Date: 2008-07-31
From: Piazza Rock Lean-To

To: Spaulding Mtn Lean-To
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: light rain

On the trail relatively early today. Want to push for 16 miles and make it to the Spaulding Mtn Lean-To. That will then just leave one more day before I get into Stratton for my mail drop.The morning is foggy. Looks like there will be some rain today, per my weather radio. They are talking about as much as a half-inch for the day.The area past the Piazza Lean-to had several nice ponds and pretty easy climbing. I passed Eddy Pond and took a short side trail to check it out. This side trail crossed a woods road and the way to get back to the AT was a little confusing.The AT trail then got rather steep - some stair climbs and slabs. By 11:00 AM I had climbed 1600 feet if my watch altimeter was reading correctly. Took a short break and then resumed the climb, making it to the top of Saddleback by noon.Getting above treeline, close to the summit, the wind increased substantially. The highest winds were where the steep side of the peak leveled off a bit at the dome, rather than at the summit itself. I got to the summit and took several photos and found a little rock shelter on one side of the summit. Took about a half hour for lunch and resting. There were great views in every direction. To the west was Eddy Pond which I had passed in the morning and Rangeley Lake beyond in the distance. To the North and East was Spaulding and Sugarloaf Mountains forming a massive semi-circle, with the rocky ridge of Mt. Abraham slanting off to the south. Got moving again and saw the foundation of some structure that used to be near the summit, and a warming hut about half a mile down the slope to the north. Crossed the "saddle" and made it to The Horn. The col was steep at either end but pretty easy to cross in the middle. Hiking along the ridge to a smaller peak called Saddleback Junior where I dropped below tree line. Made my way down to the Poplar Ridge Lean-to along a fairly steeply descending trail. Moved on and got to the lean-to mid-afternoon. The Poplar Ridge Lean-To is supposed to be one of only two of the "baseball bat" lean-tos still on the trail. The floor is made of round fir logs. With a good sleeping pad such as a Thermarest it was pretty comfortable to sleep on but without some real padding underneath it would be very uncomfortable to sleep on. Leaving this Lean-To, I started down off the ridge and saw the valley below us filled with fog and the rain began to fall. I'd had two great days of sunshine and now it was payback time. The descent here was a bit steep, with some rock slabs. Reached the valley floor and hiked through a section of very nice woods. I got to Oberton Stream and crossed without much difficulty, but I think in high water this ford would be a tough crossing. The trail then climbed the steep stream bank. There was some trail erosion that could only be made worse whenever muddy ground was present. There were old log stairs which were almost rotted away. It took some extra time here since the ground was mostly loose dirt and mud. At the top of the bank I reached an old rail bed. A small stream (Sluice Brook) crossed the railbed and fell over a rock slab down into the much larger Oberton Stream. Got a picture of this - a nice view. The next section, up the side of Lone Mountain, was relatively easy, passing through open hardwood forests. Reached the top of Lone Mountain.Next up was a side trail to Mount Abraham. I thought about going all the way to Mt. Abraham, but it would have been about 3.5 miles extra. So I passed. Made my way to the Spaulding Mountain Lean-to, about a half hour further on. On the way I met a SOBO who had stayed on top of Sugarloaf last night. He spoke highly of the sunset and views.At the lean-to I met three guys who were out hiking for a month. They were all Canadians and none seemed to speak English very well. I had remembered StormeNorm talk about three Canadians before. But those guys would have already finished the trail by now - so my three guys were not the same. Actualy, there are quite a few Canadians that come down into Maine to hike.The Canadians were able to tell me they intended to camp that night at the top of Sugarloaf, still another three miles away. They would have to really push it to get there in time for the sunset. Nevertheless, they said goobye and left for the mountain. Piazza Rock Lean-To Privy