribou pond snomo trail and headed to Redington. Moose moss morning = wet feet. Whee! The trail to south crocker was decent, usual overgrowth. Skipped the trip to NC because of time restrictions. Saw one NOBO at SC summit, and met a NOBO woman who had stayed at the Spaulding shelter also and I met again on SC as I descended. Walked down CVR then whacked/ road walk back to the loaf parking and back to work by 2. Fun trip, a lot more hikers at the shelter than I expected. I didn't stay long enough to ask if they were thru hiking. Figured I should use the old privy before the new one goes up this summer.

Parking

Parked at Sugarloaf resort

Water Crossings

I didn't cross the Carrabassett, but the thru hikers were making it over. No major crossings on my route

Wildlife

Some, breeze kept them away mostly

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Appalachian trail, Redington Bushwhack

Trail Conditions

Notes

Hiked in the rain so trail was wet with standing water, but overall pretty well maintained with blow downs cut up etc. Bushwhack to Redington was doable with another person's company looking for pink property markers on the trees and decent Verizon service so I could check a map along the way. Pretty well beat down, but still a bushwhack.

Parking

Caribou Pond Road is horrific. I have a lifted RAV4 with beefy tires. You have to be able to clear decent sized mud pits, 1 foot drops, and go over exposed plastic and metal culverts. Took half an hour to drive this road up to the yellow gate which leaves you a half mile hike in.

Water Crossings

Sugarloaf bridge is washed out and hanging on by a cable. Water was very high and brown. Not worth the risk of drowning so I doublebacked for the Crocker's.

Wildlife

It was raining so bugs were away 🙏

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Mt Abraham trail, Mt Abraham spur trail, Appalachian trail, Sugarloaf side trail, bushwhack

Trail Conditions

Notes

Spring wildflowers are blooming :) Trail was pretty dry, only a couple little muddy bits. Overall in very good shape after the winter. Water source at Spaulding is lovely, and the seep box halfway up sugarloaf was full. The unmaintained heard path over to Redington was, as promised, very unmaintained, but not terrible. Would have been more pleasant on a dry day I imagine. Met a young moose on the way down from Crocker.

Parking

Rapid Stream Rd is ROUGH. I took my low clearance sedan and that was a solid mistake. Don't do it unless you've got something high clearance. Park at the bottom and do the road walk. Oh also, the location of the trail head on Google maps is a lie. Gaia/Cal topo have the correct location.

Water Crossings

Plank bridge at South Branch carrabassett River is still there and sturdy enough

Wildlife

Mosquitos were out in force

Also on this trip

Trails Used

AT, Sugarloaf side trail, Spaulding side trail, Abraham side trail, bushwack, logging roads, herd path, AT

Trail Conditions

Notes

What a day! 0430 start from rt27. First car in the lot. Nice and cool climb over the crockers with great sunrise/ early morning views through the trees. Met a NOBO thru hiker just before N crocker summit. I'd say he is ahead of the bubble... A few down trees below cirque tent site but otherwise clear. Hopped over Carrabassett, de-layered, and hit the gorgeous climb up the loaf (trying to not trip over the "sugar lumps"(rocks) that cover the trail). Took a break at the loaf summit to take in the stunning scenery before cruising the ridge to Spaulding. Stopped quick at Spaulding shelter to check the log book. A few thru hikers had checked in, one in early May saying he post holed all the way off saddleback down to saddleback jr... The ridge to Abraham had a few small trees down but nothing bad. Slight breeze up high kept the heat at bay for the exposed climb. Such a great spot. From there I backtracked towards Spaulding shelter, meeting two separate hikers, and took the bushwack west to the old snomo trail and down to caribou pond. Some areas of marshy moose moss but not bad if you don't mind damp feet. ;) Then back up toward Redington. The path was in ok shape, with just a normal amount of small leaners and overgrowth. Met an older gentleman taking a break on the climb back to S crocker, nice to talk to him for a minute. Double tapped south and north crocker, then I cruised down the AT back to rt 27 and my beautiful steed. No snow on the route and mud wasn't bad. Around 31 miles with 10k vert. This puts me at 113/132 western ME 4k grid

Parking

Big lot on rt 27 at the AT crossing was still half full when I finished at 6pm

Water Crossings

The board bridge over the Carrabassett is up, but slightly beaten up. Easy to cross

Wildlife

Not much today

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Bushwhack, Caribou Valley Road, Appalachian Trail, bushwhacks, snowmobile trails

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

The bushwhack from the golf course is short but no clear path could be followed. Snow was balling on snowshoes from the start, until just below S. Crocker summit. 4-6 in of fresh powder after that. Broke trail all day. The slide portion was steep and a little bit tricky, hard snow but no ice. The AT between SC and C is beautiful and smooth, easy to follow. Snow pack has already reduced, just fresh snow on the trees. The bushwhack from SC to dirt road is not a clear path, some flagging here and there but can’t rely on that. That was the most fun part for us! The start of the Redington bw is very well marked, and the way up is easy. Took us one hour up and down. It was a long walk out, at one point two snowmobiles came in so it made it a bit easier for us. Took us 11 hours for the 24km.

Parking

Sugarloaf golf course

Water Crossings

All main crossings have bridges

Trails Used

Bushwhack, Caribou Valley Road, snowmobile trails, bushwhack

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

The warm day made for tough conditions in spots. The bushwhacks required snowshoes. The skimobile trails were also better served with snowshoes although up until just after the AT crossing, you could get by with spikes in the morning. We stayed on the snowmobile trails as long as possible. We skipped the first potential bushwhack off of the snowmobile trails and stayed on them until the bushwhack entry if you had come from South Crocker. This was at times tough to follow, had some drifting, and had major postholing in spots even with the snowshoes. Even worse coming down off of Redington with the warm day. In the end, 15.5 miles total.

Parking

Sugarloaf golf course parking lot was plowed with plenty of parking

Water Crossings

Bridge to get from Sugarloaf golf course road to bushwhack