October Hike Spaulding Mountain

Sunday my friend Sue and I completed our last 4000 hike for the season - Spaulding Moutain in the Carrabessett Valley of Maine. This was our fourth time, parking at the end of the Caribou Valley Road, with it's potholes and precarious stream crossings. Actually, since our first trip to hike the Crockers in 2014, significant repairs to the road have been made, so that the drive was not as bad as expected. In the past, we have driven the four hours to this area and completed our hike all in one day. But, we have learned that this resulted in a late morning start, and a drive back through moose country at dusk. This resulted in a long journey with white-knuckled driving as moose would walk, and sometimes run directly in front of our car. To avoid dealing with these near misses, for the past two trips we have driven up the day before and spent the night at a nearby hotel. In August we stayed at the Herbert Grand in Kingfield Maine before hiking Mount Abram. For this trip, the Herbert Grand was full, so we stayed in Rangeley at the Saddleback Inn, a basic two story motel that offers a fantastic view of the lake. The accomodations were adequate, however the Pop-Tarts and bagels, do not count as breakfast in my book, so we had eggs down the hill at Rangeley's Moose Loop Cafe.

Sunset on Rangeley Lake

This plank takes the guess work out of where to cross

I did not sleep well Saturday night and woke up feeling under the weather. I was not sure that I would even be able to start the hike, let alone finish it. But it would have been hard to have come all that way and then to turn around. I am glad that I persisted, but it was slow going. We completed the nine-plus mile round-trip hike in eight hours which is almost two hours over book time. This hike is completely on the Appalachian Trail (AT) and is not one to be taken lightly. The crossing on the South Branch of the Carrabassett River was easy since the water was low and someone had installed a single plank between two large boulders. Immediately after crossing the river the trail climbed moderately and then steeply. There was little opportunity for a cardio warmup.

The climb up was grueling and great caution needed to be taken on the descent.

The first 2.3 miles we had done before two years earlier when we had hiked Sugarloaf. In retrospect, it is best to do these two mountains together and only do this stretch once. If you are in shape and can spot a car, you could add Mount Abram as part of a traverse. Another option to consider is to hike over Sugarloaf using one of the ski trails and then continue on the AT toward Spaulding.

Surprisingly, few trees had changed color. It has been unseasonably warm, and although there was frost on our windshield in the morning, there have been few nights below freezing. So, even though the days are getting shorter, the temperature is not signaling the leaves to stop their production of chlorophyll. It was a perfect day for hiking though - comfortably cool and clear.

There are some beautiful views on this stretch of the AT

Although there were no red leaves, the crimson berries of Mountain Laurel and Mountain Ash provided plenty of color.

Mountain Laurel (left) and Mountain Ash berries

After reaching the junction for the Sugarloaf summit spur, we beared right to stay on the AT. Although the section to Spaulding involves a descent and then a climb, it was not difficult. What is disappointing is the sign at the top of the mountain that reads the height as 3988 feet. According to one blogger, this peak was added to the AMCs New England 4000 footer list in 1998. Apparently recalculated USGS measurements have it at 4010 feet, which is what is shown in the Maine Mountain Guide. It would be nice for us peak baggers if the Maine Appalachian Trail Club agreed and replaced their sign. 

From a stamina perspective, I was happy when we started heading down. My knees on the other hand felt differently. We took it easy, but were still surprised that it only took us a half hour less to descend than to climb. We are happy to be done and to say goodbye to the Carrabassett Valley. If all goes well next year we will tackle the mountains of Baxter State Park!