Ladders on Maine's Sugarloaf/Spauling/Abraham?

[lx93]

A friend & I are considering doing a hike of the above 3 peaks. But before we'd bring the dogs along, we wanted to know if there are any ladders on the way.

We would start at Sugarloaf Ski Resort, get the AT, then the Mt. Abraham Side Trail, then finish via the Fire Warden's Trail.

 

[spencer]

I can't think of any ladders along the way, but I've only done the Firewarden's in the winter.

have fun!

spencer

 

[weatherman]

No ladders, though the footing can be tricky along the ridge between the AT and Mt. Abraham from what I've heard (and seen from both ends). No cliffs to fall off or anything though.

 

[Amicus]

Trail from the AT to Abraham

I hiked this late last May and the only parts I would call tricky were a couple of big blowdowns that I'm sure must have been cleared long since.

 

[lx93]

Amicus (or anyone else who has hiked Sugarloaf/Spaulding/Abraham),

Would you say that doing all 3 peaks in 1 day would be more challenging than doing the Bonds in 1 day, or Passaconaway/Whiteface/2 Tri-Pyramids in 1 day?

 

[audrey]

Much easier than any of those! Be sure there'll be no thunderstorms that day, though. Abraham is very exposed.

 

[Amicus]

Amicus (or anyone else who has hiked Sugarloaf/Spaulding/Abraham),

Would you say that doing all 3 peaks in 1 day would be more challenging than doing the Bonds in 1 day, or Passaconaway/Whiteface/2 Tri-Pyramids in 1 day?

I agree with Audrey that doing those three in a day would be easier than the two multi-peak hikes in NH you mention. You can work out the mileage and compare - I'd guess the Maine loop would be a couple of miles shorter than the NH two.

 

[SteveHiker]

the car-spot is another thing though.

 

[lx93]

Pass/Whit/Tri was 16 or 18 miles; I also did the Bonds, then Owl's Head & back to Lincoln Woods in less than 1.5 days and didn't think that was anything heroic.

But some people have cautioned me on doing Sugarloaf/Spaulding/Abraham in 1 day. I guess 1 hiker's tuxedo is another's monkey suit...

 

[askus3]

I also agree that Sugarloaf-Spaulding & Abraham was easier than the Bonds or Whiteface-Passaconway-Tripyramids (which I split as two hikes). However, I backtracked to the AT from Abraham and continued south to the Perham Stream logging road. I also started the hike at Caribou Valley Road and I definitely agree with SteveHiker that the car shuttle was incredible, maybe the longest for any dayhike I have done. You definitely shorten your hike by going down the firewarden trail. The only ladders I remember were on the south side of Saddleback on the AT and that is not on your hike plan.

Here is the link for my photos 223-296 from that hike. You can see how open and exposed the ridge line is up Abraham form the AT. Also, here are the photos 5-19 from my hike in 1981 up Mt. Abraham via the Firewarden's Trail. At least nowadays you don't have to ford Rapid Stream!

 

[lx93]

Spencer, Aaron, Steve, Amicus, Audrey, anyone else who has done this before,

1. Would there be any advantage to starting from CVR?
We were looking at starting from the summit quasi-road from the Sugarloaf Ski Resort; I drove CVR on my way to Redington/S. Crocker/Crocker & swore I'd never drive it again unless I ABSOLUTELY had to.

2. The finish- a) W. Kingfield Rd./Fire Warden's Trail versus b) Lone Mt./Perham Stream Logging Rd.
I originally had planned on following the AMC Guidebook's recommendation of the Fire Warden's Trail via W. Kingfield Rd. Are there any advantages to taking Lone Mt./Perham Stream Logging Rd.? Would that route be accessible to a FWD sedan?

Thanx to all who have shared their experience!

