poison ivy
Well-known member
With a free day off from work, I decided to head up to Maine in order to pick up one of the AT sections that I skipped over earlier in the year due to snowy weather. Pictures from the trip are here
Early morning traffic and construction got me to the trailhead on Route 17 at 10:30 a.m. and I wondered whether I’d end up finishing this 13-mile hike after dark.
After taking a quick look back at Mooselookmeguntic Lake, I headed uphill toward the top of Spruce Mountain, which, unfortunately, doesn’t have much of a view. It did, however, have raspberries galore just past the summit so I took a nice little snack break right off the bat. The trail then wound down to Moxie Pond, the first of four waterside stops I’d make -- just to admire today as it was too cold for swimming.
With only 1,600 feet of elevation gain over the entire 13 miles, I found the trail to be so easy that I hiked the initial three miles in an hour -- which is a blistering pace for me! That brought me to the shore of Long Pond, which had a mini-picnic table and bench, which was too tempting to pass up for a short break.
With the terrain easy, I had a lot of time to spend scouting for wildflowers, eating raspberries and blueberries, attempting to capture one of the two spruce grouses I saw on film and getting chattered at by red squirrels angry I was passing through. I also got a bit wet from passing showers twice -- this is my third rainy hike in a row, so I’m hoping this isn’t a sign of things to come!
The best views of the day came just before the final mile of the hike. A nice little overlook had an outstanding view of Saddleback and Abraham. It felt strange to me to be looking north at mountains I’ve already climbed… usually I’m looking ahead anticipating hiking over those tall peaks before me! I was tired in that last mile probably because I was hiking so much faster than usual -- I managed to trip and fall about four times… including an interesting little roll into a tree that I was glad no one caught. I made it out to Route 4 at 4:30 p.m. after enjoying myself on this mellow little section of the AT.
100-Mile Wilderness, here I come!!
- Ivy
Early morning traffic and construction got me to the trailhead on Route 17 at 10:30 a.m. and I wondered whether I’d end up finishing this 13-mile hike after dark.
After taking a quick look back at Mooselookmeguntic Lake, I headed uphill toward the top of Spruce Mountain, which, unfortunately, doesn’t have much of a view. It did, however, have raspberries galore just past the summit so I took a nice little snack break right off the bat. The trail then wound down to Moxie Pond, the first of four waterside stops I’d make -- just to admire today as it was too cold for swimming.
With only 1,600 feet of elevation gain over the entire 13 miles, I found the trail to be so easy that I hiked the initial three miles in an hour -- which is a blistering pace for me! That brought me to the shore of Long Pond, which had a mini-picnic table and bench, which was too tempting to pass up for a short break.
With the terrain easy, I had a lot of time to spend scouting for wildflowers, eating raspberries and blueberries, attempting to capture one of the two spruce grouses I saw on film and getting chattered at by red squirrels angry I was passing through. I also got a bit wet from passing showers twice -- this is my third rainy hike in a row, so I’m hoping this isn’t a sign of things to come!
The best views of the day came just before the final mile of the hike. A nice little overlook had an outstanding view of Saddleback and Abraham. It felt strange to me to be looking north at mountains I’ve already climbed… usually I’m looking ahead anticipating hiking over those tall peaks before me! I was tired in that last mile probably because I was hiking so much faster than usual -- I managed to trip and fall about four times… including an interesting little roll into a tree that I was glad no one caught. I made it out to Route 4 at 4:30 p.m. after enjoying myself on this mellow little section of the AT.
100-Mile Wilderness, here I come!!
- Ivy
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