Hiked Sugarloaf and Spaulding in Maine on 7/19/2018 on another bright sunny day with not too hot temperatures. It was another long drive to get here. I parked at the ski area and started up one of the not so steep novice trails but took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up on an expert trail that was quite steep. There were good views from the trails and also from the summit.
I had some trouble on the summit of Sugarloaf finding the short trail that would take me down to the AT so I could go over to Spaulding. I finally found it, there was no sign and a very small cairn and a little way down a blue blaze. I got to the AT and turned south for the 2.1 miles over to Spaulding. It was a very nice section of trail with a few short ups and downs and for the most part a smooth footbed. There was a plaque honoring the CCC workers who finished the final section of the AT.
The summit of Spaulding was wooded with no views so I went back down to the AT to eat my PBJ. A thruhiker who was headed south stopped for a few minutes. When I asked him where he was going to spend the night he said he was going to go another 10 miles. I don’t think there was a shelter in 10 miles so maybe he was going to camp in a tent. After eating I headed back north and climbed up Sugarloaf again and then down a much less steep trail, it was better on the knees. On the short trail up to the summit there were some flowers that I haven’t identified yet and there were lots of flowers on the ski trail that I took back to the parking area.
Made it back to the car and drove home with a stop at Burger King. Only 8 peaks left to finish the New England 100 Highest.
final100 