Little Moose and the Tale of Two Beavers

Wednesday turned out to be a picture perfect day so Puma and I decided to take advantage of the nice day.  We decided on a hike at Little Moose Mountain near Moosehead Lake.  We have done this hike together several times and the trip never disappoints us.

Little Moose Mountain sits just a few miles from Moosehead Lake and the town of Greenville on state land called Little Moose Public Reserved Land.  The mountain was originally called Little Squaw Mountain until the term "Squaw" was deemed offensive by the state of Maine and all such named places were renamed "Moose."  Being so close to town makes it one of the more popular hikes on the many trails in the Moosehead Lake region.  There are several trails on the mountain but the most popular is the Loop Trail that makes a circuit around some small ponds with designated campsites and several rock outcroppings with excellent views. 

Campsite on shore of Little Moose Pond

We chose to do the Loop Trail in the clockwise direction.  This direction allows for a buildup of the views with the best view near the end of the loop.  From the trailhead we reached a junction for the first of several campsites.  Soon we reached the outlet of Big Moose Pond.  There is a view of the ridgeline that the Loop Trail later traverses.  The trail passes the shore of Little Moose Pond passing two campsites.  The trail stays low passing over large section of bog bridge to avoid swampy areas.  The trail soon ascends to the top of the ridge where it passes over several humps.  There are several rock outcropping with good views, the last one being the best.

Looking across Little Moose Pond 

Section of bog bridges

The view from the final outcropping is one of the finest in the Moosehead Lake Region.  You overlook both Big and Little Moose Ponds directly below the outcroppings.  Beyond the ponds sits Big Moose Mountain, towering well over 1000 feet higher than the outcropping.  Moosehead Lake spreads out to the north with all of the mountains in the region visible including Kineo, Lily Bay Mountains, and mountains in the 100 Mile Wilderness.  To the south stands Moxie and Moxie Bald Mountains.  There was not a cloud in the sky and the view was as good as it gets.

Big Moose Pond and its feeder pond with Big Moose Mountain in background

Little and Big Spencer Mountains over Moosehead Lake

Lily Bay Mountains and mountains in 100 Mile Wilderness

From this outcropping we had an extra treat.  Several hundred feet below the rocks sits Big Moose Pond and a smaller pond that flows into it.  In the smaller pond Puma spotted movement.  Upon closer look she realized it was a beaver.  I had binoculars with me and you could see the beaver clearly.  As it swam it approached more movement which was a second beaver.  We watched them for several minutes.  One swam toward the center of the pond while the other moved to land where we could see it moving through the grasses. Soon they both disappeared.  Although we saw no moose, there was plenty of "nuggets" along the trail as well as some tracks. 

The dark spot in middle of lake is the beaver.  Clicking on picture makes it a little clearer.  Unfortunately from the top of a mountain I couldn't get a clearer shot.

There are many hikes in the Moosehead Lake Region.  The Little Moose Loop Trail is one of the easier hikes in the area and provides some of the best views in the area only minutes from town.  Puma and I are never let down when we visit this area.  

Kayaking Local Waters

The weather in Maine has been all over the place the past month.  The beginning of May was absolutely gorgeous with a couple week run of clear skies and comfortable temps.  That was followed by rain and rain  showers for 16 out of the next 18 days and over 6 inches of rain in that period.  Last weekend saw steady rain with a temp in the low 40s on Saturday afternoon.  This week turned hot and humid with yesterday passing 90.  All the rain raised the water levels in the rivers.  With the hot temperatures this week and rivers running at good levels, I headed out in kayak.

On Wednesday, Puma and I headed for the local river, the Piscataquis.  We ran the same section that I wrote about in April- First Kayak Trip of the Season. This time it was much warmer, no ice floating or wet suits needed.  We saw more than half a dozen bald eagles, several flying and several more perched on trees along the banks of the river.  

On Sunday I paddled Brann's Mill Pond.  Brann's Mill Pond is relatively small by Maine standards, 300 acres or so, and is located about 15 minutes from my house.  Despite its small size, it offer miles of shoreline to paddle.  While there are a few camps on its shores, most of its shoreline is wild and natural.  There are several small islands that would make for a nice place to have lunch.  One of the islands has a fire ring although I don't know if it is privately owned or if camping is allowed.  There are large areas of shoreline that contains marshland as well as large areas of aquatic plants.  Throughout the morning I continually saw fish jumping and saw quite a few fish swimming in the shallower areas.

