Sugarloaf & Spaulding -- 9/4/05

Two months after finishing my NH 4Ks, I began my ME 4Ks. With a day to recover from the Anderson bushwhack and to drive up to Deer Farm Campground with Shamie, I felt as good as new and ready to see what (other than bushwhacks and tiny tourist peaks) Maine had to offer.

The morning started off questionable with some sprinkles that later turned into showers. We went out for breakfast and hoped that by the time we got to Caribou Valley (Pond) Road, the rain would have subsided. Fortunately for us, it did.

I had been nervous about going down CVR and past trip reports only helped a little to dispell this feeling. That's why Shamie drove. Slow and steady, we made it to the AT crossing which, thanks to other cars being parked there, wasn't hard to find. We had noticed that the car behind us was also a Subaru Forrester and once we had parked and I got out they rolled down their window. They saw my VFTT sticker and wanted to introduce themselves. It was J&J! It was very nice to meet them and we chatted for a bit. (Nice to meet you guys. Glad we could guide you down the road!) They were going further down the road to do Redington. The morning was cool and cloudy but, we were all hopeful that the skies would clear.

The water crossing was a bit tricky due to high water but, we made it alright as did the group of four behind us. Then, we started the climb and found that, though it was steep and rocky, it somehow didn't seem difficult. Very soon, fantastic views of the valley open up before us and Spaulding beconed us on. We enjoyed this climb very much and were continually blown away by the views.

Before long, we reached the top of the ridge and, hopeful that the skies would continue to clear, we decided to save Sugarloaf for the return trip and headed over to Spaulding. The hike over was fun and we found the woods very interesting. We passed a large plaque on a rock which indicated that this was the spot where the AT was completed and that it was dedicated on the 50th anniversary of the event on 8/14/87. From around there, we climbed steadily until we reached the summit.

Once there we talked with a couple who were up there with their dogs and had a bite to eat. We then checked out the views to Abraham and Sugarloaf and I followed a herd path to an interesting clearing. After taking some pictures, we headed back over the ridge and up the wet spur to the summit of Sugarloaf, which we had to ourselves.

Despite the towers, we really liked this one! I think it gets a bit of a bum rap but the views are simply spectacular. The skies were mostly clear and we could see for quite a ways. We took a bunch of pictures and were still in awe of the views as we headed over to the warming hut to check it out. It looks like they are doing some work on it. It was kind of interesting and I thought that it would also be interesting to see what it will look like when it's in operation this winter. Since I don't ski, I guess I'll have to climb it again to find out.

Pulling ourselves from the views, we decended once again enjoying the views of the valley that we had liked so much on the way up. Though we now noticed the steepness as we decended, it was still very enjoyable and made our first ME 4Ks, an experience we'll never forget.

is the warming hut the building with all the broken glass on the floor?

It was hard for me to tell where we were when we were up there. We looked for the warming hut and went into what we thought was it, but I'm not sure. There's longer range visibility in my bedroom closet than there was on the summit of Sugarloaf that day.

It's good to know that someone got to see the view. I'm going to have to go back.

The warming hut you're both referring to is the old Gondola Building, where skiers unloaded. They stopped runnning the gondola about 8 years ago, because it only could run about 30 % of the time due to the high winds experienced at the Loaf (anybody here that's skied the Loaf, I'm sure can attest to that) and it was too old to repair. There's been some minor controversy over the use of the building....some folks would like to see it used as another food service location, but I think management's plan is to raze it. Its been kind of trashed inside, but I've hiked to the summit in February in minus 40 windchills and gusting wind up to 80 mph and it seems like a four star hotel when you get there.

It WAS windy up there! I saw the gondola cars but no broken glass. It looked like they were doing some renovation in there and I certainly hope, for all my skier friends that that's the case and that it is not taken down. There was a beat up stereo in there with a Genesis tape in it so, I think a Phil Collins fan is indeed fixing the place up. Hopefully, someone can tell us this winter whaat the status of that building is.