Spaulding Lake July 27,28 2013

[Rainman]

We got an early start Saturday from the Great Gulf trailhead. Met quite a few day hikers early in the hike, including a yellow lab who ran past us in either direction 6 times before his people caught up with us. He looked like he was having fun. Ran into a ranger at The Bluff doing "Wilderness Monitoring" which seems to include question as to destination, and education of the many regulations of the Wilderness Area. We saw the yellow lab again here, and he seemed lost. His people had indicated that they were heading up Osgood, and we had passed that intersection some time ago. The ranger took charge of him, and we shared water with him. I certainly hope his people showed up shortly. The tentsites in this area were all occupied. The ranger indicated that the tentsites up through Clam Rock all have bear boxes, but the ones further up the valley do not. We continued on to the junction with Wamsutta and Six Husbands. The designated tentsite at the former shelter site was taken. We checked Wamsutta and found an obvious tentsite, but it was not signed so we moved on. The site on the Buttress trail was also taken. After significant searching along Six Husbands we found a legal spot and set up the tent. Our original plan was to set up the tent and head to Spaulding Lake. Too late for that now, so we settled for the talus slope on the Buttress Trail. Very nice. After a nice nights sleep, it was an early start up to Spaulding Lake. Above the Wamsutta jct. the trail is quite a bit rougher. A short flooded section before the former shelter site, and numerous blowdowns along the way slowed us down a bit. A couple of sections are along slabs sloping down into the brook. These can be intimidating, but were not slippery today. This is a nice and wild section of trail, nothing very steep, waterfalls, and nice peekaboo views all along the way. Spaulding Lake is a beautiful location. We enjoyed a leisurely lunch, took many photos, and returned to our stashed camping gear near our tentsite. An enjoyable walk out to the car finished up the weekend. A few sprinkles, but no significant rain this weekend.