For the last twenty years, Chris Keene has been telling me that I needed to climb Moxie Mountain. No, not Moxie Bald that the AT crosses. Moxie Mountain. It’s across Pleasant Pond from Pleasant Mountain in Caratunk. So, yesterday for Father’s Day, I did a family hike up Moxie Mountain using South Trail. What a great hike. Don’t know what took me so long to get around to this one.
Emma crossing a ledge with the overlook ledge in the distance
The hike is a 3.4 miles out and back with 1455 feet of climbing. The middle section is steep with lots of loose footing. I would rate the hike strenuous.
Emma on a steep section
To get to the trailhead from ME16, turn north onto Townline Road at the Moscow/Mayfield townline. (If you’re coming from the west, you can pick up Deadwater Road in Bingham and start from there.) Drive north on Townline Road through some recent cutting. Drop down to Deadwater Road 2.8 miles from ME16. Bear right. (A left turn would take you into Bingham.) Drive 2.2 miles (5.0 miles from ME 16). Turn left onto Heald Pond Road. There is a sign at the junction. Drive 2.7 miles (7.7 from ME16). Bear left. Drive 0.7 miles along the south shore of Heald Pond. This section of road has a couple of rough patches, but with care can be driven with an SUV. Turn right where Heald Pond Road bears left and climbs. (8.4 miles from ME16.) Drive 1.1 miles with occational views of Moxie Mountain. Park on the right just before the trailhead sign. (9.5 miles from ME16.)
The hike.
0.0 There is a new sign beside the road at the trailhead. The trail begins as a wide, grassy lane that climbs gently.
0.5 On the right an unmarked trail climbs a few feet to a spot with a fine view of where you’re going.
Moxie Mountain from along the trail
0.7 The trail turns right and leaves the grassy lane. This is where the climbing begins in earnest.
Henry climbing past a cliff in the woods
The bedrock on the mountain is rough but lacks the bi-colored crystals of a granite. This is the southern end of a pluton of gabbro. It’s a volcanic rock that is related to basalt. You’ll notice that the trail is often comprised of tiny, crystals that make for slippery footing. The bedrock itself is quite rough and easy to scramble up. There are a couple of places on the climb where it feels like you entered the beach or a desert.
The gabbro bedrock weathers into rough sand
1.3 The trail climbs across a ledge with fine views then rollercoasters to a junction. A marked side trail leads 200 feet to an open ledge with spectacular views south and west. You can count off 8 of Maine’s 4000 footers: Abraham, Sugarloaf, Spaulding, North Crocker, South Crocker, Redington, Avery Peak, and West Peak. Saddleback and The Horn are behind Abraham.
The view from the ledges
1.4 Just past the overlook side trail, you come to a signed junction. The trail to the left crosses open ledges then descends to the Deer Bog Trailhead. To the right it’s 0.3 miles to the summit (the sign says 0.4).
1.6 This section is less steep that below the overlook but there’s more exposed bedrock to climb. You reach open ledges just short of the summit with great views.
From the summit ledges. Notice the overlook ledges in the middle ground
1.7 The trail ends at the mostly wooded summit where there are two short towers, a building, and a solar array. A short side trail leads north to the helipad. From atop the helipad you have a good view north.
The view from the helipad. Pleasant Pond is on the left beneath Pleasant Mountain. Moxie Bald (both summits are clearly visible) is the rocky mountain on the right. You can see all the mountains around Moosehead Lake behind Moxie Bald.
3.4 To complete your hike, retrace your steps back to the trailhead. This is a good hike for forest wildflowers. On our hike we saw a dozen in bloom, incuding bunchberry, lady slippers, blue bead lilies, and blackberries. High on the mountain are a lot of blueberries that will be ripe by August. Low on the mountain and on the drive in there were tons of butterflies. The most common were Atlantis Fritillarys.
Atlantis Fritillary on blackberry blossoms