| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Sugarloaf Mountain, Spaulding Mountain, Mt. Abraham, ME |
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 | Trails: |
Ski trails, Sugarloaf Side Trail, Appalachian Trail, Spaulding Side Trail, Mt. Abraham Side Trail, snowmobile trails, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, February 6, 2021 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
We initially parked in Lot D, took the shuttle to the main lodge to buy our tickets. We'd called earlier and they said uphill opened at 7am but they didn't start selling tickets until 8am. We arrived at 7:45 and they said they'd been selling tickets since 7:30. They instructed us, based on what was open to uphill, that we needed to go back to our cars and drive over to the West parking lot (the golf course). By the time we'd managed to get a shuttle back to our cars, move lots, and get started, we'd wasted 45 minutes running around. It was a frustrating experience, with a lot of misinformation. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Unstable) |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
None |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
We hiked up the ski trails, starting at the golf course/West parking lot. It was an annoying, arduous climb up to the peak of Sugarloaf, dodging skiers as they started to descend. There were no uphill signs or anything to aid us on our way or protect us from downhill traffic. Once we hit the summit, we quickly found tracks and descended the side trail to meet up with the AT. From there, we pushed on to the spur trail for Spaulding. From Spaulding, we broke out the AT all the way to the Abraham spur trail, and then went up to the summit of Abraham. The wind was fierce and kept blowing powder into our faces.
After reading the GPS map too far zoomed in due to cold fingers, we missed that the Firewarden's trail is a sharp left off the summit. We kept going straight, following some GPS trail from ages gone by. We descended off the summit and found where the trail entered the woods and found a packed out trail from snowmobiles. We thought someone had just taken their snowmobile somewhere they weren't supposed to and were happy for the packed trail. It took us another 1.5 miles when we came out onto a snowmobile route to realize that something was very clearly wrong. Since we'd descended more than 2 miles at that point and had enough cell service to load up GPS maps for the area, we pushed on and texted a friend for a ride from Rt-142, where we'd eventually pop out by Fish Hatchery Rd. Unfortunately, our next to last 2 miles were spent on what the GPS thought was a snowmobile track but clearly hadn't been used in a few decades, so it was a bushwhack in thigh-deep untouched powder for miles 14-15 that left us exhausted. We finally broke out onto Webber Rd, which isn't plowed in winter and acts as a snowmobile connector. From there, it was a mile to Fish Hatchery Rd. So, it worked out, but don't be like us - take the hard left off the summit of Abraham... |
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 | Name: |
Data |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2021-02-07 |
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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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