Perhaps the most scenic part of the pond is its inlet.  I was able to paddle a mile or so upstream into the inlet of the pond.  The narrow brook slowly snakes through wild and secluded marshland.  Much of the way through the brook I passed water lilies in bloom.  Although I didn't see any beaver, there were several signs of their presence including a couple of lodges and an old dam.  The only wildlife I saw was a deer that struggled through the marsh and numerous red winged blackbirds.  Eventually the brook narrows and reaches some riffles that can no longer be paddled upstream.  Surprisingly, the marshy area was free of bugs.  Only nonthreatening mayflies were abundant.

Taking time to explore the inlet brook marshland, pass around most of the islands, and paddle most of the shoreline took me about two and a half hours at a leisurely pace.  For a hot weekend day I didn't see too much traffic.  There was one powerboat, a canoe, and a few other kayaks.

Paddling up the inlet brook of Brann's Mill Pond

Paddling through marshland on Brann's Mill Pond inlet brook

Aquatic plants

Canadian Goose in Brann's Mill Pond

Beaver Dam 

Barren Mountain Hike

Several weeks passed since my last hike so I was eager to hit the trail.  One of the closest mountains to my house with worthwhile views is Barren Mountain.  I usually hike here a few times a year.  It is the first peak along the Appalachian Trail heading north in the 100 Mile Wilderness.  At less than 2700 feet in elevation, it's not a terribly high mountain.  However, the climb to the summit is fairly rugged along the AT and requires around 2000 feet of climbing and the hike is about an 8 mile roundtrip.  Despite it's low elevation, there is some nice scenery on the hike.

Despite a forecast for clear skies, clouds prevailed Sunday morning.  As the J Man and I arrived at the trailhead, much of the mountain was obscured by clouds.  On the way to the summit the trail passes several rocky ledges which offer good views to the south.  Barren Slide and Barren Ledges were both in the clouds so we struck out on the views there.  About two miles beyond Barren Ledges is the actual summit.  On the summit is the remains of an old fire tower.  The cabin is no longer on the tower but the frame still stands.  While the summit is partially open, it is possible to climb a few rungs of the tower to get a 360 degree view.  (Use great caution climbing as the structural integrity may be questionable)  Upon reaching the summit the trail broke out of the clouds providing some interesting views looking over an area of undercast. (a layer of clouds beneath the summit)  To the south was a sea of clouds below the summit.  In the distance, only the Bigelow Range, Coburn Mountain, and Big Squaw Mountain poked above the clouds.  To the north, the valley along Katahdin Iron Works Road was clear with the peaks of the Lily Bay and White Cap Ranges visible above the shroud of clouds.  Undercast clouds are neat to experience.  It gives you a "on top of the world" feeling.  It provided unique views from a summit that I have been to many times.  The hike returns back to the trailhead on the AT.  The views at the slide and ledges were still obscured when we passed them on the return trip.  By the time we reached the trailhead, the morning clouds burned off and the mountain was in the clear.  It was a little disappointing that weather didn't cooperate but without the clouds we would have missed out on the beauty of the undercast clouds on the summit.

A typical section of rocky trail along AT

Smooth section of AT in spruce forest approaching Barren Mtn

Looking at the White Cap Range poking out of the undercast

A sea of clouds with Big Squaw (Moose) and Coburn Mtn. peaking out in the distance (Click for larger view)

Moose Mayhem on Mountain Bike Ride and Sasquatch!

The weather this weekend was gorgeous and I wanted to get out on another ride on the mountain bike.  I headed to Barnard, Maine and started at the same spot as my ride last weekend.  This time I headed a different direction to ride a favorite route of mine in the area.  This ride follows mostly logging roads that are closed to all motorized vehicles.  It travels through land owned by Roxanne Quimby, founder of Burt's Bees, then passes through land owned by the AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club), then goes on an ATV/snowmobile trail before finishing the last several miles back on the Quimby land.

This ride is truly a wilderness experience.  The ride travels along and around the mountains in the 100 Mile Wilderness.  There is usually wildlife to be seen and several views of the mountains of the Whitecap and Barren-Chairback Ranges. Even with a map, the logging roads and trails can be difficult to navigate.  The best way to learn the complex system of routes is to find someone with local knowledge of the area, then explore on your own.  As my last post showed, even with some knowledge of the area, it's easy to take the wrong path. The terrain is rolling with a few long climbs and descents but rarely technical.  The loop I ride is 38 miles and I didn't see anyone else.  In fact except for a couple of camps near the Katahdin Iron Works area, there is little signs of civilization.

