The Crockers, Redington, & Caribou Pond Loop (Crocker Mountain Public Land)

The Crockers, Redington, & Caribou Pond Loop (Crocker Mountain Public Land)

Hike Type: Lollipop Loop w/ Spurs

Distance: 11.73 miles

Elevation: 3,402 feet

My Time: 6 hours, 27 minutes (6 hours moving)

Book Time: 7 hours, 33 minutes

Parking: Parking for ~10 cars at the gated end of Caribou Pond Road.
Hiking Challenges: Maine 4,000 Footers, New England 67, Operation Alaska Benchmark Challenge

The Hike 

Last full day of Vacation! I had a slow morning getting up. My body was TIRED after the Bigelows yesterday (and Saddleback two days ago, and Abraham three...), but all was good! I had prosciutto for breakfast becuase I was running low on food and ended up packing a water bottle from the AirBnb because my Nalgene lid had a bit of mold on it (really, I was doing great at this point...). I eventually made it onto the road at 6:20am, and thankfully it was close (as the crow flies)!

I really enjoyed my new "Caribou Pond Road" playlist, featuring:

- JOYRIDE. by Kesha

- Gold Trans Am by Kesha

- Fast Car by Tracy Chapman

- I Drove All Night by Celine Dion

- Thunder Road by Bruce Springsteen

- Take Me Home, Country Roads by John Denver

- Route 66 by The Cheetah Girls

- Life is a Highway by Rascall Flats

While the road is in questionable condition and a bit of a chore to drive, it did have some lovely views of the Crockers. I landed at the parking area at 6:54am after a slightly easier drive due to drier roads. My tummy was feeling weird (which makes sense after a questionable diet and three days of heavy exertion). I threw my bugspray on right away and enjoyed the crisp 54-degree morning. The sounds of the river were just wonderful, and ten minutes later I was starting my hike!

[7:04am - Caribou Pond Road]

I crossed the gate to continue on Caribou Pond Road (or Caribou Valley Road, I still can't remember/don't know which is the actual name) and crossed the sketchy lop-sided metal bridge. My legs felt HEAVY! I hiked slightly up hill and crossed two wooden bridges and one mud pit that had a single tadpole swimming about - it was a beautiful morning!

[7:15am - Appalachian Trail]

The short walk on the road was a lovely warm up for my hike. I turned right onto the Appalachian Trail northbound towards the Crockers, and I noticed that Caribou Pond Road was looking more grown-in after this turn. I had the option of doing this hike as a Y-shaped out-and-back or making it into a larger lollipop loop, but I wouldn't make a decision until I was on the Redington portion of the adventure. 

The Appalachian Trail was quite lovely here, sunny and lush. I crossed a stream and the trail got nice and rocky right away, making for some forced slower footing (which is what I needed, I guess...). The webs were present but not overly miserable. There were a few short moderate uphill stretches, but overall it was relatively easy. I was moving so slow, but it was sustainable! There was an occasional breeze that kept me moving, as the air was feeling more and more humid. I mentally fought with a fearless squirrel before skirting a swamp and maneuvering a wet area before arriving at the Crocker Cirque Campsite spur.

[7:44am - Crocker Cirque Campsite]

Unfortunately, my camera died at this spur, so it was only iPhone photos from here on out! TH eiPhone photos appear to be better than my camera photos at first, and I think that's due to the iPhone's software pre-editing the colors (while my camera tends to wash them out at first), but it's clear my camera's photos are of higher quality once I start processing them. 

I crossed a stream and followed blue blazes to the campsite. I noticed AllTrails had a viewpoint icon at the end of the spur, so naturally I had to investigate. I was mourning my camera (and I WILL be putting an extra charger in my hiking tote bag that is always in my car to avoid future situations like this), but the whole area was super pretty! 

I passed the privy on the left and crossed another stream before arriving at a few tent platforms at another water source. The trail continued to the left to a lovely view of the Crocker Cirque from some drier-than-usual wetlands. I think I could see both crockers from here, but I was not overly sure. The path was overgrown at the end, but I went as far as I could without falling into mud and really enjoyed what I could see!

[7:54am - Appalachian Trail]

[8:04am - Appalachian Trail/First View]

I returned and turned right onto the AT and began to actually climb up the mountain via some steep zigging and zagging, but it was nowhere near as bad at the stairs up to the Bigelows! I could see some tree views to North Crocker's ridge ahead, and I soon appeared on a talus slope with some wonderful, yet hazy views to the Bigelows! I could just barely make out the old fire tower foundations on Avery Peak, and I think I could see both Crockers on the left. The sun was warm and the breeze was just delightful.

