Saddleback Mtn, Rangeley Maine - May 8th

[skiguide]

the dog & I headed up for a short afternoon hike today at the mountain, in decent weather, though it had gotten slightly cloudier when we arrived there around 2:30 pm. decent temp, maybe with a 15mph wind, little stronger at the top.

since I knew we were going to be in a nearby area earlier in the day, I left the house earlier in the morning with the basic stuff - zip off EMS pants, boots, knee braces, daypack with hydration bladder, collapsable dog bowl + his own water bottle (which he knows how to drink out of anyway), windshield jacket, and digital camera.

I totally contemplated tossing snowboard boots & a junk board in the truck too, a thought I would later regret not following through on. Now, I've never skied/boarded saddleback - haven't managed to get a day up there for whatever reason - and i can see that was clearly a mistake to not make it up there this season - but in my defense, the brutal cold this winter was bad enough to ski in without being in RANGELEY, quite possibly the coldest spot anywhere in maine in the winter. maybe someday when i come back to maine for a visit.

However, I stupidly did not realize the camera had not been charged since the last use. I realized this first when there was a very large bull moose chomping the shrubs along the edge of RT. 4 on the way up the mountain, then of course, when on the saddleback access road I saw 2 cows strolling along the side of it ahead of me. I kicked myself again later for that dumb move about 2/3 of the way up and had the gorgeous view of the lakes below.

Kage, my slightly overweight rottweiler (125 lbs) was raring to go up the hill, and kept turning around with an irritated, whiny look that seemed to say, "mommy, why aren't you coming?!" i smartly was trying to 'pace' him, and kept using the "wait" command, so that he wouldn't exhaust himself so much that I would have to drag his tired body down the hill later. but he did good overall -

we made it up above the Rangeley lift, Lift C relatively quickly, which was good given the lateness of the day -
(See Trail Map: http://www.saddlebackmaine.com/trail_map.PNG) --wandered around in that area for a bit, and in our travels upward, I noticed a rather large coyote running downhill away from us somewhere in the Grey Ghost/Doodlebug area - thank goodness Kage didn't notice it - he was too happy to be on the hike! (again, the digi would have been nice here, but the thing moved so fast, i wouldn't have snapped the pic in time anyway)

headed up a bit further to investigate the Double black glades & tree drop inns off Frolly - that terrain looks crazy sick! started heading down from that point, as probably the extra vertical would have done Kage in - again, I actually had to stop him from running down the mountain - mommy moves a bit slower on the slick downhills to save the knees - he still had plenty of energy by the time we got to the car.

there were several hundred yards+ stretches of snow that could have been available for a few choice turns, hence the regrettable decision not to bring some form of equipment. but oh well, Kage had fun playing with snowballs again nonetheless.

all in all, a great little hike with unreal views, though Kage is totally zonked out now - stretched across the bed, I think he'll need some pain reliever tomorrow.... hopefully, I won't

and oh, yea, i saw yet another moose laying down alongside the access road on the way back down.

Nice report, SKIGUIDE - Q: Have they started construction on the new chairlift, or is their any sign of the other coming improvments?

[skiguide]

Main lodge heavy construction/expansion is underway, i've heard from contractors I know who are working there on other projects, and i could hear just one person using a chainsaw near the condos.

not to much with regards to the chairlift to report. chairs detached from all except for the lower double. some carnage of torn down wood near upper lift loading areas, though - but then again, I don't know what was or wasn't there hiding under the snow before.

[MichaelJ]

Nice report! That's a beautiful area up there in Maine (I've been in the Caribou Valley) and a real gem to hike.