My route starts out on a logging road that used to be used regularly.  Now it closed to all motorized traffic.  After about 8 miles the road is trenched to make it unpassable to any ATVs or Snowmobiles and probably horses.  I very well may be the one of literally a few people that venture to this point each year.  Another old logging road takes me a couple miles to an dilapidated old camp and to a very rough old ATV trail that ends in a field.  A short bushwack through the field brings me to another series of logging roads that is now on AMC property.  The right combination of roads brings me to the Katahdin Iron Works road (popular road with hikers in the area) before immediately hitting a ATV/Snowmobile trail along the Pleasant River.  A few miles along the rivers brings me back to an old logging road back on Quimby land and eventually back to where I started.

While the riding was alright, the highlight of this ride was the moose activity.  I saw four moose on the ride.  A loner about 12 miles from the start.  Another smallish loner about 8 miles later.  Finally about 5 miles from the end I saw a pair of moose.  The first was browsing along the path.  After a few pictures, it grew tired of my presence and disappeared into the woods.  The second was laying down along the edge of the logging road.  I startled it and it jumped up no more than 10 yards in front of me.  In the process it startled me.  Again it lingered long enough for a few pictures before heading off into the woods.  

The last two moose were the most amusing of the sightings.  I was descending a steep section that crosses railroad tracks. (Same tracks in my last post)  I had some speed as I crossed the tracks but noticed movement several hundred feet down the track.  I looked over and noticed two moose walking side by side on the middle of the tracks.  I startled them but they didn't move.  I stopped to watch them from behind scrub along the trail.  Slowly they continued down the tracks after they realized I wasn't a threat.  They past me no more than 25 yards away.  I was able to snap a few photos before they got completely out of sight now off the tracks.  I actually see more moose while mountain biking than I do hiking and four isn't even the most I have seen in a single ride.

The most amazing part of the ride though was a Sasquatch and two-headed moose sighting.  I know you will be skeptical of my pictures.  You can choose not to believe me and my pictures.  But it's more fun to think you are actually looking at a Sasquatch and a two-headed moose.

First moose

First moose running away

Second moose- a small one

                                                                 

Second moose

Second moose, notice the shedding of winter coat

Moose 3

Moose 4

Moose 3 and 4

Moose 3 and 4 running away

Click for bigger view, Two-headed moose on railroad tracks (or is it just moose 3 and 4 side by side?)

A Sasquatch with its back to me along trail

Taking picture as I ride away from charging Sasquatch, I know it's blurry but what respectable Sasquatch photo isn't blurry

First Mountain Bike Ride of Year = Misadventure

The trails and logging roads that I ride take a while until they are suitable for mt biking.  North facing trails and trails in thick woods are usually snow covered or muddy until at least April, sometimes May.  The past few week has been sunny and dry and helped dry out the trails.  With this drying weather, I decided to take my first ride of the season on Sunday.

I headed to Barnard, Maine.  There is an endless network of logging roads that is accessible from here.  Unfortunately they are poorly mapped and navigating them takes trial and error and local knowledge.  When I started my ride I didn't have a set destination in mind.  My plan was to explore roads that I never been down before to possibly find moose antler sheds.  Most of these lesser traveled trails were not muddy, but quite soft, making for some very slow travel.  I traveled probably more than five miles down these lesser traveled logging roads.  Despite many moose tracks and piles of "nuggets," I didn't find any antlers.

After striking out on the side trails, I continued down one of the main logging roads reaching railroad tracks that travel through the area.  Traveling on this road was also slow going.  Usually I travel between 10-12 MPH in this area.  Up to this point I was averaging closer to 6.

Reaching the railroad tracks is where things got ugly.  I knew there was a trail that could link me up to a familiar logging road to complete a loop.  I had an idea how to get to that other road but wasn't certain.  I took the wrong trail at this point.  The trail I chose dumped me onto the railroad tracks.  A short distance on along the tracks brought me to a sign reading "Benson" that I thought was familiar, leading me to believe I was close to my intended target.  I didn't know this was one of three signs reading "Benson" along the tracks.  This kept me on the railroad tracks for somewhere in the realm of 5-6 miles.  These tracks are in the middle of the wilderness and the ground isn't ridable.  I ended up walking most of the distance along the tracks.  In cycling shoes this was uncomfortable causing several blisters.  Walking on the large loose rocks along the tracks caused the sole of my shoe to come apart making for even tougher footing.  At least the cleat was spared from damage.

