Strolling up Mount Redington

Canister marked with incorrect 3984' elevation

After getting lost trying to bushwack to Mount Redington from South Crocker a month ago, my friend Sue and I returned to the Carrabassett Valley in Maine to bag this peak. This time we approached the mountain from the opposite side, following old logging roads most of the way. We brought good trail directions, a map and fresh batteries for the GPS - just in case. For directions we used a 2013 trip report at The Pursuit of Life blog which was fairly well detailed and came with good photos, which proved to be quite helpful. There were only a couple spots where the description was not exactly clear, but we never strayed too far off the correct path. Although not a marked trail, I wouldn't exactly call it a bushwack. Trees have clearly been cut on the trail and the summit indicating that this is, or was at one time, a maintained trail. Redington was not always on the 4000 footer list as is evidenced by the marked canister on a tree trunk at the summit (see photo.) Part of the fun for peak baggers is to find this cannister.  The current Rangeley Lakes Region Trail Map has the elevation listed as 4001 feet. Although we were only a mile away from Redington when he hiked the Crockers last month, I am actually glad that we didn't find the correct path to Redington then because this approach was, as The Pursuit of Life blogger wrote, "a delightful hike." The temperature was in the seventies, with a light breeze and foliage colors nearly at their peak.

Fall colors along Caribou Valley Road leading to the parking area

Bear Scat

This hike is relatively flat and goes through open fields and shrub with a final ascent up the mountain that is an easy climb. Although the parking area was full, we saw no one else on the trail the entire day. Everyone must have been hiking either the Crockers or Sugarloaf Mountain off the Appalachian Trail.  Although we didn't see any mammals, we saw lots of moose tracks, a couple fresh piles of bear scat and a group of spruce grouse that didn't seem to mind at all our intrusion.

Spruce Grouse

On the way out we caught a good view of Sugarloaf, a peak to be tackled next year along with five other mountains in Maine to complete the list of sixty-seven 4000 footers in New England.
  

Sugarloaf Mountain and Ski Area