Spaulding Mountain Lean-to to Stratton

Day Thirty-four
Monday, July 1, 2019
Spaulding Mountain Lean-to to Stratton
13.5 Miles

First of all we finished climbing Spaulding Mountain on a rough trail with blow-downs on a narrow corridor. 

A bronze plaque on Spaulding Mountain commemorates the completion of the final two miles of the 2,054 mile long trail in 1937 by the CCC.  (The trail is now 2,192 miles long.)

Going up South Crocker was steep and rocky, it wore us out good.  Coming down from North Crocker was much easier, pretty level but still rocky in places, slowing us down. 

We passed the 2000 mile mark!  Someone had made a make-shift sign on the trail with sticks.  

It seemed a very long time before we got to the road and called for a pickup by Stratton Motel where we had made reservations.  The shuttle was there in a very few minutes and charged us $5 each for the short ride.

Chris (Papa Smurf), the manager at the Stratton Motel took good care  of us and gave us, I believe, the best room there.  The motel is conveniently located on a road within walking distance of a general store  and a couple of restaurants. We ate dinner across the street at Backstrap Bar and Grille.

Redington Campsite to Spaulding Mountain Lean-to

Day Thirty-Three
Sunday, June 30, 2019
Redington Campsite to Spaulding Mountain Lean-to
10.7 Miles

Going up Saddleback Junior was nothing like Saddleback, just rocks and roots mostly.  At least we had something to hold on to on the rock inclines and declines.  It was still a slow go—it took us 3 hours to get to Poplar ridge Lean-to, not quite 3 miles.  Wow!  It’s raining today too. 

Between Poplar Ridge and Orbeton Stream was a very nice trail, easy and pretty level. 

Just past and uphill from Orbeton Stream is a road where we understand Geraldine Largay’s body was found a short distance from here.  It was a solemn experience realizing that we were walking where she walked some of her last steps back in 2013.  Over two years later her body was found near here.  She was 66 – my age. 

After a gravel road the trail started a steep incline going up Lone Mountain.  I got weak and had to stop several times going up.  We thought about camping at the top but there were too many rocks on the only level spot so we continued on 2.2 miles to the Spaulding Lean-to.  I went straight to bed.  

YouTube of Redington to Spaulding