BillDC
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Kelly Mountain
Kelly Mountain lies in the town Brighton and is a low mountain with a fire tower on it. It's a nice quick hike to great views from the open fire tower. The last watchman's trail went up the northeast side, but it has long since been obliterated due to logging. The current trail, used by ATVs, goes up the southwest face.
To access the current trail, take RT 151 to the Iron Gate road. Stay left on the first part of the road. As the road winds to the north of the mountain, stay left and go south on this road until you reach a left at 5.7 mi. At 6.8, take the sharp left and continue. Fork right and park in a clearing at 8.7 mi. The ATV route leaves immediately to the right in a very wet area. The trail continues and at .2 turns left. The left is marked with a sign. The trail climbs gradually to the summit and ends at the fire tower. The tower is open and is in poor shape, but climbable. The tower seems to be used by an ATV club.
Normally there are good views from the tower, but as we approached the summit, thunderstorms started to break out. We didn't climb the tower and threw on rain gear and got the heck out of there pronto. These were strong thunderstorms and they meant business. On the way out, we checked out the last watchman's camp, which is now refurbished and privately owned on the shore of Smith Pond. In and out in about an hour. With the t-storm gone and the sun out, there was plenty of time for another area hike.
Moxie Bald Mountain
Headed up to Moxie Bald Mountain via a back road that took us to the bottom of Moxie Pond. Instead of taking the AT from the bottom of the pond (avoiding some very high water), we took a logging road that leaves east at the bottom of Moxie pond and eventually crosses the AT just above the lean-to. This shaves off a few miles and avoids the stream ford. The road is commonly referred by the locals as the AT road.
The road was freshly graded that day and we actually passed the dozer that was doing the work, so the road was a bit loose, but very clear of ruts. We parked adjacent to the AT crossing and headed up. The AT was in good shape and largely dry most of the way. At the junction of the bypass trail, we continued on the AT. We passed the large boulder area where there was still some snow in the crevices. We climbed above tree line and the views were good with some haze. Good views of Moxie Mountain and Pleasant Pond, but also Katahdin and the Bigelows were visible as well on the horizon.
At the summit, we enjoyed gusty winds that helped nuke our black fly pests. Next to the summit sign, are remnants of the generations of fire towers that once graced the summit. The round hooks once held the 1910 cupola ground house lookout and next to that, the old footing remains of the 1919 steel tower that was removed in 1994.
Continuing on the AT, we descended to the junction of the bypass trail and the AT. The clearing at this junction is the site of the last watchman's camp, now removed. Just up the AT a few yards to the left in the woods, is the old watchman's privy, still standing in fair shape. Just below it is a plethora of old watchman artifacts. Heading back the other way is the watchman's spring, which seems to have been dry for the last few years. Given all of the other streams and springs on the mountain were overflowing, this day the watchman's spring was again still dry.
We continued on the bypass trail which was very wet on this side due to a spring overflowing into the trail. There were additional thunderstorms on the horizon and we decided that we needed to pick up the pace and get off the mountain. Again we began to get rained on just as we got off the trail, just in time. Black Flies and Mosquitoes were brutal today as well. Headnets and 100% deet were required for survival. A nice hike to finish up a day with lots of unsettled weather. A few photos are here -
Moxie - https://picasaweb.google.com/BillDC3/MoxieBaldMountainME612011?feat=directlink
Kelly - https://picasaweb.google.com/BillDC3/KellyMountainME612011?feat=directlink
Bill
Kelly Mountain lies in the town Brighton and is a low mountain with a fire tower on it. It's a nice quick hike to great views from the open fire tower. The last watchman's trail went up the northeast side, but it has long since been obliterated due to logging. The current trail, used by ATVs, goes up the southwest face.
To access the current trail, take RT 151 to the Iron Gate road. Stay left on the first part of the road. As the road winds to the north of the mountain, stay left and go south on this road until you reach a left at 5.7 mi. At 6.8, take the sharp left and continue. Fork right and park in a clearing at 8.7 mi. The ATV route leaves immediately to the right in a very wet area. The trail continues and at .2 turns left. The left is marked with a sign. The trail climbs gradually to the summit and ends at the fire tower. The tower is open and is in poor shape, but climbable. The tower seems to be used by an ATV club.
Normally there are good views from the tower, but as we approached the summit, thunderstorms started to break out. We didn't climb the tower and threw on rain gear and got the heck out of there pronto. These were strong thunderstorms and they meant business. On the way out, we checked out the last watchman's camp, which is now refurbished and privately owned on the shore of Smith Pond. In and out in about an hour. With the t-storm gone and the sun out, there was plenty of time for another area hike.
Moxie Bald Mountain
Headed up to Moxie Bald Mountain via a back road that took us to the bottom of Moxie Pond. Instead of taking the AT from the bottom of the pond (avoiding some very high water), we took a logging road that leaves east at the bottom of Moxie pond and eventually crosses the AT just above the lean-to. This shaves off a few miles and avoids the stream ford. The road is commonly referred by the locals as the AT road.
The road was freshly graded that day and we actually passed the dozer that was doing the work, so the road was a bit loose, but very clear of ruts. We parked adjacent to the AT crossing and headed up. The AT was in good shape and largely dry most of the way. At the junction of the bypass trail, we continued on the AT. We passed the large boulder area where there was still some snow in the crevices. We climbed above tree line and the views were good with some haze. Good views of Moxie Mountain and Pleasant Pond, but also Katahdin and the Bigelows were visible as well on the horizon.
At the summit, we enjoyed gusty winds that helped nuke our black fly pests. Next to the summit sign, are remnants of the generations of fire towers that once graced the summit. The round hooks once held the 1910 cupola ground house lookout and next to that, the old footing remains of the 1919 steel tower that was removed in 1994.
Continuing on the AT, we descended to the junction of the bypass trail and the AT. The clearing at this junction is the site of the last watchman's camp, now removed. Just up the AT a few yards to the left in the woods, is the old watchman's privy, still standing in fair shape. Just below it is a plethora of old watchman artifacts. Heading back the other way is the watchman's spring, which seems to have been dry for the last few years. Given all of the other streams and springs on the mountain were overflowing, this day the watchman's spring was again still dry.
We continued on the bypass trail which was very wet on this side due to a spring overflowing into the trail. There were additional thunderstorms on the horizon and we decided that we needed to pick up the pace and get off the mountain. Again we began to get rained on just as we got off the trail, just in time. Black Flies and Mosquitoes were brutal today as well. Headnets and 100% deet were required for survival. A nice hike to finish up a day with lots of unsettled weather. A few photos are here -
Moxie - https://picasaweb.google.com/BillDC3/MoxieBaldMountainME612011?feat=directlink
Kelly - https://picasaweb.google.com/BillDC3/KellyMountainME612011?feat=directlink
Bill
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