Rhody Seth
Active member
My friend put this trip together to grab six peaks he and his son needed for the NE67. The plan was to spend two nights at Crocker Cirque Camp in Carrabasset Valley, ME. We'd hike the Crockers and Redington on the first full day and then the next day we would drop our backpacking gear at the car and continue south along the AT to climb Sugarloaf, Spaudling and Abraham.
With rain and thunderstorms threatening all weekend, we knew it would be wet and weather-dependent. As the trip neared, it was clear that we'd be getting heavy rain on Friday night. We all drove up separately on Friday - my New Hampshire friends spotted a car at the Abraham trailhead and I met them around 2 PM up the long, slightly sketchy Caribou Pond Road to to begin our hike. It was only 1.5 miles to the campsite but as soon as we stepped onto the AT we heard thunder in the distance. We had hoped we would beat it but it was not to be - it began pouring right after we reached the campsite. Thus began everyone's frantic, wet set up. The tarp users fared better here but we were all soaked in short order. Thankfully the warm temps made for a memorable but non-threatening drenching. We spent the afternoon in the rain watching Rob attempt to get a fire going before settling down for one of the best nights of hammock sleep I've had.
The following day boasted much better weather, though it would become very humid and hot as the day wore on. We were treated to fine views during our multiple climbs of South Crocker as we branched off in different directions, first to climb North Crocker and then to take the herd path to Redington. Bugs were a real pain at times. I had done South Crocker and Redington the previous year but North Crocker was #54 on my NE67. We arrived back at camp in the early afternoon, cooled off in the stream and got a fire going to ward off the mosquitos which were hungry. A few thru-hikers showed up a few hours later, took a look at us and retreated closer to the AT to set up camp. I think they were afraid we'd be rowdy but we all retired to our beds by 7:30. Another great night of sleep in the hammock and in the morning we packed up and returned to our cars to deload for the long hike ahead.
With rain and thunderstorms threatening all weekend, we knew it would be wet and weather-dependent. As the trip neared, it was clear that we'd be getting heavy rain on Friday night. We all drove up separately on Friday - my New Hampshire friends spotted a car at the Abraham trailhead and I met them around 2 PM up the long, slightly sketchy Caribou Pond Road to to begin our hike. It was only 1.5 miles to the campsite but as soon as we stepped onto the AT we heard thunder in the distance. We had hoped we would beat it but it was not to be - it began pouring right after we reached the campsite. Thus began everyone's frantic, wet set up. The tarp users fared better here but we were all soaked in short order. Thankfully the warm temps made for a memorable but non-threatening drenching. We spent the afternoon in the rain watching Rob attempt to get a fire going before settling down for one of the best nights of hammock sleep I've had.
The following day boasted much better weather, though it would become very humid and hot as the day wore on. We were treated to fine views during our multiple climbs of South Crocker as we branched off in different directions, first to climb North Crocker and then to take the herd path to Redington. Bugs were a real pain at times. I had done South Crocker and Redington the previous year but North Crocker was #54 on my NE67. We arrived back at camp in the early afternoon, cooled off in the stream and got a fire going to ward off the mosquitos which were hungry. A few thru-hikers showed up a few hours later, took a look at us and retreated closer to the AT to set up camp. I think they were afraid we'd be rowdy but we all retired to our beds by 7:30. Another great night of sleep in the hammock and in the morning we packed up and returned to our cars to deload for the long hike ahead.
