Moxie Mountain |
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Directions
From the dirt road off of Rt#201 there are several great views of Moxie Mountain as we headed in.
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Not much for a trailhead. New logging roads pretty much wiped out the beginning of the trail. We are standing by some bushes where we think the trail starts. More on that in the directions. |
Off we go into the young hardwood saplings in search of a trail. The flagging tape was faded and scarce and a lot of time was spent searching for our next direction. 
This is the first trail that we added flagging tope to. I used a whole roll up and back and could have used more. It should help some for future hikers.
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After passing through a young hardwood area and a recently cut over area with lots of slash to climb over, the trail became overgrown with small conifers. 
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Just taking a break and discussing the trail to this point. It hasn't dampened our spirits so far.
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Faded flagging tape on a falling tree mark the trail here. 
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The blow downs were frequent making the going pretty slow at times.
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Eventually the trail became fairly well marked and well worn. 
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We are starting to see a few open spots through the trees. Here we have some nice views to the northeast.
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We finally reached the first open area. Strange terrain to find up here. Connie is making her way across a flat rocky gravel like spot. 
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As we approach the summit, the terrain becomes more open and we are rewarded with great views on vast open ledges. Here we are looking to the southwest.
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Looking to slightly northwest, the twin peaks of Bigelow rise above everything else. 
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After a short hike through a sparse wooded area, we came to a second open area. There we found a strange pile of rocks covered with a gravel sand like mix. Joyce, Connie and Linda pose on top this odd projection.
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Before getting to the summit we had a very steep but short descent into a valley before going steeply up again. 
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As we approach the summit, we come to a huge cliff. Luckily the trail goes around to the left and not straight up over.
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The trail around the cliff to the left was still pretty steep to get up over. Joyce is negotiating it carefully. 
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The hike up took much longer than anticipated and it was way past our lunch time when we reached the summit. So as soon as we found the helicopter pad we decided that it was time to eat. It was chilly on top but the pad had a black vinyl covering which warmed up nicely in the sun.
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After lunch, time to take in the views. Another view to the southwest where
you can see the Kennebec River getting ready to form Wyman Lake.
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 And to the northeast, the majestic Mt Katahdin with Big Moose Mountain
to the left and much closer. You can see Moxie Pond just below us,
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 Before we go we have to have our picture taken with Mt Katahdin in the background.
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Below us is the Air Force Radar site in Moscow. If interested more info on this can be found here Radar site Info  |
Headed down by the big cliff, you can really notice the white diagonal bands of some kind of crystal in the rocks. I really need to brush up on my geology to accurately describe some of these formations.
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When we got back to the sandy area, we noticed many tracks in the sand. Lots of moose tracks and these tracks which we think were made by a small black bear. 
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We were anxious to get back to the first set of ledges we came to on the way up. We had noticed a large brownish rock protruding up to our left a short distance away and wanted to explore it. We found no trail so we bushwhacked our way over there. Joyce is posing for us there now.
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We were glad we made the effort to get over there because behind that rock was another whole area to explore complete with some great views of some small lakes. 
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And views of beautiful rock formations.
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What a perfect spot just to sit and take in the views. 
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Almost every open area had a view of Bigelow Mountain. And to the right we could see another large open area. No way to get there from where we were but we hoped we could spot it further down the trail.
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We kept a sharp lookout to our left and we did spot an overgrown trail that led out to some cliffs. We had to bushwhack through some heavy brush to get to where I'm taking this picture. But as you will see, well worth the effort. 
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Another of the beautiful rock formations up here.
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 We found a whole new world over here. Biggest open space yet. Fascinating place!
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 Someone built a cairn on top of this hunk of rock. Moxie Mountain
summit is directly behind it.
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Joyce and Rick with Linda in the background are exploring the terrain. Almost feels like we're walking on the moon.
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Connie is headed out towards the edge for a closer look.
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Rick is exploring the cliff to the south. Looking directly south you can see almost no mountains. Every other direction has mountains all over the place.
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Joyce is checking out the views to the northwest.
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 Connie and Linda are being brave and getting their
picture taken sitting right on the edge
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Linda and Joyce are taking a final look before heading back. It'll be getting dark soon. We didn't have nearly enough time to explore all we wanted to because of all the time it took to find the trail on the way up. This is definitely on our list to do again. I can't understand why this one isn't climbed by more people. 
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So back down we go, the same way we got up, over trees, around trees and as Linda is doing, under them.
I had more pictures than I could put on this page so I added a page of just pictures. More Moxie Mountain Pics |
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