Mt. Abraham (4,006 ft) & Mt. Ellen (4,083 ft) 11-11-17

Distance: 12.6 mi.
Elevation: 2,548 ft (overall) 4,548 ft (total)
Time: 1:42 (Battell Shelter) 2:24 (Mt. Abraham) 4:26 (Mt. Ellen) 6:45 (Mt. Abraham) 8:13 (Total)
Trails: Battell Trail, Long Trail

• This was my second attempt at linking both Mt. Abraham and Mt. Ellen in an out and back hike of both peaks. My last attempt resulted in me accidentally turning around too early because I didn't do enough research before my hike.
• Even though the sun was shinning as I neared the trail head, it was actually snowing lightly when i got to the parking lot. Overnight snow made for a layer of snow from the base to the peak(s) instead of just at the higher elevations.
• I brought a pair of old microspikes with me for the day, but started without them since the snow was only about an inch deep. It took a little while, but eventually my plodding up the trail without paying too much attention to the conditions resulted in my feet slipping out from under me on a small patch of hidden ice. I still didn't put on my spikes, but now did pay more attention to what the snow looked like on the ground looking for smooth patches with ice under it.
• The only brook crossings of the day were right next to each other and both bridged or easy step overs. Above these, the forest turns into more softwoods/conifers and occasionally had some standing water in the trail in spots that are likely muddy during warmer months of the year.
• Before reaching the Long Trail and the Battell Shelter, there were only a couple of blow downs from the recent storm. At the shelter though, the trail is blocked with a cluster of downed trees. Around the shelter there are actually lots of downed trees scattered around, but none of them actually hit the shelter or caused and structural damage.
• Above the shelter, there was also some scattered trees that were down across the trail, but there were all pretty easy to either climb over or duck under. If the trees aren't cleaned up before snow falls for the winter though, some of them could get a little tricky to navigate over/under. There were also some patches of ice between the shelter and the summit that were easy to either go around, over, or across on rocks.
• Nearing the summit, the trail gets steeper and rockier. Through here microspikes could have been helpful in places, but by being careful I made it up to the summit without any real issues. The summit is nice and open, but with the strings up to keep people off the fragile vegetation, it was a bit crowded for my taste today with the number of other hikers that happened to be there at the same time.
• After taking some pictures and adjusting gear, I headed out towards Lincoln Peak. The stretch between these two peaks was the worst of the day for blow downs. They were the worst between Lincoln Peak and Little Abe, but the worst patch was right at the summit of Little Abe. There is a patch of multiple trees completely blocking the trail that either require a longer walk around or climbing up and over the trees themselves.
• After Lincoln Peak, the blow downs were sporadic and pretty easy to get around/over/under. Between the peaks the trail goes through a series of gradual PUDs with occasional views along the way. The "peak" that I turned around at last (possibly Cutts Peak) time didn't have the marker pin that made me think it was a summit anymore and the true summit of Mt. Ellen now has a new looking sign that wasn't there the last time I visited.
• On the way back to Mt. Abraham everything went as expected with pretty easy trails other than the blow downs. I knew the easy ways to get around them now though, so even those were easier. Just before the summit, I took the short path that leads to the plane wreck. I didn't know about this the last time I was on this route, so I wanted to check it out this time.
• I got to the summit of Mt. Abraham about 30-45 minutes before sunset, so I took in the quiet views all by myself. When leaving though, I put on my microspikes knowing that they would come in handy on the first part of the decent and then even more so as the sun would go down while I went through the patchy ice sections. At the shelter I put on my headlamp and proceeded back to my truck in the dark.

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

Ice hidden under the snow

Hardest brook crossing of the day

Blow downs blocking the trail at the Battell Shelter

Battell Shelter with trees down around it, but no damage

Mt. Ellen from Mt. Abraham

Mt. Abraham

Snow/rime ice

Long Trail along the ridge

Mt. Ellen summit

Franconia Ridge as seen from near Mt. Ellen

4Ks to the north

Blow down mess at the summit of Little Abe

Plane crash site

Mt. Abraham nearing sunset

Adirondacks

Google Earth representation of the hike

Mt. Abraham (4,050 ft) 8-9-14

Distance: 8.933 mi.
Elevation: 3,074 ft (overall) 3,374 ft (total)
Time: 3:45 (Summit) 6:25 (total)
Trails: Fire Warden's Trail

Today's hike would be the last of 5 hikes I would need to do in the Stratton, Maine area. Feeling Mt. Abraham would be too much to add onto and out and back of Spaulding Mtn and Sugarloaf Mtn, I came back to get this peak along and came in from the east side on the Fire Warden's Trail. Parking is at an old bridge crossing (washed out) of Ladd Brook along Rapid Stream Road. The road was rough in places, but with care even a low clearance car such as mine would make it fine.