 

[askus3]

My answers to #1: It is far more pleasant hiking to start at Caribou Valley Road and hike the AT (I consider a very scenic climb vs a rough dirt road up a ski swath. If sunny, bring sun lotion. On the negative: You have to backtrack 1/2 mile and 600 feet in elevation gain/loss, starting at Caribou Valley Road and deal with the rough 5 mile drive in (as you said).

#2: Unless you are section hiking the AT (which I was, thus doing the hike the way I did), the Fire Warden's Trail descending Abraham is the way to go. If you didn't like Caribou Valley Road, you certainly wouldn't like Perham Stream Road! Furthermore if you did the hike like my group did, you have an incredibly long car shuttle. Distance of hiking is about the same, but Abraham Spur (you already did once, so why repeat) & AT south to Perham Stream (nothing special on that section). Perham Stream Logging Road may be available to a 4 wheel drive sedan but conditions change from year to year and even month to month. All I said was that I traversed the route Aug. 23 & 25, 2005 in my Dodge Caravan, you can infer what you want from that. (see thread titled North Horn Saddleback to Potato Nubble-post #11).

 

[Amicus]

askus3's two answers - a slightly different take

I can tell that askus3 is more familiar with these trails than I am and wouldn't take issue with his advice.

For myself, however, I have a different take on #1. Leaving a car at Sugarloaf and going up ski trails, then down by the spur trail to the AT, gives you the views askus3 mentions going down, avoids the CVR and shortens your commute at the end. As for going up ski trails, that's a matter of taste, of course. Maybe because I'm a skier, I rather enjoy it. If you have a nice day, you'll have great views of the Bigelow Range every time you turn around.

I agree 100% on #2. We took the logging roads in to the AT last May and they got progressively rougher, although not too difficult in an old Outback. On the way out, you'd be practically down to Route 4, as I recall, before you came to some real roads.

 

[Stan]

We went up the ski trails to save some time (we arrived early in the afternoon). We had also spotted a car near the end of the trail at the Kingfield end. I say, "near" because the road leading to the trail was washed out that year and that added a few miles to the hike. We arranged transportation from a contact we obtained from the local Chamber of Commerce.

We made it an overnight, staying at the Spaulding Leanto. There was nothing in the hike that couldn't be done with a dog. In fact, we shared the leanto with a section hiker and his most pleasant German Shepard.

 

[lx93]

Stan,

Thanx for filling us in, especially on the Mt. Abraham/W. Kingfield Rd. part. It's really nice to know these things BEFORE the day of the hike.

How long ago was this? Would you say it added more than 2 miles to your hike?

 

[audrey]

I too enjoy ski trail hiking, and I hate driving nasty roads even in the Subaru unless I have to, so my choice would be your original plan. The road to the Fire Warden's trail was a bit iffy last summer, especially a bridge; it changes yearly. It's also not as long a car spot as it would be from Perham Stream.

 

[SteveHiker]

The road was passable, albeit rough, as of last September 10th. The bridges aren't the best, but better than the ones on CVR.

 

[Stan]

How long ago was this? Would you say it added more than 2 miles to your hike?

This was several years ago, about the same time Caribou Valley Road was almost impassable, and the roads have long since been restored but you'll find road conditions vary considerably year to year based upon 1) how well they're maintained for logging operations, and 2) whether they've been washed out by floods. You'll probably be able to get an up to date road condition report right here on VFTT.

The additional hike was only a couple of miles and it was flat and pleasant. In retrospect we probably could have parked closer to the trailhead but we opted for a legal parking area.

We have a preference for end-to-end hikes over out-and-back so to us the added mileage was worth it ... probably less total mileage than retracing our route back from Abraham.

 

[Heather]

Did these three with one car on caribou rd (went out and came back same way) in a day last August. Good times. Going 'back up' Spaulding after hitting Abraham was a seemingly long haul though.

 

[lx93]

Heather,

If it were not well tracked-out, and snow were covering up the blazes painted onto rocks, do you think the Mt. Abraham Side Trail or Fire Warden's Trail would be easy to lose?