| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Little Moose Mountain , ME |
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 | Trails: |
Little Moose Mountain Trail, old Little Moose Mountain Trail, bushwhack, Loop Trail, Notch Ponds Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, August 6, 2023 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parking is as described in the guidebook but man did we struggle! We began by spotting a car at the Notch Ponds trailhead. First of all, note that although Gaia doesn’t show Mountain Rd as connecting, the guidebook does and they do indeed connect, so save yourself the time and bear left onto Mountain Rd (shown as Big Squaw Rd on Gaia at its start) shortly after the Big Moose trailhead rather than heading west on Moore Bog Rd as we did. The upper trailhead is right on the road but the lower trailhead is off of it on a spur rd not shown on Gaia. Feel free to email and I can send your the coordinates or a pin. It took us awhile to finally get it right. There was room for at least a few cars at both the upper and lower trailheads and I think there was one other in each when we finally arrived around 1:30pm. Parts of Mountain Rd were rough enough that I wouldn’t take a low clearance car on them. The road for Little Moose Mtn was much easier to find though note that it continues beyond where it’s shown as stopping on Gaia and Gaia doesn’t show a trail starting from here but only the old trail from Moose Mtn Inn. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Nothing that wasn’t rock hopable. Also, many crossings were bridged |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
I think these would be good trails for dogs but I don’t believe we saw any. |
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 | Bugs: |
I don’t believe they bothered us. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
We found what looked like may be a snowmobile or atv key a short ways in Little Moose Mtn Trail. We walked back to the trailhead and left it at the kiosk. |
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 | Comments: |
Little Moose Mtn Trail was blazed in blue. I believe the blazing was fairly frequent. Not too hard to follow. A couple of turns that could be obscure. In a cut area where it looks like you cross a snowmobile or atv trail, proceed toward the sign that says “Lookout Trail” which I guess means Little Moose Mtn Trail here. There’s a large blowdown totally obscuring the trail and sort of impossible to get over about 10min after this point. There’s a path around it to the right. A mid-large duck under or straddled is just a few mins after this. It’s been delimbed. Another cluster of blowdowns that haven’t been delimbed are immediately afterward followed by another delimbed straddled/crawl under about 5min later that’s mid-sized. About 5min later we hit another partially delimbed duck under that’s mod-sized. About 10min after we hit another mid-large sized delimbed crawl under followed by a mid-sized duck under leaner a few mins afterward. Another small group of mid-large sized duck unders was found 5min later. Roughly around the HOL on trail, there were two more blowdowns. One fresh that cut across the trail and hadn’t been delimbed (I think you had to go around) and another old mid-sized one that was easily stepped over. About 5min before Papoose Pond comes into view, another mid-sized blowdown that hasn’t been delimbed crosses the trail. Overall, the trail could use some work! Loop Trail was blazed with orange on top of blue blazes…kind of odd. There was a trivial but blazed stepover blowdown lying on top of one of the bog bridges somewhere along the loop. The section of Loop Trail along the ridge had a widow maker that seemed like it was going to fall soon. Notch Ponds Trail had one small-mid sized blowdown near its start that could be stepped over (partially delimbed). A larger but old and trivial stepover blowdown was about 20min later followed by a small but awkward leaner just a couple mins later that you had to finagle your way under. The road that the trail briefly follows is totally overgrown.
Another little AirBnB vacation. Unfortunately the location of it was in New Vineyard which was not as close as I would’ve liked to the hikes I wanted to do but at least it made them doable as day trips. This was hiked on my first full day there.
After a very late start made even later by trouble finding the trailhead for Notch Ponds Trail, the CCC and I finally started up Little Moose Mtn Trail. We hiked the short but steep OAB along the old trail to the Moose Mtn Inn a short ways in. The trail was pleasant as it followed the NE ridge of the mountain but it did have a lot of blowdowns along it. A kostky pleasant/lightly travelled footbed though and mostly nice grades. Many viewpoints as the guidebook mentions although I think some of them were overgrown. What’s more, the views seemed rather hazy (smoke from the wildfires I hear).
From near the HOL on trail, the CCC completed her first whack to the summit of Little Moose! What’s more, I made her lead. She was a natural! The woods didn’t look terribly inviting, but she soon found good ones and led us on a very good line to the summit. I was really hoping she’d be treated to a register here but alas there was none and I did not hang one. No view or cairn but the highpoint is not difficult to find. The CCC led us back down roughly the same line and without a compass…quite impressive that she noted so many details to keep us on line! My only complaint was that she seemed to prefer blowdowns to hobblebush…ick!!
Note that west of this, the trails in the guidebook are not shown on Gaia. I don’t recall the descent off of Little Moose being very steep or long. We thought Papoose Pond was quite nice! Upon reaching Loop Trail, which I believe at the parking area for it was called Big Moose Ponds Trail, we bore right and followed the trail out to the road, hitting all the campsite spurs along the way (we lost count of how many seemingly random toilet seats we saw in the woods that day…). We then returned from the road to the loop jct near Big Moose Pond and bore right to continue the loop counterclockwise. Upon reaching the next jct, we then hiked an OAB along the missing 0.9mi section of Loop Trail we needed. This is the section that follows the ridge and definitely has some PUDS and may be a little rougher than you’re expecting. There were several nice viewpoints along the way though :)
Upon returning to the jct with Notch Ponds Trail, we begin the long hike out. It began with some slabbing elevation then a long side hill which was most unwelcome. The trail was also rather overgrown which, generally speaking, the other trails were not. I believe it was where the trail heads through a minor col, it briefly follows and old and totally overgrown road. Watch carefully for the right and turn off of it. The trail then descends somewhat steeply and roughly if I recall toward the Notch Ponds. We hiked the spurs out to each pond, then began the flatter and easier hike out to the road. Upon reaching the road, we began to walk down it toward our car at the lower trailhead before I realized I’d misread the guidebook and we should be in the woods. We ascended the road again and began looking for the trail entering the woods. Here are my directions if descending Notch Ponds Trail (heading west): upon reaching the road, turn left and in 150-200ft, look for the trail entering the woods on left. I believe there was a sign. Feel free to email me for coordinates. This could definitely trip redliners up. We’d also put on our headlamps by this point. The trail wasn’t too hard to follow even in the dark and we passed a very cool little waterfall along the way.
We were happy to finally reach the car about 8:45pm. Gaia had us at 13mi, 2400ft of gain, 6hr40min. |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney and the CCC |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2023-08-13 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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