The trail steepened back into the woods before coming out to another, more expanive view this time. Repeating the pattern, I was back into the woods and steeply climbing before turning a corner, easing, and coming out to another talus slope with another wonderful view! I could also see Sugarloaf in addition to the Crockers and Bigelows. This was a hard climb, especially on tired legs, but thankfully the views were nicely spaced out!

After that view, the trail began to ease up which felt like a reward for pushing myself and not being too sad about my camera battery. The trail was beautiful and lined in moss and had bunches o' bunchberries at the end of their flowering. Not to complain again, but the easier stretch did feel like it took a long time, but only because I was tired and it was humid, it was truly a lovely stretch of trail!

[8:46am - South Crocker Mountain Summit]

This wonderful flat stretch brought me to the summit! The sign for the summit was just before a short spur to the true summit, which was an easy walk through a little blowdown patch. I took a quick water and cheese break and wrung out my sweat-drenched shirt (first time I have done this since my wrist situation on Ascutney!). The flies were annoying and loud but generally leaving me alone. There was a great hazy view of Sugarloaf, Spaulding, and Abraham from here. I was missing my camera, especially as I admired the view of Abraham, which looked strikingly similar to Adams/Madison, just much smaller! I took another moment just to locate the start of the Redington herd path for later - I was anxious (in the good way) to start that later!

[8:53am - Appalachian Trail]

I descended moderately from South Crocker along the Appalachian Trail northbound with some nice tree views to North Crocker. The sky was slowly becoming more white/grey with the haze, but I didn't mind it too much. There were some impressive fir waves up on North Crocker, which I enjoyed seeing.

The col ebtween the two Crockers was full of beautiful ferns, and I simply was not ready to climb uphill again. It was so nice to have gone downhill!

I started my slow-and-steady climb up north, which at one point climbed through a fir wave that provided views back to South Crocker and Redington. I eventually caught up to and passed the first person of the day - he commented that it was nice to get out before it gets too hot. Naturally, I became inundated with spider webs after passing him... This climb was not as sloggy as South Crocker, and the trail soon leveled off near the top of a pseudo-false summit. The trees felt shorter up here, which was fun.

The trail continued to be wonderful after the pseudo-false summit, and soon came to North Crocker!

[9:26am - North Crocker Mountain Summit]

[9:27am - Appalachian Trail]

There was a sign and cairn at the summit, and there were MANY flies. Still leaving me alone, but man, they were annoying! I noticed a herd path on the left, which I followed to what must have been a view a long time ago. The skies were super hazy now, and with nothing really to see, I did a quick turn around to head back to South Crocker!

I crossed paths with the same hiker who said "you're not going through, huh?" I was able to zone out and enter the ~void~ for a bit, which was lovely. I came back into my body once in the col, and it bears repeating that I was tired! The climb up South Crocker was steeper than the one up North Crocker, but thankfully it was over before I knew it and I was back at the viewpoint for my next snack!

[9:58am - South Crocker Mountain Summit]

I wrung out my shirt again, chugged some water, and had another snack as I enjoyed the views of Sugarloaf, Spaulding, and Abraham again. I admired the endless trout lillies (or bluebead lillies, in hindsight) around the summit, and it was fun seeing the little ravine that Sarah and I hiked through when we descended Sugarloaf. Oh boy... I guess it's time to start my BIG adventure!

[10:09am - Redington Herd Path]

Here we go! The herd path was marked with a piece of flagging tape and many, many more afterwards (the whole way). The path started with a narrow wiggle through the dense forest which delivered me a full spider web to my face. At least the ground was soft! I wiggled through a maintained blowdown field, past many butterflies, and then came to an AT Survey Marker.

[10:14am - Redington Herd Path/AT Survey Marker]

The survey point was there to mark the AT corridor, which was a swath here. I caught more, and more, and more spider webs, and zig-zagged at the survey marker to briefly follow the swatch before turning off into pretty, ferny woods. 

The path became more steep and rugged with more webs (this was the only bummer with doing this hike on a Tuesday) - I had to start just swinging my poles ahead of me. The flies were buzzing at so many different frequences, but still minding their own business. There were occasional tree views up to Redington and out into the valley as the path steeply descended. There were a few moments where the conifer branches were blocking the line of site for the path, but I was always able to figure it out. The path then flattened out in a beautiful, ferny stretch. I felt slow and the path felt long, but it wasn't as bad as I was expecting.

I heard some mysterious humming coming from the valley on the right. I wasn't sure if it was logging, some secret military operation (I know there's some military land out here), or a plane? Turns out it was just a little airplane! The flat stretch continued and meandered through a wet area. I had a rather unpleasant walk/crawl/shimmy through a wet(ter) and web(bier) stretch, following some moose prints, and eventually leading to an old Skidder Road.

