Friday morning I headed to Kingfield Maine (usa), to explore the routes to two of their 4 huts. Stratton Brook Hut and Poplar Falls Hut. I have previously biked to the other two huts (Flagstaff hut and Grand Falls Hut) and I was now curious what the trails are like for the rest of the trail had I one day decided to to to all 4 at once.
The forecast was for 'arctic blast' :-) - it doesn't get much better than that...
I arrived in Kingfield after 2 hours of driving and proceeded to head towards Sugarloaf ski area. The road in this section follows a river and the cold weather already started coating the road in ice. It is only the beginning of winter here in Maine and I have not yet switched to winter tires so I tried to take it easy peasy on this road.
I passed Sugarloaf ski area and soonafter found a sign to a trailhead for the Maine Huts. The parking lot had a during of snow and the temperatures hovered in teens (probably around 18F/-8C). I loaded my fat bike with a sleeping bag, extra clothing, food and hot tea and headed out on the trails.
My first destination was Stratton Brook hut. The ride to the hut was surprisingly uphill, in one to two inches of snow on top of soft/muddy base. I have not yet put my studded tires on this year ... it looks like I should do that soon. This was my first snow ride of the upcoming winter.
I arrived at the hut and met the caretaker, Benji. It was by coincidence that I actually knew him from his childhood and have not seen him for at least 10 years. He has now graduated college and seemed like a well rounded young man.
I drank some tea and ate a small snack and checked the map for choice of trails to the next hut. I chose a trail that was on a gradual downhill slope to the trailhead for Poplar Falls hut. Benji let me use his phone to make an overnight reservation at the Stratton Falls hut and then I was back on the bike.
The downhill ride was exhillirating. I was bombing down over brooks and rocks and snow...the fat bike is really an amazing vehicle for these conditions. When I arrived back down at the river I chose an uphill road that had a sign to the hut system. However after a few miles I came to a fork with confusing signage, checked the map and realized that I really took a wrong turn... :-) It would be too complicated to reach the hut from this junction. Instead I chose to to ride back down to the river.
Back at the river I found the correct trail and headed back up. The ride up to Poplar Falls hut was also fairly steep uphill venture. By comparison the trails on the Flagstaff and Grand Falls hut were slightly more forgiving.
I passed a few hikers on the way up before I arrived at the Poplar Falls hut sufficiently spent. The verdict for this ride was 1600 vert and about 14 miles.
I drank the rest of my hot tea, set up my sleeping bag in my bunk room and then cooked dinner. After dinner I thought I would be reading a book but I was invited to join a table with the caretaker and 4 other guests. We had a great conversation until about 9pm when my droopy eyes announced I'd be heading to bed soon.
The next morning I made oatmeal for breakfast and bid farewell to the hut. The ride down was mostly all downhill to the river - a thrilling experience on snow. At the river I joined a narrow gauge trail moderately uphill following the upstream of the river bank all the way back to my car.
A great short expedition.