Flagstaff Lake To Rt4 In Rangeley And Every Peak In Between
I’ve wanted to do this run for the past three years. I started thinking about it and planning it every Friday when I was in the mountains training for races and having fun. I’d run every mountain on the route except Loan Mountain multiple times, but I still had no idea how hard it would be when I strung all the mountains together. I’ve run a few 50- and 100-mile races, however, this would be the hardest run I’ve ever done.
I started between 10:30 and 11 Thursday night. I knew I would be running part of this in the dark and thought it was best to run the mountain range I was the most familiar with; I never panned on a second night. It was low 40’s with dry air and I could not ask for better weather to run the mountains in. Due to the drought, the trails were dry. This is the first time I can remember not having wet rocks and routs to deal with. I saw a rabbit and a fox as I was coming over the Bigelows but no other wildlife. The peaks were windy as always but I was able to get across them quickly and back into the tree line. I ended up having some GI issues but they passed and I was good the rest of the run. I was 16 miles in at this point.
I met Steve at the AT parking lot on Rt 27 at 3:30 in the morning. I took a good 30-minute stop, ate, drank a coke, resupplied, and changed my shoes. I felt great for 6 or seven miles after this. I cruised up the Crockers and over to Reddington. I headed back to the Crockers and down to Caribou Pond Rd to meet Steve the second time. It was nice to see the sun come up and take the headlamp and waist light off! I took another 30-minute stop and refueled again. I was now at mile 26.
I headed up Sugarloaf and passed some hikers on the way. I had a quick chat with them on my way by and was looking forward to the view at the top. It was perfect and I could see forever! I headed out towards Spaulding as that was my next peak. I spent the day focusing on my next peak. It can be mentally crushing if you dwell on the entire run. It was a nice break from climbing while I was up on the ridgeline. I hit Spaulding and headed for Abraham. I was a quarter-mile from Abraham when I spooked an 800lb moose and stopped to watch it tear off through the woods. I had a very hard time with Abraham when I was out on the exposed rocks. The climbing and distance were taking its toll. I just kept telling myself to keep moving forward and things would turn around. I started feeling better when I got back to the AT and picked up the pace as I went over Loan Mountain and headed down to meet Steve for the final time at Orbiton Stream. We took another 30-minute break and refueled. I had ditched my spare battery and lights at the second stop and I forgot to grab my battery when I packed up this time. I was now at mile 40 and hurting a lot. The map program I had used had been spot on the whole day. I said to Steve I’d see him in 10.5 miles and then he informed me it would be 13.5. The signs on the trail had been accurate all day so I had no reason to believe this one was wrong. It was soul-crushing at that time but I accepted it for what it was and headed out.
I spent the next four miles climbing and battling my own thoughts. I kept trying to convince myself the sign was wrong. I finally worked through it and just accepted that it was going to be longer than I had planned. I was having a hard time climbing and was grateful to see daylight ahead, I thought it was Saddleback Jr. I quickly realized it was not as it turned out to be Poplar Ridge at 3,100 ft. I had another mile of climbing and a few more hundred feet. As I approached the peak I could hear the wind howling and the temp were now in the ’30s. Dark was setting in and I had realized I forgot my spare battery. I used my waist light so I could preserve the battery in my headlamp. I was able to get across the peak quickly and back into the warmth of the tree line.
I made my way over to the Horn and Saddleback worried about what was ahead as I knew I had 3-4 miles of the exposed ridge and high winds. I ended up swapping lights because Id cover my waist light on the steep climbs and I had to have light for safety. I fought my way across the Horn in high winds running for the small patches of trees to shade my self from the wind. I was yelling at myself “move your legs; don’t stop” the whole way. It was freezing in the wind. As I was going through the Saddle to Saddleback there was a 300-400lb moose in the trail. I clapped my hands to get its attention and it stepped towards me. I started talking to it asking it to just let me go by as I couldn’t afford to stop, it was too cold. As I made a wide path to the right of the moose it decided to go the other way so I made my way back to the trail and started running. I pushed as hard as I could up Saddleback anxious to get across the ridge and back into the trees. I just kept screaming at my self to move and made it to the trees after what seemed like an eternity.
I moved as fast as I could down the trail reminding myself of what Steve had said to me early that day. He had said from the start “move as fast as you safely can. It’s about making it the whole way. Don’t worry about the pace of your individual miles”. I nursed my batteries and thankfully had enough light to make it out. As I came to the last .1 miles out to the road I tried to run and quickly realized that I would just hobble. Just as I hit the road Steve was coming back with the truck. He had been going up the road to get cell reception and check my tracker. The timing was perfect! The run turned out to be 53.61 miles with 19,911ft of vertical gain and descent.
Truly grateful for Steve’s help and his wife Kate’s cooking! Looking forward to resting up and spending some time with my family. Thinking my next adventure will be the Riverland’s 100 in the spring!
There's a spring on Avery peak, one coming down the South Horn, one 4 miles up North Crocker, one just before the peak of Sugarloaf, one at Spaulding Campground, Orbiton Stream, one at a camp just before Saddleback Jr, and one with about three miles from the finish.