| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Sugarloaf Mountain, Spaulding Mountain, ME |
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 | Trails: |
Ski trails, Sugarloaf Side Trail, Appalachian Trail, Spaulding Side Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, March 28, 2015 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parked in lot for Sugarloaf and paid $10 to climb the ski trail |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow - Drifts, Snow - Wet/Sticky |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
None |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Quite a few blowdowns, some completely buried |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Not allowed |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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|
 | Comments: |
Beautiful day in Maine! We took the black diamond trail up to the tower and the summit! We were told we could choose whatever trail we wanted as long as we stayed off to the side so we chose the most direct route. Took us an hour and 20 to get to the top. There were no footprints off to Spaulding so we stepped into the small scrubby spruces looking straight at the ridge that goes to Spaulding, in about 50-100 feet we saw a Boundary marker on what looked like a trail and eventually we saw a blue blaze. We followed the blue blazes and a pretty clear trail down to the junction with the A.T., it came up pretty fast. There were still absolutely no prints but the path was pretty hard about a foot underneath where we were stepping. There was a trip report from 2 weeks earlier and I was pretty amazed at how much it had snowed since then!! We tried as best we could to follow the A.T. and it was pretty obvious when we stepped outside the last hikers path because suddenly we sunk up to our crotch in the snow. We did have to duck pretty much the entire way under heavy snow covered branches and got quite a few scratches on ours faces from barren branches sticking out.....wear a hood and put your pack cover on before you go over the top of Sugarloaf! Also bring top layers to change into! One of us had to change on the top of Spaulding for the trip back because of the soaking we shivers!! Obviously snowshoes are a must! It was a wonderfully quiet hike, the kind that makes you forget about lists and reminds you of the solitude of the remote Maine wilderness!!
Debbie |
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 | Name: |
Marysgirl |
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 | E-Mail: |
9ball811@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2015-03-31 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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