On the AT - Caribou Valley Road to Stratton

August 31, 2008 | Miles: 8.2 (plus 6.1 non-AT miles)
Start: Caribou Valley Road
End: Rt. 27, Stratton

Photos here

It was another early wake-up call, and we were on the road by 6:15 am. We arrived at the parking lot on Rt. 27 around 8:45 and set out two coolers with some trail magic for any passing northbound thru-hikers. Then we got all geared up, and at 9:05 am, headed out jogging down Rt. 27. The plan was to do this section with only one car, meaning we would run up Rt. 27, turn onto Caribou Valley Road and then run the 4.5 miles to the AT trail crossing. Snowman had thought the road run was 0.8 miles, but when we measured it, it turned out to be 1.6 miles. Caribou Valley Road is a logging road that goes into the Caribou Valley, and is an access point for several of Maine's 4000 footers as well as the AT. It's a dirt road in decent shape, but it is pretty much all uphill. We made it about 2.5 miles down the road before I had a short outburst; I was feeling tired already and the road just seemed to keep going up and up and up. So, from there, we walked. That was much better. There were some nice views of Sugarloaf, and a lot of pearly everlasting and black eyed susans along the side of the road. All in all, a pretty good way to start off a hike. These initial 6.1 non-AT miles took us 1:10, and we headed onto the AT at 10:15 am.

The trail started climbing immediately up South Crocker Mountain. My legs were definitely feeling the effects of this past week's running, but I did my best to keep moving along at a good pace. The woods were very pretty, as all the late summer/early autumn berries were out - red bunchberries, blush red hobblebush berries, shiny blue bead berries, some late summer blueberries and the bright red orbs on the trillium plants. About halfway up South Crocker, we hit an open area where we had nice views out into the cirque, and over towards the Bigelows. Not to mention some great blueberry picking! From there, a stiff climb and some additional meandering to the summit. The breeze was blowing pretty stiffly at the top and after all the sweating we had done on the way up, I was a bit chilled. So we didn't stay long and continued on.

We stopped for lunch in the col between South and North Crocker; I was cold enough to put on my raincoat and keep it on for the climb up North. North didn't have much of a view, so after a brief stop at the summit and a quick chat with a fellow hiker, we headed down. 5.2 miles to go. I am typically slower on the downhills than the uphills, but Snowman had to wait a bit longer for me today, as I just didn't have much juice left in my legs. About halfway down, he had stopped to stretch and when I met up with him, I said "I'm feeling great! And my legs are in rebellion." I really was feeling pretty happy, and not in a bad mood at all, but my legs were tired and sore and just didn't want to move quickly. Still, overall, this was a really good and relatively easy hike. I would do this section again. There were some nice views, the woods were pretty, the treadway was pretty soft and mellow. Of course there were some rocks and the requisite roots, but overall it was how you would think hiking through the woods should be: soft dirt, leaves, pine needles. The woods were dry and there weren't any major stream crossings. Pretty nice.

We hit the parking lot at 2:15 pm, not too shabby for 14.3 miles on a tired pair of legs!

Only a few of the snacks and drinks we had left were gone, but we'll be back next weekend and we'll be sure to bring back the goodies for the hikers.

Flora and fauna notes: Indian pipe, bunchberries, blueberries, hobblebush, some orange and yellow maple leaves carpeting the trail in spots; lots of mushrooms. A few juncos calling and flitting about. Heard the call of a pileated woodpecker as we headed up South Crocker and saw it fly overhead - very cool!