You now park right at the river crossings since the bridges have been washed out. The first crossing was easy right where the bridge use to be. Another 100 feet later is the second crossing, and this was easiest about 30 ft downstream. The two hikers who left just before me determined this and it was easy for me to watch them as I caught up. You then almost immediately turn right on an old logging road which is now actively used as an ATV/snowmobile trail. You follow this for about 1/2 mile and then come to the old trail head.

First river crossing

From here, the trail is very easy. You gain only about 1,000 ft of elevation in the first 3 miles. There are a couple brook crossings, but nothing difficult or too big. The hardest part was a muddy section around a large blow down and making sure you are on the proper trail in a couple places where it seems to have been rerouted. I found if there is confusion, take the route to the left on the way to the mountain. There was one spot that from the new portion of trail I could still see a blaze on the old portion. I see this as the most like place to make a mistake.

A casual walk in the woods to start

While walking through this section of forest, at one point I heard noise in the bushes just ahead of me. Then 2 small dark animals started to climb trees about 20 feet from me. My initial thought was "oh crap, where's mom?" thinking they might be bear cubs. Then they climbed higher and I could see that they had long tails, certainly not bears. Whew. It turned out to be 2 Fishers that were trying to run off. One picked a good tree and was able to climb high up it. The other picked a dead tree that had broken off so he couldn't go very high. But by the time I got the camera out, he had managed to find a better one and get further up. No pictures today, but still a memorable event.

Eventually you cross a brook near the old Fire Warden's Cabin which has been removed and is now replaced with tent sites. From here, the trail turns almost 90 degrees and heads right up the mountain. The real climb starts now without much for switchbacks. Through here was the worst section for blow downs. A good day of clearing could be spent on this trail. There was even one large blow down that require a large difficult detour that is starting to turn into a herd path. In all reality though, it doesn't take too long before you start to come out of the trees.

Easy to avoid blow down

Coming out of the trees

While the summit sits at only 4,050 ft, Mt. Abraham has the second largest alpine area in the state (behind Katahdin), so you will be out of the trees quite a bit on this hike. The trail is easy to follow over the rocks with cairns and some stone work done. There are some places that require paying attention to your footing though. Keeping steep to start, the trail will go back into small patches of trees at times as it levels off a bit before the summit. There was plenty of blueberries along the trail today and I was able to have a nice snack on them before the final push to the summit. As you get closer to the summit, you can see the remains of an old fire tower that resides there.

View of Spaulding and Sugarloaf from the summit

Summit fire tower

Stone structure at the summit

It was a little breezy at the summit, but it was sunny and mostly clear. There were also great views in all directions. Following another hiker's ideas, I normally say that if there is a fire tower, you need to climb it. But seeing as I was already above the trees and the structure had most of guy lines broken and a couple braces out of place, the short tower didn't seem worth it. There was also a small stone structure at the summit. It had a decent roof on it that was partially covered in rocks, but wasn't very tall. There was a simple opening to get into it, but you had to duck to fit in. I didn't venture in as other hikers at the summit said it stunk in there and there was just some trash. I'm curious as to what this was used for though. Maybe A quick place for the wardens to retreat to when a storm wouldn't make it safe to hike down the mountain.

Saddleback peaks to the west

Redington and Crockers to the west

Brook near the old cabin site

The hike down from the summit went quick and easy while seeing a few more hikers headed up. There were no more big animal encounters and no surprises since I had already come up the same trail. This hike was a very nice one and certainly something I would repeat. I do still think though that the best way to get this peak would to do a traverse from Caribou Valley Road over Sugarloaf and Spaulding on the way here. Maybe next time I can convince someone to come with me so I can spot a car.

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

Mt. Abraham (4,006 ft) 6-1-14

Distance: 9.953 mi.
Elevation: 1,641 ft (overall) 2,869 ft (total)
Time: 1:54 (Mt. Abraham) 3:41 (Turn arouNd) 5:57 (Mt. Abraham) 7:43 (total)
Trails: Long Trail

For this hike I started on Lincoln Gap Road and took the Long Trail out and back. The plan had been to tag both Mt. Abraham and Mt. Ellen, but it didn't quite work that way.

Today there was plenty of parking at the trail and I was able to get one of the closer spots. It was much busier in the afternoon, but there was still more room. The trail starts off quite easy as you are already pretty high up on the range. It goes back and forth some without gaining or losing much elevation to start. It was a nice warm up and there were still some wild flowers in bloom next to the trail. After a while the trail does start to get steeper and rockier, but it's not too bad. The rocky sections are also not that long or the rocks aren't very big most of the time.

