Hiking Sugarloaf and Spaulding Mountain, Maine

The plan for the day was to hike from the Caribou Pond Road, up the Appalachian Trail to the Sugarloaf summit, then to Spaulding and back down to the trailhead. This was going to be about 10 miles total according to the map on 4000footers.com. Last year I hiked the Crocker mountains which is on the west side of the caribou valley, Sugarloaf and Spaulding are on the opposing side.

The Caribou Pond Road is a dirt road that isn't very well maintained, there are lots of bridges and culverts that are in bad shape, some cars with lower clearance won't be able to pass by so that may require an extra mile or two of hiking. We made it to the parking lot around 7:50 and the temperature was about 45˚ F, a big contrast to the day before which had temperatures in the mid 80's. The trailhead is about a half mile down the road and theres a small cairn on the left and on the right, the one on the right leads up to South Crocker, Crocker, Reddington mountain, and is the northbound AT route. The trail on the left leads to Sugarloaf , Spaulding, and is the southbound AT route.

We went left and descended down a few hundred yards until we reached the south branch of the Carrabassett River. It was during a small drought, the river was able to be crossed without getting our feet wet by rock hopping and crossing a small wooden plank. During early spring or after heavy rains, this crossing could be tricky to get across due to the high volume of water.

Looking back at the river crossing from the shore on the east side

After that, the trail continued at a moderate climb for the next 3/4 of a mile.

Looking backwards with the river in the background

A small rock staircase a tiny bit less than a mile into the hike

After that staircase, the trail got steeper and more technical as large rocks on a steep slope made the footing harder.

Steeper section after the rock staircase

The trail required going over a large cliff band on the backside of the mountain, the trail here was leading up to that area.

Getting closer to the cliff, the trail was getting steeper and showing no signs of stopping

The final part getting over the cliff, this was probably the hardest stretch of the hike

The trail started to open up more and there were some nice vistas looking west and into the valley that we came from. At this point in the hike, there was no wind and the blue skies provided gorgeous views.

Looking at South Crocker Mountain (left) and North Crocker Mountain (right) from one of the small vistas

The trail then came out on the north ridge of a large cirque, the slope dropped off so fast, it was hard to see what was below.

The headwall of the cirque with Spaulding Mountain in the background

A narrow section of the trail right after it leaves the ridge of the cirque

The trail went into the woods and was pretty flat for the final stretch before getting to the intersection where the trail to sugarloaf summit spurred off. There were lots of small streams that ran down the trail at various places, making the footing hard in some spots.

A small pool of water right before the intersection

One of the signs at the intersection, we headed for the summit

The trail got steep again after that sign, The trail broke tree line about 150 yards from the summit.

Looking down the ski slope, towards the Bigelows

The old Gondola Building next to the top of Timberline, with the Crockers in the background

Back at the intersection with the AT, it was about 2.2 miles until the summit of Spaulding Mountain.

Looking at Rapid Stream Valley from the ridge

Mt. Abraham (left) and Spaulding (right, somewhat behind the trees)

Although the section between Sugarloaf and Spaulding looked pretty flat, it was rarely flat and the footing was not very good either so it was a slower two miles than expected.