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

Rangeley to Redington Campsite

Day Thirty-Two
Saturday, June 29, 2019
Rangeley (ME 4) to Redington Campsite
8 miles

We said good-bye to Blue Feather and Daisy after breakfast at the Rangeley Inn.  They decided to stay another day to see what the weather was going to do.  Forecast says rain today, and people say you don’t want to do Saddleback Mountain in the rain, but we decided to move on anyway. 

Linda from the Ecopelagicon (hiker supply store in Rangeley) shuttled us to the Maine Highway 4 trailhead for $17.

It was a pleasant trail, easy at the beginning past Eddy Pond USFS Road then started going up.  It was steep going up Saddleback Mountain but had switchbacks.  The last mile or so goes up bare rock face but it was easy to walk up, since it is not raining yet.  It looks a lot like Baldpate.  We caught one view behind us before reaching the summit and getting fogged in.  No more views the rest of the day. 

There were several hikers on Saddleback in spite of the forecasted rain and thunderstorms.  No rain came and not much wind—just enough to cool us off.  We got lucky. 

There was a steep short decline down saddleback, then up to The Horn  It was steeper coming down The Horn and slower because of a boulder field.  We made it to Redington Campsite at 3:00  Water was a good distance from the trail.  The tent sites were hard to find—up a blue blaze behind the privy.      

YouTube of Saddleback Mountain

 

https://youtu.be/tEYRXLv1Jns

ME 17 (Oquossoc) to ME 4 (Rangeley)

Day Thirty-One
Friday, June 28, 2019
ME 17 to ME 4
13.3 Miles

Steve from the Hiker Hut shuttled us to ME 17 to hike north to ME 4 into Rangeley ($50).  It’s another slackpack day.  It was pleasantly easy but very muddy.  There was lots of moose dung on the trail especially after  Little Swift River Pond Campsite.

We walked around a pond most of the day. And came out close to the Hiker Hut on ME 4.  The Hiker Hut is an interesting place, and evidently popular with some hikers.  We toured the grounds a little while, saw the outdoor shower down by the creek bank, had a soda, then Steve took us to Rangeley for $20. 

We ate dinner at Sarge’s, burger and salad.  Again had ice cream at Pine Tree Frosty and sat by the water behind it. 

https://youtu.be/ybDLQ9XyF_k

Zero Day in Rangeley

Day Thirty
Thursday, June 27, 2019
Zero day in Rangeley

David from Pine Ellis Hostel shuttled us to the Rangeley Inn in Rangeley, Maine.  We got there and checked in around 9:30.  Breakfast was still being served so, of course, we partook. 

We walked down main street which had lots of little shops and ate pizza for lunch at 2:30 at the Red Onion.  At 5:30 we had ice cream at Pine Tree Frosty.

We spent time on the phone to try to intersect with my new boots.  They were suppose to be in Rangeley by the time we got here, and now it appears they will not be.  So we cancelled that order through Gander Outdoors and ordered again through Amazon to be delivered to Caratunk, ahead of us. 

Our room at Rangely Inn was very nice and comfortable.