Bald Mountain (Oquossuc) 6/5/2026

Today's hike brought us to Bald Mountain in Oquossuc. Although I've done this hike plenty of times, it had been a few years since I'd been up it last. As I almost always do, we started our hike at the Route 4 Trailhead and started up the Bald Mountain Link Trail. This pleasant section of trail was easy going, and we didn't see anyone on it.

Start of the Bald Mountain Link Trail

Bald Mountain Link Trail

Junction with the Bald Mountain Trail

After reaching the junction with the Bald Mountain Trail from the Bald Mountain Road Trailhead, we started seeing a lot more people, but still less than usual for this popular hike. The High Peaks Alliance Trail Crew has done excellent work mitigating the wort sections of erosion and trail braid, although the trail still suffers from persistent overuse.

New stairs on the Bald Mountain Trail

View west from the viewpoint below the summit

Observation tower on the summit

At the summit, a few people were leaving as we arrived, but we enjoyed over an hour with the summit completely to ourselves, which is rare mid-day on such a nice day. There was some haze, but the views from the observation tower were still excellent in all directions. 

Sampson at the top of the tower

View east

View south

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Glassface Ledges 5/10/2026

This morning, we headed over to Rumford with a list of potential hikes to check out. After striking out on all three possibilities (so many gates and no trespassing signs!), we decided to go on a little hike up Glassface Ledges. The short, but rewarding jaunt up the Glassface Ledges Trail is a popular local hike. Although I drive by it all of the time, I realized that it had been seven years since I actually hiked there.

Trailhead kiosk

Heading through the cemetery with the ledges in the background

Leaving from Hastings Landing in Rumford Center, the trail passes through a cemetery before climbing moderately 0.8 mile to the clifftop viewpoint. Beyond the viewpoint, a herd path continues another 100 yards or so to the 1,337' peak. As we sat at the viewpoint, the low clouds rose, revealing beautiful views of the Androscoggin River Valley.

Muddy start to the trail

New bridge

The actual peak above the viewpoint

Sampson at the viewpoint

After enjoying the view for a bit, we headed back down to our car. After revisiting Howard Pond Overlook last year and now Glassface Ledges today, it makes me think I should go back and rehike the Mystery Mountain Trail sometime soon. Out of the five Rumford area ledge-top viewpoints of the Androscoggin Valley, it is now the one that I have gone the longest without hiking.

View from Glassface Ledges

View west

View south

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Bull Rock & Sugarloaf 5/3/2026

For our second hike of the weekend, we headed over to Dixfield to hike the loop over Bull Rock and Sugarloaf. It was a cool day with some rain showers as we started, but it dried up during our ascent. We hiked the loop counterclockwise, first ascending to Bull Rock.

Sampson & I taking a break on the way up

View of Dixfield from Bull Rock

View northwest from Bull Rock

North & South Sugarloaf from Bull Rock

After a brief break, we continued on to the summit. The super steep trail into the saddle and to the north peak is always a fun challenge! It was windy at the top as we enjoyed the views and ate lunch.

View west from the summit

View southwest over Dixfield

View south

After lunch, we headed down the much shorter side of the loop, arriving back at the car only half an hour after leaving the summit. Sugarloaf is a beautiful and easily accessible hike that often gets overlooked, and I enjoy having it as a nearby option!

Descending

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Tumbledown Dick Mountain 4/26/2026

Continued perfect weather today meant that I was able to get a second mountain hike in this weekend! After previously hiking Tumbledown Dick Mountain in Peru from both the east and the west, today we returned to do both on the same hike. We parked on Pulsifer Road where it splits, and started by hiking up the trail in the saddle between The Pinnacle and Tumbledown Dick Mountain. Upon reaching the logging road, we descended to the west to reach the end of Hammond Hill Road. From here, we headed up to the Hedgehog Hill Viewpoint, taking a detour on the way to visit the mine below the viewpoint. Although Hedgehog Hill is actually a peak slightly further west, the viewpoint is signed as such and provides a nice view to the south for relatively minimal effort.

Mine near the Hedgehog Hill Viewpoint

 

View up the valley between Tumbledown Dick Mountain and Black Mountain form the Hedgehog Hill Viewpoint

View south from the Hedgehog Hill Viewpoint

From the Hedgehog Hill Viewpoint, we connected back to the logging road that we had previously descended. Following that road up the mountain, we turned onto the eroded trail leading to the summit of Tumbledown Dick Mountain. We made good time up to the summit, and it was an absolutely perfect sunny spring day, so we ended up spending over two hours relaxing on the summit. We even saw a Forest Service helicopter fly below us in the valley between Tumbledown Dick and Black Mountains twice.

Start of the trail to the summit

Memorial plaque at the summit

Sampson at the summit

 

View southeast from the summit

View southwest towards Black & Speckled Mountains

After the extended break, it was a relatively quick and easy descent back to where we parked on Pulsifer Road. Tumbledown Dick Mountain is always a fun hike, and it was especially nice because we had the entire mountain to ourselves today! It was also the first hike of the season that we didn't see any snow.

Forest Service helicopter

Speckled Mountain

The Presidential Range

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