| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Sugarloaf Mountain, Spaulding Mountain, Mt. Abraham, ME |
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 | Trails: |
Caribou Valley Road, Appalachian Trail, Sugarloaf Side Trail, Spaulding Side Trail, Abraham Side Trail, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, July 21, 2012 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
CVR was rutted in first 3 miles where they added fill to the road, but better in the PM, they came through and smoothed it out. Low-clearance cars should be fine to the parking lot 1/2 mile before AT crossing, at which point the road was still barricaded. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Big crossing just off the CVR on AT was easy rock-hop in conjunction with the infamous board strapped to the rocks. A few other minor streams along the way, all non-issues. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Couple lightly-eroded sections in the steeps coming up from the CVR on the AT that could use some rock steps. AT a little brushy here and there along the ridge, nothing major though. I recall one or two blowdowns on the ridge, none of which were a huge deal. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Little water once on the ridge, except at Spaulding Campsite. Otherwise should be fine, just a long day. |
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 | Bugs: |
A few annoying ones on the bushwhack down to the CVR, otherwise nothing to report. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Time for the long dayhike of this ridge. We parked at the steel bridge parking lot on the CVR, and hit Sugarloaf, then Spaulding, and then Abraham.
Coming back we followed a herd path near the Spaulding/Abraham col about 1/10 South of the campsite. We hoped it would lead to some logging roads in the valley, but it petered out near the height-of-land. Up to and a little beyond here the woods were wide open and easy, but they got steadily worse as we headed down, with a lot of dead evergreen branches down low, very thick in spots. We eventually gave up on trying to hit the road and just meandered our way downhill to the Pond through whatever decent woods we could find (and some marshy areas), where we popped out on the CVR just South of the bridge at the pond. Easy 3-mile road walk from there.
~18 miles in all, just a shade under 10 hours. The 'whack was still less effort than re-climbing Spaulding and having the steep down at the end of the day.
Note: there was a well-defined corridor leaving the AT opposite the Abraham Side Trail, we weren't sure where it might connect to the roads but now looking at more recent satellite imagery, it appears it might cut directly to some logging roads that will dump onto the CVR with minimal extra distance. Perhaps I'll try it next time.
Full TR and pics coming at my blog. |
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 | Name: |
madmattd |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2012-07-25 |
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 | Link: |
 https://mattshikes.blogspot.com/ |
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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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