Rhody Seth
Active member
After a couple nights at the Crocker Cirque campsite, we hiked the 1.5 miles back to the car, deloaded and then ventured back into the woods, heading south on the AT to do a traverse of Sugarloaf Mtn, Spaulding Mtn and Mt. Abraham. With a 12 and 15 year old in the group, we were sure if we'd do the entire traverse or turn back after Sugarloaf. First was a tough river crossing we had been preparing for, but it turns out someone put a plank up and it was no issue at all (we met a bunch of thru-hikers who asked about the crossing so clearly the plank was not a known feature). The climb up Sugarloaf was scrambly and fun and we were afforded some cool views of the Crockers through the morning clouds. Then we reentered the woods and the trail became very waterlogged and swampy. Met quite a few thru-hikers heading north during this section. We took the side trail up to Sugarloaf (the river crossing apparently was serious enough that the sign indicated heading over Sugarloaf as an alternative route in times of high water).
We took a break on Sugarloaf until the clouds rolled in and then continued on to Spaulding, enjoy a really easy stretch of trail on the ridgeline. No views from Spaulding and nothing much of interest so we soon continued on, stopping near the Spaulding Mountain Shelter to refill on water. After that we left the AT and headed up Mt. Abraham. There were enough breaks in the clouds to make for some nice views and despite a bit of wind the bugs were a nuisance at the top. We began descending the wrong way - luckily Duncan stopped us and we looked at maps to reassess. That could have sucked.
It was four miles down to the car and we were all beat by that point. We ended up finishing around 6 PM and were all happy to be done. Excellent work done by our youngest hikers. Then it was the long drive back to where our other cars were at Caribou Pond Road trail. Silly me, I didn't really consider my evening plans on this last night of the trip so I opted to drive down to Farmington and stay at a cheap motel. All in all, a great trip - there was worry of rain and thunderstorms throughout the weekend but we only had to deal with it on Friday night of which we were all thankful! This trip brough my NE67 total to 57 peaks. Left is Baxter SP, the Saddlebacks and all of Vermont.
We took a break on Sugarloaf until the clouds rolled in and then continued on to Spaulding, enjoy a really easy stretch of trail on the ridgeline. No views from Spaulding and nothing much of interest so we soon continued on, stopping near the Spaulding Mountain Shelter to refill on water. After that we left the AT and headed up Mt. Abraham. There were enough breaks in the clouds to make for some nice views and despite a bit of wind the bugs were a nuisance at the top. We began descending the wrong way - luckily Duncan stopped us and we looked at maps to reassess. That could have sucked.
It was four miles down to the car and we were all beat by that point. We ended up finishing around 6 PM and were all happy to be done. Excellent work done by our youngest hikers. Then it was the long drive back to where our other cars were at Caribou Pond Road trail. Silly me, I didn't really consider my evening plans on this last night of the trip so I opted to drive down to Farmington and stay at a cheap motel. All in all, a great trip - there was worry of rain and thunderstorms throughout the weekend but we only had to deal with it on Friday night of which we were all thankful! This trip brough my NE67 total to 57 peaks. Left is Baxter SP, the Saddlebacks and all of Vermont.
