The Rain in Maine

“The sun did not shine.  It was too wet to play.” — Dr. Seuss

They say that “you won’t get to Maine if you don’t hike in the rain.”  I suppose that is true also for getting to Georgia, even though I can’t think of a word that rhymes with Georgia.  After taking a zero because of the rain on Monday, I decided to hike through the rain on Thursday.  The rationale being that I would rather get wet hiking into town where a hot shower awaits, than get wet hiking out of town after starting with dry gear and clothes.

After taking my zero day in Stratton, I made had the energy needed to tackle Crocker Mountain and Spaulding Mountain on Tuesday — a 13.5 mile day with 5000’ of elevation gain. The north and south peaks of Crocker Mountain are both above 4000’ and offered some good views from their partially-wooded summits.

After a steep decent into a glacial cirque, I forded the south branch of the Carrabassett River.  Despite the recent rain, the water level was low enough to cross with a combination of rock hopping and a plank that was placed to bridge one of the long gaps between rocks.

After lunch by the river, I had a steep climb out of the valley.  Fortunately the elevation profile in my map was exaggerated, but there was still a lot of scrambling to get to the ridge, which afforded an excellent view back down.

After passing a side trail to Sugarloaf Mountain and a short ascent over Spaulding Mountain, which was entirely wooded and offered no views, I reached camp for the night at the Spaulding Mountain lean-to.

Wednesday was a relatively uneventful day, descending 1800’ off Spaulding Mountain and ascending 1500’ up to Poplar Ridge.

After arriving early afternoon at the Poplar Ridge lean-to, the rest of the day was spent anxiously awaiting the impending rain.  It was too far to continue to town in Rangeley, yet it seemed silly sitting around an a beautiful afternoon instead of hiking.

The rain started after midnight, as predicted, and lasted all day on Thursday. At 3 a.m., awake and listening to the rain, I decided it might be best to take the day off.  Upon light of day, I realized that I had been fooled as to the intensity of the rain as I listened to it hit the metal roof of the lean-to.  Although the sun did not shine and it was too wet to play, I decided to head out on a slow, deliberate hike across three peaks of the Sadleback Range, being careful to assure good footing across wet and slippery roots and rocks.  The most enjoyable pat was a 2.9 mile stretch above tree-line from The Horn to Saddleback Mountain.  Unfortunately, the rain continued and there were no views from the top.

The journey is about more than just hiking and scenery, as I have met some very interesting people along the way.  After waiting a half-hour in the rain for a shuttle into town, I was happy to find that Gummy, a fellow hiker whom I had met in Monson, and again in Caratunk, was staying at the same hostel.  He is a faster hiker than I am, but somehow I manage  to catch up when I get to town.  We had a nice dinner and conversation at Sarge’s Pub.

I still have some wet clothes and probably will head to the laundromat and grocery store this morning, before heading back out.  Nest stop: Andover, Maine.