Bald & Speckled Mountains Loop 9/15/2026

Having previously hiked a loop over Bald & Speckled Mountains from the Little Concord Pond State Park trailhead, today we hiked the loop from the Speckled Mountain Pasture Trailhead. Heading up the lower part of the Speckled Mountain Pasture Trail, there wasn't anything particularly new to note, except for some ribbons and signage put there to keep ATVs on the designated ATV trail. We hiked the loop counterclockwise, so we split off from the Speckled Mountain Pasture Trail and continued around the base of the mountain on logging roads and the faint trail crossing a low saddle to Little Concord Pond.

Speckled Mountain Pasture Trailhead

A waterfall along the Speckled Mountain Pasture Trail

Little Concord Pond

After hiking along the north shore of the pond, we ascended Bald Mountain, where we started to see multiple groups of other hikers. After a short snack break on top of Bald, we continued on to Speckled. At the summit of Speckled, we had lunch and enjoyed the beautiful views on this early fall day.

View from Bald Mountain

Trail junction near the summit of Bald Mountain

Speckled Mountain summit Geodetic Survey marker

After lunch, we descended back to the car on the Speckled Mountain Pasture Trail. The first part of the descent along the ridge with alternating forests and open ledge is always a very enjoyable part of the trail. It's always fun finding new variations on mountains which you've hiked many times!

View northwest from the summit of Speckled Mountain

Sampson at the summit

View east while descending on the Speckled Mountain Pasture Trail

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Androscoggin River Paddling 9/9/2026

Today, we continued our exploration of the Androscoggin River Trail on the section of river in Jay between Riley Dam and Pine Island. We put-in our canoe at the Snoopy Site launch, so named after the Snoopy cartoon which used to be painted on a water tank at the launch. From the launch, we started by paddling downstream a short distance to Pine Island, before turning around and making our way upstream.

Snoopy Site Launch

On the river

We paddled upstream which wasn't difficult on this part of the river, due to the downstream dam. The current only became noticeable as we approached Riley Dam. We paddled to the south bank of the river next to the dam and then ferried across the river under the dam to the opposite bank. The strong currents coming off of the dam made this especially challenging and fun!

At Riley Dam

Riley Dam

As we made our way back downstream, we stopped at a small sandy island to eat lunch. We also paddled down narrower channels to river left of a couple of larger islands. This was a great section of river to paddle in both directions, and we only saw one other boat out on the river today.

This inscription was apparently made by workers as a joke about their boss when the dam's concrete was rehabilitated.

We ate lunch on this small sandy island.

Moxie Mountain 9/8/2026

Yesterday, we hiked one of the most unique mountains in the state, Moxie Mountain in Caratunk. I had previously hiked both trails up the mountain, but our goal yesterday was to connect the two trailheads to make a loop. The road in to the West Trailhead was in good shape, except for a bridge about 100 yards before the trailhead. Instead of taking the longer ATV trail which connects the two trailheads, we opted for a bushwhack route along the east side of Deer Bog which was about 2 miles shorter. The bushwhack was quite easy, except for the last 100 yards or so through thick brush to get to the logging road that we were aiming for.

A view of Deer Bog from our bushwhack

View of the South Cliffs from the logging road walk

After reaching the road, we followed it east along the base of the mountain. It was easy road walking, and there were some great views up towards the South Cliffs on the mountain. We reached the South Trailhead, and began ascending. The first part of the trail passes through a red pine plantation which had been recently harvested. The trail becomes quite steep and has some fun sections with optional scrambling. After a short detour on the viewpoint spur, we continued to the summit, where we saw the only other group of people that we ran into during the day.

Sampson at a viewpoint on the way up

Summit marker

We enjoyed the views near the summit for a bit, before returning to the junction with the trail from the west trailhead. We took this trail to the South Cliffs, where we had lunch and spent well over an hour relaxing. The views from the South Cliffs are spectacular, and the gravelly composition of the lunar-like surface is unlike anywhere else that I've seen in the state.

View from near the summit

Lunar-like landscape on the South Cliffs

After our break at the South Cliffs, we continued descending back to the West Trailhead. It was great to revisit Moxie Mountain, and it was great to be able to make a loop using both trails on the same hike!

View from the South Cliffs

On the South Cliffs

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Black Mountain 9/4/2026

Although I've hiked over Black Mountain multiple times on my way to Rumford Whitecap, today was the first time that I hiked Black Mountain by itself, and the first time I had been to its western (highest) peak. We started from the ski area parking lot, and the trail was in excellent condition as we ascended.

Heading up a ski slope on the lower part of the trail

The trail is well marked!

One of the viewpoints on the way up

Black Mountain may not have one large expansive viewpoint, but the numerous viewpoints looking in different directions spread out through the ascent make for a very interesting and enjoyable hike. My favorite two viewpoints are the one from a large rock down a short side trail, and the one from a small rock ledge, just after crossing the last ski trail of the ascent. The views today were excellent, and the fall colors are starting to show more and more! After reaching the spot where the trail crosses the cell tower access road, we turned right onto the road and descended into the col between the east and west peaks of the mountain. From the col, it was an easy climb up on another cell tower access road to the highest point on the mountain.

The viewpoint where we ate lunch

Wind farm construction on South Twin Mountain

Signage pointing back to the ski area base

At the summit, there is a very substantial cell tower, along with a large rock ledge offering somewhat restricted views to the north and west. The most interesting part of the view from the summit was a framed up-close view of the extensive open ledges on Rumford Whitecap. From the summit, we descended back to one of the lower viewpoints for lunch, and then headed back the way that we came to the ski area base. Black Mountain is a great, easily accessible hike, that seems to be underrated as a mountain worth climbing by itself.

Cell tower at the west peak

Sampson at the summit

View towards Rumford Whitecap and the other ski area in Maine on a peak called Black Mountain

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