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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The Roost 8/28/2026

After a quick walk at Valentine Farm in Bethel in the morning, we headed into the White Mountain National Forest for a short hike up The Roost in Batchelders Grant Township. After parking at the north trailhead, we walked down Route 113, past Hastings Campground, to the south trailhead for the Roost Trail. After crossing a few brooks on an easy section of trail, we climbed to quickly reach the summit at 0.7 mile from the road.

South end of the Roost Trail

At the summit of The Roost

I love the sign for the viewpoint spur!

At the summit, we took the view spur downhill to the viewpoint, where we watched rain storms move across the Carter-Moriah Range and down the Wild River Valley towards us. We ate lunch and left the viewpoint, just as the first few rain drops were falling. After returning to the summit, it was a quick 0.5 mile descent back to our car at the north trailhead. We got rained on pretty good on the way down, but it was still an enjoyable little hike!

View of the Wild River Valley

View towards Evans Notch

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Sargent Mountain 8/18/2026

Despite the uncertainty in the weather forecast, we ended up with a beautiful dry day on Sargent Mountain! Since my last visit in 2022, the road has been closed to vehicles, so now everyone has to start their hike from the end of Nordic Knoll Road, which is what most people did anyway. The grassy logging road is in good shape, and it makes for easy walking up to where the footpath turns off of it.

Start of the hike on an old logging road

On the footpath approaching the ledges

View near the summit

The footpath to the ledges was also clear, and we met a group on our way down that was doing some light trail maintenance. We ate lunch and enjoyed the spectacular view of the Mahoosuc Range from the best of the view ledges. I did continue past the ledge and did some poking around near the summit, visiting some of the other ledges that I went to on my previous Sargent Mountain hike. Besides the group doing trail work, we had the mountain to ourselves, and it was a great day to hike this lesser known Mahoosuc peak!

View west towards Mahoosuc Notch

View north through Miles Notch

View south towards Black Mountain

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Mount Zircon 8/14/2026

Today, we returned to a local favorite and one of my most hiked mountains, Mount Zircon in Rumford. However, we made a small detour on the way up that I hadn't done before to the old Mount Zircon Reservoir. The trail to the reservoir diverges to the right from the main trail, following a grassy track. Because of the grass, I would probably not hike this trail during peak tick season. After heading downhill for a bit, the trail reaches the dam. The reservoir, now with a much lower water level than when it was in use, is a beautiful spot! It is nestled in a basin surrounded by Thurston Mountain, Hemingway Mountain, Mount Glines, Mount Zircon, and Little Mount Zircon, all of which are visible from the dam. The lowered water level has created a meadow surrounding the water; and the water intake tower has a castle-like appearance. I am very glad that we made the short detour to visit this unique spot!

Mount Zircon Reservoir

Mount Zircon Reservoir

Bridge to the intake tower

Spring & spring house

After our detour, we continued up to the summit. One of my favorite things about Mount Zircon is that there are so many viewpoints near the summit, all facing different directions. I like to choose a different one to linger at each time I hike it. Today, we chose a viewpoint looking northeast towards Rumford and the Androscoggin River Valley. It was a spectacular clear day with a cool breeze at the summit and excellent views. We did see a few other people out on the trail, but it wasn't too busy.

View northeast

View northwest

View west

View south

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Mosher Hill Falls & Walrath Woods 8/12/2026

Our short outing today brought us to two pieces of land which were recently conserved by the High Peaks Alliance, Mosher Hill Falls in Farmington and Walrath Woods in Strong.

Mosher Hill Falls has long been a popular destination for Farmington locals with a small informal network of trails. Since their acquisition of the property, the High Peaks Alliance has formalized the trail network, creating a short blue-blazed lollipop loop around the falls and gorge. They have also constructed two sturdy aluminum bridges across the stream. Although there wasn't much water going over the waterfall today, it was still a nice little walk to check out the newly improved trails!

New signage at Mosher Hill Falls

One of the new bridges

In the gorge

Mosher Hill Falls

Located on Route 149 in Strong, Walrath Woods protects over a mile of the Sandy River's eastern bank, and it is now home to the only official non-motorized recreational trail in Strong. We started from the northern trailhead, and followed the trail south. It first passed through a red pine forest on an old woods road, before narrowing as it approached the riverbank. The southern half of the trail closely followed the river, below a steep slope. Just before its end at the southern trailhead, we took a small spur leading to a rock ledge beside the river. At just 0.8 mile long each way and with no steep slopes, a walk on this trail to the ledge is a great outing for hikers of any ability!

The northern trailhead at Walrath Woods

Passing through the red pine forest

Sandy River

Sandy River

Woodchuck Hill 8/10/2026

Monday's hike up Woodchuck Hill in Clifton was a lot more interesting than I expected such a small peak to be! The Blue & Gold Trail makes a lollipop loop over the hill, starting from Camp Roosevelt on Little Fitts Pond. When camp is in session (it ended for the summer last week), hikers are asked to check in at the camp office and no dogs are allowed in the camp area.

Little Fitts Pond from the boat launch

Snowshoe Pond from the Blue & Gold Trail

We parked in the large lot at the boat launch and started walking through the camp to reach the start of the trail. Upon reaching the trail, we followed it as it rose gently over a low ridge and then descended to Snowshoe Pond. The trail sees basic maintenance, but it is maintained to the standard of a backcountry trail, so some blowdowns remain uncut and there is brush overhanging the trail in places. However, it is very well marked and I enjoy lesser used trails such as this one! At Snowshoe Pond, the trail passes near some interesting ledges on the shore, which are a nice spot for a break. We then passed a large glacial erratic next to the pond, before reaching the Bangor Water Works Road (no public motorized access).

Glacial erratic near Snowshoe Pond

Sampson in the cave

After spotting where the trail continued on the other side of the road, it wasn't long before the short, but very steep, ascent up Woodchuck Hill began, which I found to be the best part of the trail. The trail passed a shallow, but spacious caves and then started switchbacking its way up steep ledges. One of these ledges required two wooden ladders to ascend. This section of trail also had views back across Snowshoe Pond towards Blackcap.

The first ladder

View across Snowshoe Pond towards Blackcap

The wooded summit didn't have any views at its very peak, but we found a few viewpoints by poking around a little bit below the peak. One viewpoint a bit off of the trail offered views of the mountains on Mount Desert Island in the distance. Another, this one just off of the trail and where we had lunch, offered views past the wind turbines on Pisgah Mountain to the hills in Donnell Pond Public Land.

View across Burnt Pond towards Mount Desert Island

View towards Pisgah Mountain and Donnell Pond Public Land

After the summit and viewpoints, the other side of the loop descended much more gently than the side that we ascended on. We reached Bangor Water Works Road and closed the loop by following it back to the initial trail crossing. After hiking back to near the camp, we opted to take the Red Trail, which made a long arc to the north, skirting around the camp area. Although the Red Trail wasn't particularly interesting, it was a nice alternative to walking the camp roads. Woodchuck Hill turned out to be an enjoyable under-the-radar hike, and I look forward to returning at some point to hike Blackcap!

Descending past a ledge

Sampson went for a swim in Snowshoe Pond

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