South Crocker-Crocker-Redington

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yvon

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Location
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
South Crocker-Crocker-Redington, june 12 2010

Having slept in Stratton, we are early on the road to our next Maine summits. Today, South Crocker, Crocker and Redington are on our target by the Caribou Valley Road. The Caribou Valley Road (CVR) or Caribou Pound Road is in very bad condition. Full of holes, bridges are borderline passable. So in poor condition, to not destroy my car, a Toyota Corolla 2003, I took 35 minutes for 3.9 miles. And 3.9 miles is the maximum a car could do.

The weather was cloudy at first, but the clouds are not threatening. So we begin with S. Crocker. The AT to Crocker, was a little wet and some muddy patches. The summit reached fairly quickly. Suddenly, we heard a noise in the forest. Immediately Annie begins to speak loudly and said, we're going straight to the second summit. Crocker is also easily reached. Back to S. Croker, the visitor that we had heard seems to have left it to scare other hikers. The Herd Path to Redington is not easy to find and follow. There is a portion of the trail is a Bushwhack, you should have seen Annie, she ate bushwhack.
It's very easy to make mistakes and lose the trail. Good thing I had my GPS and I realized that I headed to Crocker. I should have checked more often my route on my GPS, which would have saved a little time. Finally, we reached the Redington. After discussion, because Annie is not a Bushwhack fan, we change our plans and decided to return by way of the CVR and make a loop.
Back in the car, we prepare mentally to do almost the hardest part, which is to drive a second time on the CVR.
After reaching the road, we breathe a little.

Now we are at 109/115 :)

PHOTOS OF S.CROCKER-CROKER-REDINGTON
:)
 
You two are getting closer. I'm impressed with your adventures. Just getting to the trailheads would be enough for me.

Keep going Yvon and Annie!
 
You two are getting closer. I'm impressed with your adventures. Just getting to the trailheads would be enough for me.

Keep going Yvon and Annie!

I am always impressed with your adventures Neil. But the Caribou Valley Road is a special one. :)
Bravo to you and Cory for your saturday adventure in the white.
 
Je suis très content d'entendre que vous n'avez pas endommagé votre voiture!

Desole que le "sentier" entre SCrocker et Redington n'etait pas si bien indiqué que j'avais prevu. J'etait heureux d'entendre que vous avez descendu par le CVR. C'est bien plus longue mais tres doux et facile, n'est-ce pas?

Felicitations pour avoir reussi, meme s'il était un peu special.

Chris
 
The first time we attempted Redington (1990, still a NEHH) from the CVR, we too heard loud noises and I refused to keep walking towards it.

Back then, we could easily drive our Corolla past the T-junction to the right turn off the loop road. A logging road ran right up to the Crocker-Redington col and there was a rough herd path from there.

Keep on truckin', Yvon and Annie!
 
Thanks for the bridge pictures!

Thanks for the bridge pictures! We'll be heading up there in 3-4 weeks or so to visit those peaks. Our driver has a big 4 wheel drive pickup and he's a contractor. Maybe we can suggust he bring along a big plank to put across the big hole in the bridge.
 
Well, let me state that when I drove my Subaru outback back there, the 3.9ish miles on CVR, we parked and camped about 1/2 mile before the AT crossing where most people seem to park, yet there were quite a few really large RVs (trailer RV types) up past the hill and apparently people pull RVs all the way to the Caribou Pond at the very end.. And when we were setting up camp, we saw some folks with P/U trucks and RVs go by of which we chatted with them for a bit. One of them, as they crossed the bridge and headed up the seriously rutted hill, we could hear the RV scraping bottom, quite loudly, but they do make it up!! and the road gets a lot better after that...

Jay
 
Nice pictures, it's been 15 years since I've been to the Crockers, now I don't have to go back.

My French is awful but did I read that yo stayed at the Spillover Motel? Nice place.

Thanks for sharing
 
Nice pictures, it's been 15 years since I've been to the Crockers, now I don't have to go back.

My French is awful but did I read that yo stayed at the Spillover Motel? Nice place.

Thanks for sharing

Yes Mike, we slept at the Spillover Motel.
Maybe your French is awful, but my English is bad. :)
 
Look at one of the bridge crossing on the CVR.

IMG_0318C.jpg


IMG_0319C.jpg
 
Look at one of the bridge crossing on the CVR ....
I think they look worse than they really are. Underneath, all of the bridges are massive steel structures. The tops are wearing out a little, but the bridges themselves are structurally sound.
 
I think they look worse than they really are. Underneath, all of the bridges are massive steel structures. The tops are wearing out a little, but the bridges themselves are structurally sound.

I would have to agree. They look terrible, but logging trucks use them, so they have to be strong. I know this former bridge designer who always reassures me they are OK. :pStill doesn't make me feel 100% when we drive over them, I mean, what if a tire got stuck in one of those rotted spots!! :D
 
I know this former bridge designer who always reassures me they are OK. :pStill doesn't make me feel 100% when we drive over them, I mean, what if a tire got stuck in one of those rotted spots!! :D

That's what all-wheel-drive is for!

Well, okay, that still wouldn't necessarily be enough to get out of such a hole. One just has to be really careful. Those bridges are solid underneath, and support plenty of snowmobile traffic all winter, but the concentrated weight of a car on a tire could potentially punch a hole through rotted wood. That said, it doesn't take too much of a fresh board to deal with the problem.

As I recall, you didn't allow said structural engineer to go nearly as far as he knew he could successfully drive. ;)
 
I stopped worrying about the bridges themselves when I saw the huge RVs being towed past us... Some of them are not little pop-up trailers either.

Jay
 
35 minutes for 3.9 miles? :eek: That has me concerned given I drive a similar car, anyone have feedback on that?
 
Yvon,
Very nice report and pictures on an area in Maine you don't see many reports on.
I too can understand Annie's enthusiam for bushwacking; I feel the same way
as she.:D As for the bridge, if you are not the driver, keeping one's eyes closed may be in order.

Donna:)
 
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