Croaking on the Crockers

Articles in this Topic Discussions in this Topic

Jun 27, 2005

The nasty, cold weather of winter in northern New England is renowned. But just as problematic _ and potentially harmful _ is the summer heat.

The key: hydrate and pay attention to what your body is telling you.

Normally, summer scorchers in the valley can be easily avoided by a trip up to the mountains. Often, the summits are a solid 10 degrees cooler, and there are nice breezes to cool things down along the way.

But every now and then, there's no escaping oppressive heat no matter how far north you travel.

One of the first times I encountered stifling temps was on a June 2001 trip to the Osceolas in the southern regions of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. That time, I stupidly failed to bring some water with me as I traveled from the main summit to a side peak.

But more recently, it was on my first hiking trip to Maine: June 25, 2005.

AMSTony, SteveHiker and I decided to head up to Maine with the goal of hitting the Crockers _ two peaks off the famed Appalachian Trail near the Sugarloaf ski area.

While we were up there, we figured we'd tack on a relatively new peak added to the New England 4,000 footer list: Mt. Redington. At one time, Redington was considered to be in the 3,900-foot range. But, more-recent surveys have pegged it at 4,010 feet.

There's no established trail to the remote peak, just a herd path leading to a summit that is known to feature a tower that reads weather stats. That is, except for those times when weather has toppled it over.

Well, best-laid plans...

For one, it took us a long time to find the trailhead off a bumpy, rutted out road. We crisscrossed a few times before we finally got a local's directions to the obscure spot along the road where you enter the woods.

For another, it was 11:30 a.m. by the time we hit the trail _ just approaching the peak of the afternoon sun. The heat was thick, barely a breeze. It was do-able when we were under tree cover, though barely.

It's a nice trail to start off. It's relatively flat, sheltered by trees. But about halfway up, you encounter two slides, giant fields of rock and stone. And the sun radiates off the rocks, bouncing back at you. It plum wipes you out.

We all started to slow down, and an hour later, when we hit the first summit _ South Crocker (4,050 feet) _ I, for one, was absolutely out of it. This was chest-heaving stuff, the kind of heat that makes your heart pound even if you're standing still.