View Full Version : Western Maine Winter 4000ers
I'm interested in tackling the 4000ers in western maine in as few trips as possible since I live in the Adirondacks. I'm thinking of heading out there this December. With two cars can you hike from south to north along the AT and tag all of these (except maybe old speck, separate trip, seems farther away than the rest). Anyone with some info on this type of hike or who has done it in winter, I'd appreciate some knowledge.
I should add that I'm happy to camp out a few nights and am proficient with skis (x-country, tele), and snowshoes, crampons.
Saddleback to the Bigelow's? Thats the majority of Maine's 4ker's, but its really back country hiking. I'm not sure how much skiing could be done to make it faster. I cant really think of a stretch of trail that would make it worth carrying skis. Most people do series of day trips and sleep in a nice warm bed. Does sound like it could be fun, though.
to traverse them all in a single hike, saddleback, abraham, spaulding, possibly a side trip to redington, the crockers and the bigelows is probably around 60 miles of very hard hiking with the side trips to the summits figured in. i'd imagine it a long, cold, dark trip in the winter.
to traverse them all in a single hike, saddleback, abraham, spaulding, possibly a side trip to redington, the crockers and the bigelows is probably around 60 miles of very hard hiking with the side trips to the summits figured in. i'd imagine it a long, cold, dark trip in the winter.
forgot sugarloaf
Slo-go'en
10-27-2015, 01:29
to traverse them all in a single hike, saddleback, abraham, spaulding, possibly a side trip to redington, the crockers and the bigelows is probably around 60 miles of very hard hiking with the side trips to the summits figured in. i'd imagine it a long, cold, dark trip in the winter.
Lets say about 1/2 mile an hour on average and maybe 8 hours of daylight? 15 days to do 60 miles. There might not be enough snow in December to use snowshoes, but a lot of ice and patchy snow which makes travel up those steep granite ledges lots of fun and coming down even more so. Technically, if you want these to count as official winter accents, they have to be done on Dec 21st or later.
I'm guessing you've done lots of winter climbing and camping in the ADK's to even think about this? Have you ever hiked on the AT in Maine? The AT along the ridges is a lot different then the trails in the ADK's.
Old Speck from Grafton Notch is fairly straightforward. The parking lot should be plowed and the trail itself will more likely than not be broken out. The Bigelows via the Fire Wardens Trail is pretty much the same except that the road to Stratton Brook Pond may be blocked at an earlier point. Both trails were easy to follow but I had hiked both before in summer, was familiar with the area and enjoyed good weather.
I agree with others that backpacking the rest would be no picnic. It's likely the stretch between The Horn and the Mt. Abraham side trail will have seen no traffic since the first snows, blazes may be difficult to spot and Oberton and Perham Streams may or may not be frozen over.
Have you considered skiing in (maybe with a pulk?) on Caribou Valley Rd and setting up a base camp, either near the AT crossing or out by Caribou Pond? From there the Crockers would be relatively straightforward. Redington from the pond is a snap if you have good beta on the route (in summer the trail markers are small cairns and stick-made arrows on the ground which likely will be buried). Sugarloaf, Spaulding and Abraham would be a much harder trip and may have some route-finding issues after the Sugarloaf side trail. It would really help to have someone in your group who has been there before.
I have heard that some people approach Saddleback and The Horn from the ski area, thus shortening the trip.
An alternative for Abraham worth looking into is the Fire Wardens Trail at the end of West Kingfield Rd. I read on another forum that the washed out bridges near the end of the road were recently repaired and that logging may be about to take place. If that is the case, you could luck out and find the road plowed all the way to the trail head.
Sugarloaf, Spaulding and Abraham would be a much harder trip and may have some route-finding issues after the Sugarloaf side trail. It would really help to have someone in your group who has been there before.
I have heard that some people approach Saddleback and The Horn from the ski area, thus shortening the trip.
An alternative for Abraham worth looking into is the Fire Wardens Trail at the end of West Kingfield Rd. I read on another forum that the washed out bridges near the end of the road were recently repaired and that logging may be about to take place. If that is the case, you could luck out and find the road plowed all the way to the trail head.
i cant even imagine what the climb up sugarloaf from caribou valley would be like with snow and ice on the trail. thats frightening to even think about.
yeah, if i were bagging peaks and didnt care about doing the AT, even if i were trying to backpack them all in a single trip, i dont think id climb saddleback from rt 4. too many added miles.
whats east flagstaff road like in the winter? i'd wonder if climbing that side of the bigelows, so as to get directly to the summits in question without screwing around with the horns first, wouldnt be easier.
Another Kevin
10-27-2015, 15:00
Lets say about 1/2 mile an hour on average and maybe 8 hours of daylight? 15 days to do 60 miles. There might not be enough snow in December to use snowshoes, but a lot of ice and patchy snow which makes travel up those steep granite ledges lots of fun and coming down even more so. Technically, if you want these to count as official winter accents, they have to be done on Dec 21st or later.
