Whiteman
New member
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2004
- Messages
- 310
- Reaction score
- 24
The forecast for howling winds was a little overblown; yes it was breezy and cool, but that was not a challenge for this hike.
Access/Parking: WOW Caribou Valley Road is like a nice town road! Easy drive up to the iron bridge, which is now barricaded. Any car could make this stretch with the road so nicely graded. It's about .4 miles from that lot to the AT crossing.
The Trails: Hiked the AT to South Crocker, then Crocker, then back. Trail in very good condition with no blowdown. Not quite completely frozen, so a tiny bit muddy in places. The drier spots were quite solid. Just a dusting of snow so no traction needed.
Herd Trail easy to pick up and generally easy to follow going down. One key left turn: The edge of the AT corridor on the west side of S. Crocker is trimmed nicely and flagged, making it tempting to follow. The left turn should be evident where the corridor is brushed out. The herd trail overlaps this corridor edge only for a short stretch. The trail up to Reddington was even easier to follow. We followed a GPS track down from Reddington. Once you get to that first big intersection (you will know it when you see it) it seems like there are probably a million good choices. We finally ditched the GPS track we were using when we realized there was no more real path of any sort and it was just a bushwhack. But it seems that there are plenty of old logging roads that will also get you down. The erosion on some of them is quite severe (and shameful!).
Other thoughts: Beautiful clear day. Parking lot was full and everybody we ran into was doing all three. Total distance was about 10.3 miles. A great day of hiking.
The beer and nachos in Kingfield warmed us right up.
Access/Parking: WOW Caribou Valley Road is like a nice town road! Easy drive up to the iron bridge, which is now barricaded. Any car could make this stretch with the road so nicely graded. It's about .4 miles from that lot to the AT crossing.
The Trails: Hiked the AT to South Crocker, then Crocker, then back. Trail in very good condition with no blowdown. Not quite completely frozen, so a tiny bit muddy in places. The drier spots were quite solid. Just a dusting of snow so no traction needed.
Herd Trail easy to pick up and generally easy to follow going down. One key left turn: The edge of the AT corridor on the west side of S. Crocker is trimmed nicely and flagged, making it tempting to follow. The left turn should be evident where the corridor is brushed out. The herd trail overlaps this corridor edge only for a short stretch. The trail up to Reddington was even easier to follow. We followed a GPS track down from Reddington. Once you get to that first big intersection (you will know it when you see it) it seems like there are probably a million good choices. We finally ditched the GPS track we were using when we realized there was no more real path of any sort and it was just a bushwhack. But it seems that there are plenty of old logging roads that will also get you down. The erosion on some of them is quite severe (and shameful!).
Other thoughts: Beautiful clear day. Parking lot was full and everybody we ran into was doing all three. Total distance was about 10.3 miles. A great day of hiking.
The beer and nachos in Kingfield warmed us right up.
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