[10:45am - Redington Herd Path/Skidder Road]

The skidder road really felt "out there." Clearly has not been used in quite some time, and the old gravel was mostly grass, moss, and bushes now. There was a nice view of North Crocker from the cut, and I tragically had to hike slightly uphill from here (I was literally fine).

I touched up on bug spray on my legs and hair to hopefully prevent some ticks down low and flies up high. The walk along the road was pretty easy and the path turned right into the woods at a clearly marked cairn.

[10:50am - Redington Herd Path/Reenter Woods]

Back into the woods, I wrote: "starts off gentle and dare I say pleasant? (sans webs)." My arms were tired of whacking the webs, but everytime I stopped I'd catch a bunch to the face. The trail began to expectedly get a little steeper as it meandered a fir wave that has been maintained with chainsaws (thankfully) and had tree views to the Crockers and Sugarloaf, and some moose poop just afterwards!

[11:04am - Redington Herd Path/Junction]

After taking a photo of the moose poop, I came to the junction with the optional route down, which was a bit confusing to understand due to blowdowns. This was the one and only time the route would be tricky to follow, so I took it! The path up just continues forward from here, and I had a few more blowdown to maneuver from this point, but soon I started to run into some property boundaries along a nice stretch of trail (an old road, I believe), and then I was there!

[11:13am - Mt. Redington Summit]

I was absolutely elated to have made it to the summit for a few reasons: 1) I officially hiked all the mountains I had planned for vacation, 2) this one was the most daunting due to it's remoteness (and I couldn't help but think of the book "When You Find my Body"), 3) I was TIRED and felt super accomplished physically!

The summit area was partially cleared with some old piles of moose poop and a few artifacts from when it was a wind farm (or something like that?). There was a summit sign attached to an old telephone pole, and after a short walk on a herd path to the right of the sign was a canister with the old elevation of 3984' attached to an old tree. There was a partial view to North Crocker from another spot, more old moose poop, and a lot of sighs of relief! I decided I'd turn the hike into a loop just to hopefully avoid the climb back to South Crocker and to hopefully avoid more spider webs.

[11:17am - Mt. Redington Herd Path]

[11:25am - Right at Junction]

My hike back to the jucntion was nice and easy, and from the junction I turned right to continue my journey. The path followed the contour at first before descending along the ridge. This stretch felt less maintained than the path from South Crocker, in hindsight, maybe because this is the longer route and MOST of this route is along easy, old roads. I had a tricky time navigating blowdowns in another fir wave area, but I enjoyed tree views to Sugarloaf and Abraham. I was back being covered in webs and my wrist was noticeably sore from all the whacking! I eventually fought my way into an older forest (painfully), which is where I began to finally feel some relief.

This stretch felt like an actual old road, versus whatever mess that was. The trees on either side were skinny and dense, the path went straight ahead for a while, and it was wider so I wasn't catching as many webs. There was a short flat stretch in a wet spot, but thankfully it had enough rocks to easily navigate. This route down is definitely a longer trip out than my tired brain wanted, but I reminded myself that I am literally fine.

[11:46am - Skidder Road]

I came to the junction with the same skidder road as before - yay! The road was wider again (slightly). I put on my visor, sunscreen, and more bug spray. There were some BIG ass moose prints, too. I meandered along, following in the pathway of the moose, crossing a mossy stream, and thought to myself "this is actually borderline lovely."

I crossed another stream on a very old rotting bridge, admired more prints and poop, and then I turned onto another old, wider road.

[12:00pm - Wider Road]

[12:03pm - Wider Road/Gravel Pit]

I caught a lovely view to a far shoulder of Redington from this road, and it looked like some of the haze from before calmed down. I passed an old gravel pit with a view of Lone Mountain ahead, and there was another clearing soon after. 

The road began to descend and became more grown-in, but was still easily navigable (I wonder how these roads get at the end of the growing season?). The road slowly began to open again as it leveled out, and began to enter a beautiful meadow full of dandelions, orange hawkweed, and butterflies (I got a photo of a great spangled fritillary - a beautiful, bright orange and black butterfly). There were a few nice views from the meadow, and the meadow led to the terminus of this logging road. Just two more to go!

[12:17pm - Wider Road Terminus]

[12:21pm - Left on Grassier Road]

I took a quick snack break at the terminus and then turned left onto the now-grassier road. The only signs of human life on this road are the fact that the road exists and occasional washed out culverts and rotting bridges. It was hot out now, way too hot for moose (or so I decided). There were PLENTY of prints, though!

