Today's hike is part of a 32 mile section of the AT in Maine that is very remote. It contains many of the highest mountains of Maine and the only way two break up this section is by a couple of hard to find logging roads. Thanks to Runtrail's husband Jim, who searched very hard for this road, I knew that I could cut in by way of a logging road which leads to Perham Stream. I found directions to this spot on the Internet which can be found on the link I created under 'Parking'.
It took Runtrails just 2 days to complete this section. I expect it to take me 4 to 5 day hikes. Why so much longer? For three reasons:
This area contains a lot of Maine's 4,000 foot mountains. I plan to hike all of these and they will require a lot of bonus miles on side trails.
I left the logging road by Perham stream with Snoopy. We immediately began climbing up. It was a steady climb but we reached the top of Lone Mountain.
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We continued on when we reached this side trail for Mount Abraham. This was a beautiful day and I heard the views from Mount Abraham were incredible. I decided to save this side trail for the way back. Since I would be coming back this way, I decided to lighten my load by hiding two of my water bottles behind a tree.
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I continued my hike, passing some bog bridging.
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I passed the side trail for the Spaulding Leanto. I decided to hit that on the way back as well. I got spoiled last week hiking on some fairly smooth trails in Vermont. Looks like we are back to steep climbs and lots of rocks.
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I reached the side trail for the Spaulding Summit. I dropped my pack and began the 150 yard side trail to the summit.
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Here's Snoopy on the summit. I can cross off another New England 4,000 footer.
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I've read that there is no view on Spaulding. I didn't find this to be completely true. While climbing the side trail, I turned around for a pretty good view. At the top I stood on a small cairn to get a view. I found a fairly decent size tree with a branch about 3 or 4 feet off the ground. I hoisted myself up to see if I could get a better view. I could have climbed higher but being by myself I didn't want to risk falling. But from my 3 to 4 foot perch, I got a pretty good view.
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I hiked back down to the AT. I was a little ahead of schedule so I decided to hike a little further north. I looked on my map to find the next landmark. It was only .7 miles away so I proceeded to find it. Here it is. A plaque that commemorates the completion of the AT. So this is where the Appalachian Trail was completed. I couldn't help but wonder where I would finish hiking the trail. Currently Mount Katahdin and Springer Mountain are still possibilities.
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Here's a close up.
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Did you notice the milage of the completed trail? It is 'only' 2,054 miles. Because of trail relocations over the decades, the trail is well over a hundred miles longer. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy now estimates it at 2,175.
Well my new AT miles for this hike are done. It's time to head back. I went back up to the side trail for Spaulding and down the other side. I came to the side trail for the shelter and decided to take it.
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Here's the shelter where I met a thru hiker named 'Heavy Foot.' I offered him a peach which he gladly accepted. He said it was a long time since he had a peach. I love spreadingtrail magic.
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After saying 'Good bye' to 'Heavy Foot', I continued south. I reached the side trail for Mount Abraham. I grabbed one of my two hidden water bottles and started down the blue blazed trail. This would be the smoothest section of the trail today, at least for a half a mile or so.
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I saw several good size toads today. They tend to blend. Can you find the toad in this picture?
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I knew the smooth flat trail would end, after all, I was climbing a 4,000 footer. At last I came out above treeline and looked ahead to Mount Abraham.
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I dropped below treeline a couple of times, before I finally emerged above treeline for good. Mount Abraham reminded me of a small version of Mount Washington, a big old pile of rocks.
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Snoopy and I reached the summit. This is my 34th New England 4,000 footer which puts me over halfway on that list. The summit of Abraham has part of an old fire tower remaining.
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You can't quite tell from the angle of the picture, but there is a ladder behind the sign. Although no top to this tower, I couldn't resist climbing the ladder anyway. Just like I had read, the views from Abraham were magnificent. Here's a look at Saddleback and the Horn. I hope to hike that section of the AT soon. From this viewpoint, it is clear how Saddleback got its name.
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Snoopy was showing signs of fatigue on this warm summer day. It wasn't easy on this pile of rocks, but I found a somewhat soft spot for him to rest.
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I continued to take a few more pictures. Here is a picture of Spaulding which I just climbed. Sugarloaf is behind it to the right. The Crockers are behind it to the left. Behind Sugarloaf, I think I could make out the Bigelow Peaks. Maine has fourteen 4,000 foot mountains. Ten of those are in this area.
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I gave Lynn a phone call to let her know I made it to the top. As I began my return, I hiked slowly trying to make my time above treeline last. I came back into the woods and eventually back to the AT where I picked up my remaining hidden water bottle. Snoopy and I then hiked back down to the truck. While driving down the logging road, I got a look back at Mount Abraham with its rocky top.
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The drive out started to become a little more civilized as I passed a few houses. I couldn't resist getting a picture of this display on someone's front yard.
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Mount Abraham made my day. There is another trail that goes to the top of Mount Abraham. I hope to return another time and hike in using that trail.
