I have been wanting to climb Abraham for a few years now. I read the description a long time ago and it intrigued me. Last year I read a trail report by an AMC hike participant and that fired me up even more. My plan was to hike it via a non-traditional approach. I called Chris Martin to see if he was up for it and he said yes. My plan was to follow dirt roads from East Madrid to Barnjum and then to the Appalachian Trail. We would then hike North to the Mount Abraham spur trail and thence to the summit. I did a bit of research on Views from the top, Topo USA mapping software, USGS topo maps and the newest Delorme’s Maine Gazetteer. Armed with that info I entered some waypoints into my GPS. We left at 6:00 and got to Weld at about 7:00 and stopped at the Schoolhouse General Store so Chris could get a breakfast sandwich. We had a nice chat with the owner. On the road again we started hitting the dirt roads in East Madrid and the GPS was right on. When we got to Barnjum however the waypoint was not even close so I made and educated guess as to a couple of turns where there were no roads on any maps I had looked at. I guessed right on the first one and had to turn around on the second. We saw a huge bull Moose in the road a short time later. He had a massive rack and the velvet was still peeling off in great sheets. He looked as if he had rags hanging from his antlers. He was not happy to see us and turned and charged into the woods. It still amazes me, how fast an animal that size can get out of sight. The last waypoint was where I thought the AT crossed the road and I continued toward that. The severe washouts written about in the trip report I read never materialized. Either they had been repaired or were very much overstated. I was disappointed I didn’t have to use 4 wheel drive. We arrived at the AT crossing just as the GPS zeroed.
We set off around 9:00. The trail is in good condition with few wet spots, well placed bog bridges and a mostly soft tread way. We took our time and covered the two miles to the spur trail in a bit under two hours. Moses, Chris’ dog was on his first major hike and he was doing well, staying on the trail and within sight most of the time. Just before the intersection we met the first person, a thru hiker slack-packing Southbound. We had a long break at the junction for drinks and snacks and then continued on. Just before the first rocky traverse we met another hiker, a young woman, solo hiking back toward the junction. We continued along and after a short section of scrubby trees we were in the open for keeps.
The views were amazing. Fifteen more minutes brought us to the summit and 360 degree views. Saddleback and The Horn, Sugarloaf, Avery Peak and The Horns on the Bigelow Range and off to the horizon.
The wind was chill and gusting to twenty MPH. We put on some extra layers and had a snack. There were two other people from Carrabassett checking out the stone covered shelter that was the remains of the wooden cab of the former fire tower. The metal base still stands. We went down to check it out. Over time people have put some roofing material and a layer of rock on the roof and rocked up a windbreak in front of it. It forms a rough shelter that shows signs of use.
There is, unfortunately, a bunch of trash left around, a sleeping bag, clothing and food wrappers. I would like to make another trip up there soon and remove it. A couple of women approached via the Firewarden Trail. They announced that this was their final peak on the New England 4,000 footers list. Good for them! I hope one day to complete the list too, hiking all sixty-seven mountains in the three Northern New England States. As we were getting ready to go down, there was a group of seven women coming up the Spur trail. They had parked at the same place I did. They called themselves “The Summit Sisters”. They were from Connecticut.
We headed back down about 11:00 and were soon at the trail junction. We had just gotten past Lone Mountain when we met two other thru hikers, a couple from the south based on their accents. Below them we met a woman whose trail name was Croft and as we talked to her we discovered she was the hiking partner of a woman we were supposed to deliver a backpacking stove to at the Stratton Motel. Her trail name is Wild Poodle. It really is a small world. Continuing on, we reached the road about 1:00. We headed down the road and hadn’t gotten very far when we saw a Coyote in the road. He bolted down the road and I tried to keep up on the rough dirt road. Before long, he found a place to duck off and was soon out of sight. We continued on toward Stratton and the drop off of the stove. We got back home about 6:30.
No comments:
Post a Comment