I'm guessing you've done lots of winter climbing and camping in the ADK's to even think about this? Have you ever hiked on the AT in Maine? The AT along the ridges is a lot different then the trails in the ADK's.
Could you get into more detail? I know you have extensive experience in both places. I haven't done the A-T in the Mahoosucs, but I'd always imagined that the terrain would be comparable to the Great Range, Nippletop/Dial, or the McIntyres. Which is to say, still a place where I'd not want to plan long-distance travel in deep winter. Winter is for short peak-bagging expeditions. Get in and get out before the weather changes. Slabby feldspar rather than the broken sandstone that you get farther south in Appalachia. (Which presents its own challenges, but they're different challenges.)
I'm just asking because sooner or later I'll probably make it over that way, and I'm curious what to expect.
peakbagger
10-27-2015, 16:01
You may want to do some searching on VFTT.org. There are occasional reports on most of these in winter. Its all dependent on snow conditions, if you have a crust in late winter dayhiking is lot easier, if there is no crust and you are breaking trail it will be brutal. Sugarloaf Spaulding are normally done from the ski area via a designated road used by snow cats, the approach from Caribou Valley road via the AT has some very steep section that tend to fill in deep with snow and the head wall of sugarloaf cirque is not to be messed with as its potential avalanche terrain. Abraham is generally done via the Stratton brook road which recently had its bridges replaced which is sign that there may be logging in that area so the road may be plowed. Some folks spot a car and add Abraham in on the Sugarloaf Spalding trip.
Crockers are an in/out via CVR road. Reddington as mentioned is also via the CVR road. The CVR road is a snowmachine trail and there is a snowmachine trail between Reddington and Crocker coming up from the Caribou Valley so if you can use that to the high point and then head via the herd path to Reddington it may save you some time. Bigelow is a popular winter peak and I expect the loop to the summits is broken out. Speck is very popular winter summit and generally broken out.
How far in is the ski on CV Rd? To set up a basecamp I mean? Do you have good beta on the redington route for winter?
where would you climb saddleback from?
If I was climbing Saddleback I would use the ski resort. The CV Road is 6 miles approximately to the AT crossing from Rt 27.
peakbagger
10-29-2015, 13:14
Your choices for Rendinton in the Winter is successfully walk through the maze of logging roads from the pond to the cut path up to the summit or hike up Crocker and follow a very well established heard path which starts out slightly north of the high point of the ridgeline and then connects up with snowmachine trail to go south to the high point of the saddle and then back into the woods via the herd path staying roughly on the crest of the ridge until you connect up with the cut path which then brings you to the summit. If you had GPS track of the rout from the pond I expect a good skier could ski right up the end of the logging roads (a great skier could probably make it to the top). Ideally someone could carry the skis up Crocker and over to Reddinton and then ski back out but the I expect the skis would catch on multiple trees going between S Crocker and Reddington
The ski in for Crocker from the highway is around 4.1 miles along a very well graded logging road My guess from that point its about 4 1/2 miles via the pond and logging roads to the top of Reddington. Its about 1 mile between Crocker and Reddington via the herd path.
Of course you could wait a few years and maybe Maine Huts and Trails will have built the rumored hut in this area ;)
T.S.Kobzol
10-29-2015, 14:31
Old Speck will be closest to civilization and there is a good chance the trail will be broken. However, it's a generally steep climb and not really worth skiing.
Saddleback I skinned up from the Ski Area. It's an easy skin trip up and ski down.
If you wanted to continue from Saddleback towards the Horns that would be another ballgame as after Saddleback I wouldn't expect the trail to be broken.
The Caribou Valley road is a snowmobile track. I would expect the trail to be broken by the snowmobiles and thus an easy skin up to either the crossing of AT. From there you can snowshoe up to Crockers via Crocker Cirque.
Sugarloaf you can skin up from the ski area or you can go from the Caribou Valley road's AT crossing - that section of the trail is very steep and rugged (leave your skis at the CVR), you can spend the night at the leanto and bag Abraham. Abraham is a wide open summit prone to high winds - be careful. This peak is the most exposed and most remote from the peaks already mentioned.
Bigelows are a separate hike - again I would not use skis except at the approach road that won't be plowed (probably) but there will be snowmobile trails that could take you closer before the hiking trail is steep. The firewarden trail is the shortest and steepest way up. I would snowshoe up and microspike/crampon on the way down (depending on conditions)
Katahdin and Traveler are a whole another ball game. Bagging just Katahdin in 4 days in the BSP is an accomplishment. 1 day to ski to Roaring Brook or Chimney Pond if you're a beast, 2nd day or 3rd day for Summit window, 4th day ski out.
Traveller I haven't done. I forget even how to get to it. That's the only one I can't give you any comment on but I think I got closer to it from Katahdin Lake one winter but there was just too much snow to even snowshoe.