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Weather forecast was for a 10% chance of rain, so I leapt at the chance to try for Crocker, South Crocker and Redington Mountains in one loop hike.
I parked my car 0.6 mile before the AT crossing on Caribou Valley Road (CVR); there was a small space just big enough for three cars immediately before the steel grate bridge. (Not enough clearance for my Honda Element car; but I'm sure that others with pick-up trucks will be fine.) Lots of potholes and exposed rocks on Caribou Valley Road, so take care to drive slowly.
There was a guy with a pick-up truck with CT plates, and a "medic" label who passed me a few minutes after my parking; he said that he was hiking to Redington that day; I told him that I would try to follow the herd path from S. Crocker after I summitted Crocker and S. Crocker.
After hiking the AT section from the CVR to both the Crocker summits, I found the herd path entrance about twenty feet prior to the S. Crocker peak (it's very obvious: dead fern plants, brown path); and followed various flaggings and yellow blazes. A couple of blow downs to the col between Redington and S. Crocker; with lots of moose hoof tracks in muddy sections. The herd path ultimately takes you to a disused logging path which leads you to the Redington summit, covered with the ugly detritus of a wind turbine tower. Nearby lies a canister on a dead tree stump where you can sign in a log book; saying "Redington, 3984'" -- I couldn't believe that someone "demoted" Redington from the 4000' list...
Anyway, I followed the usual route back to my car, by reversing the directions as in:
http://www.dskendall.com/hiking_ne111.html
Yes, found the arrow made with wood branches, and walked, walked, trudged along miles of a stony logging road back to the car on CVR. I think I would prefer to return by the herd path back to S. Crocker because the herd path was 1 mile, an hour; whereas the logging road from Redington was about 5 miles, three hours; hiking boots on uncomfortable rocky terrian on a hot, blistery day. A section appeared to be an ATV trail, with the edges perfectly at 4 feet wide, just below the Redington summit.
So now you have a choice: bagging both Crockers and Redington in a Y route, retracing both the AT from S. Crocker to Crocker and the herd path from S. Crocker to Redington OR retracing your path back from Crocker to S. Crocker and then herdpathing to Redington and taking a long way back to the AT/CRV intersection.
Funnily enough; I walked past the CT medic's pickup truck (parked a little past the AT/CRV intersection); he hadn't returned from Mt. Redington. I hope that he was able to find the summit; we must have missed each other on separate logging roads on the Redington incline!
I parked my car 0.6 mile before the AT crossing on Caribou Valley Road (CVR); there was a small space just big enough for three cars immediately before the steel grate bridge. (Not enough clearance for my Honda Element car; but I'm sure that others with pick-up trucks will be fine.) Lots of potholes and exposed rocks on Caribou Valley Road, so take care to drive slowly.
There was a guy with a pick-up truck with CT plates, and a "medic" label who passed me a few minutes after my parking; he said that he was hiking to Redington that day; I told him that I would try to follow the herd path from S. Crocker after I summitted Crocker and S. Crocker.
After hiking the AT section from the CVR to both the Crocker summits, I found the herd path entrance about twenty feet prior to the S. Crocker peak (it's very obvious: dead fern plants, brown path); and followed various flaggings and yellow blazes. A couple of blow downs to the col between Redington and S. Crocker; with lots of moose hoof tracks in muddy sections. The herd path ultimately takes you to a disused logging path which leads you to the Redington summit, covered with the ugly detritus of a wind turbine tower. Nearby lies a canister on a dead tree stump where you can sign in a log book; saying "Redington, 3984'" -- I couldn't believe that someone "demoted" Redington from the 4000' list...
Anyway, I followed the usual route back to my car, by reversing the directions as in:
http://www.dskendall.com/hiking_ne111.html
Yes, found the arrow made with wood branches, and walked, walked, trudged along miles of a stony logging road back to the car on CVR. I think I would prefer to return by the herd path back to S. Crocker because the herd path was 1 mile, an hour; whereas the logging road from Redington was about 5 miles, three hours; hiking boots on uncomfortable rocky terrian on a hot, blistery day. A section appeared to be an ATV trail, with the edges perfectly at 4 feet wide, just below the Redington summit.
So now you have a choice: bagging both Crockers and Redington in a Y route, retracing both the AT from S. Crocker to Crocker and the herd path from S. Crocker to Redington OR retracing your path back from Crocker to S. Crocker and then herdpathing to Redington and taking a long way back to the AT/CRV intersection.
Funnily enough; I walked past the CT medic's pickup truck (parked a little past the AT/CRV intersection); he hadn't returned from Mt. Redington. I hope that he was able to find the summit; we must have missed each other on separate logging roads on the Redington incline!
