Date: 2019-08-10
From: Caribou Valley Road, Carrabassett Valley, ME

To: ME Route 27, Carrabassett Valley, ME
Miles today: 8.3

So the reason we are in Carrabassett Valley, ME is that this is where SC¢s parents could find a place to stay that was reasonable in price. It didn¢t make sense to either drive back to Monson to do a slack pack or to take 2 consecutive zeros. So I found an 8.3-mile section not far from the cabin.SC, her brother, her boyfriend, Spike, and I were dropped off by her parents on Caribou Valley Road. The road is closed during the week but open on the weekend. Fortunately this was a Saturday. When we got to the end of the road, there were tons of cars parked there. I wonder if the weekday closures makes this place more busy on the weekends. Anyway, once we got dropped off, we had to walk about a half mile to the trail. The younger 3 quickly pulled ahead of Spike and me. I was about half way to the trail when a teenaged boy approaches me and asks where the trail is. Well, it¢s basically the opposite way he is walking .2 miles. We walk up to the trail together. He is part of a summer camp that is doing a 10-day trip south. When we get back to the trail, some of the other campers are there and he goes with them. When he came to the road, he should have taken a slight right and instead took a major left and kept walking. Anyway, we get started and not long after pass a campsite. There are two older men there and we exchange pleasantries. (Oh, I should say, for today we are nobo, just to make things more confusing.) A little while later I am passed by what appears to be a middle aged couple out for a day hike. They are hiking particularly fast, and that¢s when I realize the reason for all the cars: peak baggers! The 2 peaks we are crossing today are both over 4,000 feet and are part of a challenge to climb every peak over 4,000 feet in New England. The reason these non-thru-hikers are so fast is that they spend their weekends climbing mountains. I¢m soon passed by the 2 older gentlemen and one guy out by himself. It¢s off and on raining and for the most part cloudy. It¢s cold and I wear my rain jacket both to keep dry and keep warm. The sun comes out for a while but of course not when we are high up and can get any views.The lone hiker passes me going back down before I even get to the first summit, South Crocker. I take the gentlemen¢s picture on top and then move on to Crocker. The couple passes me on the way to the second summit.On the second summit, Crocker, I meet up with a couple of nobo thru-hikers. The guys show up and I take their picture again. I ask them how many of the summits they have so far. They say 60-62. SC, her crew, the nobos, Spike, and I continue north while the peak baggers turn south to go back to their car. On the way down, SC falls and hits her knee on a root. I slip on a rock and go down for what I believe is the 7th time on the trail. After we get picked up, we go back to the cabin where we are staying. After dinner SC and I go to the grocery store to pick up a few more food items, and then we all head to some sort of highway department area to watch for moose. Unfortunately, we don¢t see any and go back to the cabin, a little disappointed.