Maine AT Summer Trip Questions

The warmer weather has us ready for the summer and planning our summer vacation.

Looking for everyone’s thoughts on a Maine peakbagging/AT walk.

Last year Fran and I spent our honeymoon on the AT. We started at Appalachia, went up Valley Way, got Madison and then followed the AT for 4 days over to Franconia Notch. This year we’re looking to take a week or so.

Planning on Heading up to Baxter and sleeping at the park. Hiking Katahdin over a day and driving to where we can pick up the trail to North Brother and camp there. Hike North Brother the next day and then drive south. We'll pick up the AT just north of the Bigelows and hike south along the AT for a week or so.

We’re wondering what the camping rules are on the trail, any restrictions or regulations that apply to where we pitch our tent? We’re also wondering if there’s an AMC or private shuttle to get us back to our car.

Thanks so much in advance. I'm sure that there are plenty of things that we're not thinking of and we appreciate any input, thoughts, or help.

Chris
48/48 NH4K
15/48 NH4K Winter

I assume you are heading south from Long Falls Dam Road or the dead end road that runs on the west side of Flagstaff.? Shuttles from here to Saddleback are a long haul. I am not aware of any active shuttlers in this specifc area but you may want to check on Whiteblaze.net. Maine Huts and trails system is nearby so you may want to check with them but I expect they will try to get you to stay a night. Their Flagstaff Hut may be an option to stay the night before you start your backpack trip (hot showers and a great location on the lake) a short distance up the road from the AT crossing of Long Falls Dam Road. Given that their trail system is in this general area, they must have a list of active shuttlers in the region. AMC is not active in the area.

I dont have a current AT guide but some of the more recent AT hikers on this board may be able to give you a list of trail service providers from their AT guide that could point you towards a shuttler.

Camping on the Bigelow ridge is limited by the terrain and lack of water as you are on a ridgeline, there are two maintained sites, Avery and Horns Pond. Once you cross the highway, the terrain is bit more friendly heading up the Crockers for setting up a tent. Most AT hikers stop in Stratton so the next official spot is Crocker Cirque although many keep going and camp near the crossing on Caribou Valley road. Despite folks doing it in the past, Sugarloaf has banned camping on its summit but its worth visiting, unfortunately its very trashed from ski area operations but the views are great. The run along the ridge south of Sugarloaf is easy going to the Spaulding shelter, some folks keep going and camp by Orbeton stream. I wouldnt as the next site Pleasant Ridge Shelter sets you up perfectly for an early morning run across the Saddlebacks. The hike from Spaulding to Pleasant Ridge is easy so you can spend some time taking the spur out and back to Abraham and still have plenty of time. For reference, I started a backpack on Caribou Valley road one day at about 10 am and go to Pleasant Ridge before dark. While you are planning, you may want to take a look at Reddington, the only real option is an out and back from the Crockers but its a bushwhack with a herdpath.

Some folks like camping at the pond south of Saddleback as opposed to Piazza Rock which gets way too much use and is pretty worn out. I do not believe that there are specific rules for tenting a set distance from the trail like some areas of the whites. I expect its more like unless you use hammocks, finding a flat spot is the biggest limit when you are in the spruce fir zone. Much of the AT in maine is posted that you have to stay at designated sites. If you are not starting a fire, you wont be the first to camp at not designated spots.

The link is very outdated so I don't know what current prices are. http://www.maineroadhouse.com/shuttles.htm You can talk to Sue at the Maine Roadhouse/Stratton Motel. If she doesn't provide shuttle service anymore, I'd bet she knows someone who does.

peakbagger said:

Camping on the Bigelow ridge is limited by the terrain and lack of water as you are on a ridgeline, there are two maintained sites, Avery and Horns Pond. Once you cross the highway, the terrain is bit more friendly heading up the crockers for setting up a tent. Most AT hikers stop in Stratton so the next official spot is Crocker Cirque although many keep going and camp near the crossing on Caribou Valley road. Despite folks doing it in the past, Suguarloaf has banned camping on its summit but its worth visiting, unfortunately its very trashed from ski area operations but the views are great. The run along the ridge south of Sugarloaf is easy going to the Spaulding shelter, some folks keep going and camp by Orbeton stream. I wouldnt as the next site Pleasant Ridge Shelter sets you up perfectly for an early morning run across the Saddlebacks. The hike from Spauling to Pleasant Ridge is easy so you can spend some time taking the spur out and back to Abraham and still have plenty of time. For reference, I started a backpack on Caribou Valley road one day at about 10 am and go to Pleasant Ridge before dark. Whiel you are planning, you may want to take a look at Reddingto, the only real option is an out and back from the Crockers but its a bushwhack with a herdpath.

Some folks like camping at the pond south of Saddleback as opposed to Piazza Rock which gets way too much use and is pretty worn out. I do not believe that there are specific rules for tenting a set distance from the trail like some areas of the whites. I expect its more like unless you use hammocks, finding a flat spot is the biggest limit when you are in the spruce fir zone. Much of the AT in maine is posted that you have to stay at designated sites. If you are not starting a fire, you wont be the first to camp at not designated spots.

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Do you know if the established campsites in this region have tent platforms or tent sites on the ground? I've been thinking about backpacking this section of the AT, and I want to know if I need to prepare for pitching a non-freestanding tent on platforms every night like in WMNF.

Generally on the Maine AT, its just flat spots on the ground but its been a few years since I went through there. Pleasant Ridge Shelter has one of the last infamous baseball bat floors. For some reason I seem to remember at least a few platforms at Avery but it just may be bad memory. There is a fee at Horns Pond and a caretaker

On my thru-hike in 2008, many of the hostel owners in the area ran shuttles. However, I think several of them have now retired and I'm not sure who owns what up there now. Try looking them up in an AT guide book. For camping, Avery campsite does indeed have platforms and I think Horn Pond does too. There is shelter on the north side of the Bigelows, and there are two campsites on the north and south ends. There are good campsites near Oberton Steam, the trail climbs very steeply there up to Poplar Ridge and I was grateful I was heading north! Poplar Ridge shelter is very cool with a great logbook (the trail maintainer answers all your questions) but don't expect to camp very comfortably there-the sites are terrible. Instead, there is a new campsite I think between the Horn and Little Saddleback that they were working on in 2008, with platforms. Piazza Rock is then down by the Rangely crossing. I don't think there are many regulations between the Crockers and Saddleback besides not sleeping on top of Sugarloaf.

Thanks so much everyone for the responses. I'm checking into some things and looking more closely at the map and distances now. I'm sure I'll have more questions as it gets closer. Yes, we are planning on starting from East Flagstaff Rd. We're so used to hiking/camping in NH I was worried about sleeping on the trail etc...

Thanks again!