Sunday June 4, 2005

South Crocker, North Crocker & Redington

Today we joined Amy, Mary Ellen, and MichaelJ in hiking 3 peaks that Geri and I had completed last Labor Day. We had been looking forward to a return trip.

This is the route we took today. We did the loop clockwise.

Directions to the trailhead: From Farmington take route 27 towards Sugarloaf. One mile past the entrance to Sugarloaf at the top of a long hill, Caribou Pond Rd is on your left. This is the first left after Sugarloaf. Follow the dirt logging rd 4.5 miles and park where the AT crosses the road. At 3.8 miles on the logging road you will come to a metal bridge after which the road become much rougher. At 4.0 miles you will come to another bridge that has a steep dropoff on the far side - cars with low clearance will want to be carefull and stay to the left..

A 3-D view of our hike to the summit.

Todays report starts with some shots taken Saturday night at Cathederal Pines campground which is located on Flagstaff Lake.

Across the pond we had pleasant views of the Bigelow range.

Geri and Amy braved the cold water for a few minutes to sooth there feet and ankles from the days hike.

What a great place to sit back and relax.

MichaelJ had a very stressful week and was in need of a break.

Geri really enjoyed relaxing on the raft attached to the dock, but kept us moving so dinner wasn't too late.

Amy showing off the new VFTT shirt.

MichaelJ appears to be enjoying himself :>

Okay - Sunday morning - getting ready to start the hike up the AT to South Crocker. We were joined by Mary Ellen this morning. Why is MichaelJ always smiling when he is surronded by females ???

The trail is not too steep as it makes it's way past a tent site and two slides.

The rain came and went most of the day, but with the protection of the trees and rain gear we stayed The view from the first slide looking down on a small swampy area.

After the slides we encountered more rocks on the trail, but for the most part it is a good dirt trail.

WE found a few patches of snow as we reached the higher elevations.

Amy points out the heard path that leads over to Redington - our next stop.

The heard path starts out very easy to distingush, but does become more like a bushwack on spots.

30 minutes after leaving the summit we came to this clearing. That is Redington in the background. The wind tower that was there last Labor Day fell during Winter storms.

From the clearing you head towards the summit until you come to an old skidder road that is behind Geri. Take a left here and head to the height of land.

Here is a view of the skidder road looking back towards North Crocker.

Her is the group at the next turn - a right at the height of land which brings you to the main trail one tenth of a mile below the summit.

The trail is a little overgrown in sections.

But also has large open areas.

Amy is the first to reach the cannister.

A good lauch when I asked the two Redington virgins to pose.

Here is our entry from last September in the log book.

Amy and MichealJ reading the names of many hikers we all know.

What remains of the tower. You are looking at the base in the background with one of the solar panels still intact.

Another view.

The instruments that were 200 feet above the ground.

The junction box that they were wired to. If you want to see what the tower looked like last Labor Day you can view our trip report at: http://rbhayes.net/laborday.html

MEb enjoying her egg salad sandwich. For desert she brought home made cookies to share - they were great!

A view of the col between North and South Crocker.

After lunch we returned to South Crocker with this view of Sugarloaf.

Amy looking a little tired at this point after climbing 3 peaks (South Crocker twice and Redington).

After a short rest we made it over to North Crocker, but not before a shower passed by cooling us off.

Amy checking out the direction of the mountains we are viewing.

Geri pointing out he battle scars.

MichaelJ pointing out the sites to MEB.

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