The grassier road became wet and generally unpleasant, but I reminded myself that overall this journey has been much nicer than I anticipated, so I'll take the win. Somehow the moose prints on this road were the largest of all! The flies were getting louder and more annoying (they were starting to give me attention, which I did NOT care for), and I saw a little snake and two dragonflies potentially making love? I wrote "there's a lot happening out here in the middle of nowhere."

A breeze came in right as the flies were at their worse, and I caught a nice view of Spaulding. The road condition improved for a moment before deteiorating again, and I had to simultaneously pick up my pace because the deer flies had found me. I was pack to swinging my poles around in a desperate attempt for them to leave me alone.

I hiked past a monarch and saw just the tippy-top of Abraham as I splashed through a wet spot and began to hear the river! 

[12:38pm - Caribou Pond Road]

Once I could hear the river I was super close to Caribou Pond Road, and soon enough I was on it! I did run across the bridge to see the river and wanted to see the pond, but a moose fly bit me and it HURT so I quickly saw myself out of there. I was so tired at this point of the hike, but I had to kick it into high gear to get away from the flies and pulled off a 16-minute mile - ouch! I admired some falls through the woods and down an embankment, but I simply couldn't slow down or the flies would eat me alive.

There was a chance of rain in the forecast and I found myself genuinely wishing for it to start just to make the flies calm down. I forgot how bad the deer flies can be! I stomped across a bigger bridge over some cascades, which was a welcomed surprise after hiking over so many busted bridges and culvers. I could just barely make out the ledges coming down Sugarloaf, and slowly, the flies started to leave me alone. I had my protein bar and my first sip of water in a WHILE. A few smaller bugs found me, but I'll take anything over the flies, and I saw my first person in a LONG time (and only second of the day) - a biker biking in along the road. There was a rock in my shoe once I hit my last mile, but I simply couldn't stop.

[1:19pm - Caribou Pond Road/Appalachiain Trail]

I GASPED when I saw the Appalachian Trail crossing and truly blacked out for the final ten minutes of my hike. I slowly took my shoes off, feeling absolutely exhausted but also very fulfilled. 

[1:29pm - End of Hike]

I found it wildly difficult to lock in for the minefield of Caribou Pond Road, and I did scrape one rock :(. I also saw a minivan with low clearance having a BAD time, thankfully they pulled over for me to pass! I stopped at the market and got a delicious pulled pork sandwich, showered, and then went through some photos and watched more "My Roommate From Hell" for my final night! I messaged my AirBnb host asking for a late checkout since I wanted to hike Burnt Mountain, and he happily said I could (yay!).

I did some digging on this hike and Caribou Pond/Valley Road and found the following:

- A trip report from 2010 that details the drive to Caribou Pond Road deteriorating after the AT junction, and they ended up parking just before the pond. They also noted that a crew doing survey work to scope out the summit for a wind turbine cut the final trail from the end of the logging road route. I was impressed at how expansive the views used to be from the logging roads. https://m.alavigne.net/Outdoors/ImageGallery/2010/08-01-Redington/

- This report from 2011 says that Caribou Pond Road was abandoned about fifteen years ago (so around the late 90's). https://www.countryhighpoints.com/mount-reddington-and-abraham/

- A really interesting report from 1994! https://streamsandforests.wordpress.com/2010/08/02/the-bridges-of-caribou-valley/

- A fun forum discussing road conditions from 2005! https://www.vftt.org/threads/caribou-valley-road.8191/

One final hike of vacation lined up for tomorrow - Burnt Mountain from my condo at Sugarloaf!

Step-by-Step

- Start hike on Caribou Pond Road past the yellow gate.

- At jct., turn right onto the Appalachian Trail.

- Visit Crocker Cirque Campsite, then continue on Appalachian Trail.

- At South Crocker Summit Sign, turn left onto summit spur.

- At summit, turn around.

- At South Crocker Summit Sign, turn left onto Appalachian Trail.

- Summit North Crocker, turn around.

- At South Crocker Summit Sign, turn right onto summit spur.

- From summit, follow Redington Herd Path (orange and/or pink flagging tape).

- At Skidder Road, turn left.

- At cairn, turn right into woods to continue on Herd Path.

- Summit Mt. Redington, then turn around.

- At a junction, turn right onto another herd path, which turns into a very old road.

- At terminus, continue onto Skidder Road (the same as before, but further down).

- At terminus, turn right onto Wider Road.

- At terminus, turn left onto Grassier Road.

- At terminus, turn left onto Caribou Pond Road.

- Return to car.

Map

Photo Album