Today's hike brought us up two of the most spectacular peaks in the state, The Horn and Saddleback Junior! After the drive in to one of the side roads off of Potato Hill Road, we started on our hike on an abandoned section of the Fly Rod Crosby Trail. Although there was lots of tall grass, this section of trail was pretty clear. We then followed the ATV trail to the start of the Berry Picker's Trail.
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| Start of the Berry Picker's TrailView south from Berry Picker's Trail |
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| View towards The Horn from the AT |
Berry Picker's was in good shape, and we enjoyed the beautiful views from the ridgeline on this clear, windy, and somewhat chilly day up high. After reaching the Appalachian Trail, we ascended to The Horn, where we saw our first other hikers of the day. It was windy and a bit cold on the summit, so we didn't linger too long, but we did take a bit of time to take in the amazing 360 degree view.
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| Summit of The Horn |
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| View north from The Horn |
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| View west from The Horn |
From the summit of The Horn, we descended to Redington Stream Campsite, where we had lunch. Backpackers should note that the water source at this camping area is almost completely dry right now. From the camping area, we started the steep and rough climb to Saddleback Junior. With its summit poking just above treeline and its location in the center of the High Peaks, the 360 view from Saddleback Junior is one of my favorites anywhere. The fact that very few day hikers visit it makes it even better! By then, it was a bit warmer, so we lingered a bit on the top.
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| The AT between The Horn & Saddleback Junior |
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| Summit of Saddleback Junior |
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| View southwest from Saddleback Junior towards Saddleback & The Horn |
We then descended a short distance down the east side of Saddleback Junior, before turning onto the east side of the unofficial Saddleback Junior Loop. While descending the loop, we took a detour on the trail to Wildcat Ridge to get one more great view. We finished our hike by descending the ATV trail back to our vehicle.
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| Saddleback Junior from Wildcat Ridge |
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| View northeast into the High Peaks from Wildcat Ridge |
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| A small man-made pond near where we parked |
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