Painted Trillium... if you look at the one on the right you will see it actually has 4 petals

After some gradual climbing, the trail levels out for a section before the Battell Shelter. It's pretty easy through here with some small rocks and only minor brook crossings. The shelter is right next to the trail so you can't miss it. From here it's less than a mile to the summit of Abraham. The trail starts to get a little steeper and eventually goes over some larger rocks and exposed rock. The steepest section of trail all day would be a short scramble just before the summit as you come out of the trees.

Mostly level section

With the short distance and elevation to this summit, it's no wonder it is so popular with families. The views are pretty great too and unobstructed in almost every direction. There is a small foundation style pile of rocks at the summit which I couldn't find any information on to know if there use to be a structure here or if hikers have just progressively made it. Knowing I would be back here, I didn't linger too long before continuing up the trail.

View from the summit of Abraham towards Ellen

Leaving the summit the trail stays pretty easy on the way over Little Abe (you wouldn't know it if there weren't a sign) and over to Mt. Lincoln. In this stretch of woods there had been lots of recent moose activity in the form of piles of droppings. On the way back I counted 44 distinct piles in this 0.9 mile section. Mt. Lincoln has a nice platform on the top with good views. It is right next to the top of the ski trails, so it could see lots of use (as evidenced by trash as the base).

Mt Lincoln view

The trail heads steeply down off of Lincoln briefly and then further up the range with plenty of PUDs. Some of these seem to be named, but not all are labeled. So it isn't easy to tell which one you are on. The walk up the ridge is pretty easy with gentle ups and downs. There are a couple view points along the way, including the top of one ski trail where you actually follow the trail briefly before going back into the woods. There isn't much for signs here, but bear left and it will get more obvious.

Trail side view

These ups and downs seem to keep coming and would be what kept me from getting to Mt. Ellen. I knew the summit of Mt. Ellen was supposed to be wooded (with a ski trail and view past it). So when I got to a high spot with a colored post at it, I figured I was there. Like I said, most of the humps weren't labeled. I stopped for a break and took a few pictures. I tried looking through the trees up the ridge and it didn't look like it went much, if any, further or higher. Not caring about another ski lift view, I turned around here. For how popular Abraham is to hike, it seems few hike between the two and there wasn't anyone I saw I could ask.

NOT the summit of Mt. Ellen (possibly Cutts Peak)

So I started hiking back down the range to Abraham. The trail was easy and familiar since I had just been over it. So while hiking I was thinking about things. And the more I thought, the more I started to believe that I hadn't gone far enough. Not wanting to turn back and try again, I decided I would just find out when I looked at my GPS data later (my gps no longer shows contour lines for some reason when in use). At one of the chair lift stations I stopped for a brief break and dry socks. And again at Mt. Lincoln I stopped for more pictures and the view.

Hiking along the ridge

As mentioned earlier, between Lincoln and Abraham I decided to count the piles of moose droppings. While there were so many, I never saw or heard a moose. Just before Mt. Abraham there is a sign talking about no camping and protecting the vegetation. Near this there is a noticeable, but not large, side path with a small cairn. There was some cut brush along it, but I figured it was just a boot leg tent site. For the second time today (first being Mt. Ellen summit), not doing my research enough before hand caught up with me. I found out later that this path leads a short distance to the remains of a plane crash. Now I have another reason to go back I guess.

Poop!

The summit of Abraham was much busier now than the first time, so I stopped for a snack, some more pictures, and then headed off. The hike back to the car was uneventful except for stopping at Battell Shelter. Here I talked with a hiker who was doing the Long Trail. We had a good talk and he gave me some good info about some products he was using on his hike. Almost back to the car I met another LT hiker who asked if I had seen the first hiker. When I told him he was at the shelter, this hiker was very happy since he was looking forward to catching back up with him. Soon after I was back at the car opening the windows since it was so hot inside of it. Going down/up the Lincoln Gap Road reminded me of the Mount Washington Auto Road. It's narrow and steep, but just doesn't have the rocky drop offs next to it. Why it is posted as a 35 mph road though I will never know since 20-25 mph seems pretty quick on it.

View south from Mt. Abraham

Battell Shelter

All in all this was a good hike even if I did end up kicking myself for missing the summit of Mt. Ellen. It just means I need to drive to VT one more time this year. It also taught me to do more research when going to an area I haven't hiked before.

An added bonus... On the way home I went south on Rt 100 to start. I should have come up this way, but missed a turn and came in more from the east. After coming around a corner, I saw a boardwalk and thought "that's a dumb place for a boardwalk." But then 100 feet later I could see the boardwalk was in a great place as I passed Moss Glen Falls right next to the road. I found the first place I could to turn around and went back to check it out and take pictures. Another reason to come back again.

Moss Glen Falls

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE