Mosquito Mountain |
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Directions
We found the trailhead marker. It is a red bear paw painted on a rock. Not easy to see. There are a lot of bushes covering it up.
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The trail starts out as a pleasant walk through the hardwoods.
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Interesting trail markers. Bear paws painted on trees and rocks. 
Starting to see some big boulders. Connie is posing under the rock pretending to hold it up.
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Shortly after the big boulder, the trail becomes much steeper and the softwoods become more abundant. 
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At about a mile and a half up we pass between ledges. The ledge on the right is huge. Very impressive hunk of rock. Joyce explores a large cave at the bottom of the ledge.
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After the ledges there is a section of loose rock and then a very steep climb to the open ledges near the top,which Connie is negotiating carefully. 
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As we approach the summit, the terrain becomes more open and we climb up and over open ledges.
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We make it to the top. Joyce is taking in the fantastic panoramic views.
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 Joyce and I are standing at the cairn which marks
the peak with all the mountains in the background.
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Looking across Mosquito Pond towards Pleasant Pond Mountain with the peak of Moxie Mountain to the left.  |
Looking over towards the Bigelow Range and Sugarloaf. The weather was very unsettled and at times we could see the ski trails on Sugarloaf. Other times we couldn't see much at all.
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We had beautiful views of Moxie Pond from many vantage points. We could see all of the long narrow pond with many mountains in the background including Kineo. 
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Picnic lunch time. It was a little breezy so we had to take shelter behind this large rock.
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A view of Moxie Bald Mountain through the trees. The Appalachian runs north from Pleasant Pond Mountain up over Moxie Bald. 
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Picture taking opportunities everywhere.
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Time to leave. Joyce and Connie make their way back into the wooded area. 
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On the way down, just before this huge mossy ledge, there is a short side trail to the right that leads to a very scenic outlook. We checked it out on the way up but it was all fogged in.
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We are at the scenic outlook which is a giant piece of
granite that overhangs the side of the mountain and
affords fantastic views of the Moxie Pond area. An American flag was planted there by someone. 
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Another of the great views of Moxie pond from the outlook.
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Looking to the right we see Moxie Pond, Mosquito Pond and mountains galore. 
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Joyce and Connie take their last look before heading down.
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Back on the trail headed down. I just had to add another view of one of the two huge hunks of rock that we had to pass between. Very impressive. And a great landmark to find the side trail. This one is on the left on the way down. 
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All that is left to do now is to carefully navigate our way down the steep trail and back to our vehicle. The rain hasn't made it any easier.
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