When I finally reached the trail I was looking for, I was over three hours into the ride.  Being familiar with this trail I knew I still had 15 miles to ride an it would take at least 90 minutes to get back to my car.  Normally this wouldn't be a huge problem except I wasn't anticipating the miscalculation.  I only had one energy bar with me and enough water for a three hour ride.  Luckily the last section was on a heavily used logging road in good condition and I could make reasonable time.  When I got back to my car I was out of water and extremely hungry.  It had been five hours since I started the ride and almost 35 miles. 35 miles is usually a safe distance for me in this area but not in these conditions. I was planning on three hours at the most and was unprepared for five hours of nonstop traveling.  I was nearly ready to collapse when I finally reached the car.  This was my first bike ride of the season and that didn't make the whole situation any easier.  My legs were also scratched up pretty good from thorns riding the lesser traveled roads.  I gave Puma a good scare too.  I didn't tell her where I was going and didn't have my phone with me so she assumed the worst since I was long overdo.

Riding toward White Cap Range 

Lonely logging road 

Beautiful Spring Hike in Acadia National Park

I  haven't hiked lately with mud and slushy snow being the norm.  Usually the first mountainous area in Maine to be free of snow and mud is Acadia National Park.  With a clear day forecasted I headed down to Acadia with the J Man.

We planned roughly 9 mile loop that covered Dorr, Cadillac, and Pemetic Mountains.  We started first climbing up Dorr Mountain, the third highest Peak in the park.  From Dorr, we headed over to Cadillac Mountain, the highest peak in the park passing through a gorge between the peaks.  From the summit of Cadillac we descended steeply to Bubbles Pond on the West Face trail.  In my opinion the West Face trail is one of the hardest trails in Acadia without ladders.  It is steep and ledgy and tends to be wet which makes for challenging footing.  From Bubbles Pond we climbed to the summit of Pemetic Mountain,  Acadia's fourth highest summit.  Pemetic is a beautiful summit with a long exposed ridge with dramatic mountain and ocean views.  It is one of the nicer hikes in Acadia in my opinion.

The trail loses most of its elevation descending from Pemetic.  We then climbed steeply up rough, rocky trail on the Pond and Cannon Brook Trails to the south ridge of Cadillac Mountain reaching a small pond called the Featherbed.  We had lunch at the Featherbed listening to a chorus of frogs.  Most of the trip is downhill from the Featherbed following Cannon Brook.  Cannon Brook flows steeply down the mountain and has several small scenic waterfalls along its length.

The trails were wet but not muddy.  Early in the morning there was a few patches of ice on the rocks but they melted quickly.  Only a few sheltered areas at higher elevations had snow remaining.  I don't think we had to walk over more than a few feet of snow along the trails however.  Although chilly, temps only reaching the upper 40s with gusty summit winds, the day was gorgeous with endless visibility.  It was good to hike on snow free ground for the first time since early November.  For the first six miles we only saw two people.  At the end of the hike near the parking lot there was a few more people but we had the summits to ourselves.

For a map and more info go to http://www.backpacker.com/destinations/hikes/55560

Looking down The Gorge between Dorr and Cadillac toward the ocean

View over Bar Harbor and Porcupine Islands

Eagle Lake 

Cranberry Isles from Pemetic

Waterfall in Cannon Brook

First Kayak Trip of Season

Spring is not my favorite season in Maine.  Hiking is hit or miss due to mud and ever-changing snow conditions.  Snowshoeing is still possible at elevation but most trails require travel on dirt roads which are in rough shape due to mud.  Mountain biking is still a little bit off due to excessive mud and lingering snow.  Most lakes are still choked with thick ice.

The last of the ice melted in our local river this week.  By mid summer the Piscataquis River usually doesn't have enough water to paddle efficiently unless it is a rainy summer.  Now the river is flowing strong so Puma and I decided to take advantage of this and get an early start to the paddling season.  Puma wanted some adventure the day after her birthday.

We typically kayak an eight to ten mile stretch of the river from the town of Guilford to our town of Dover Foxcroft.  Most of the trip is relatively tame but there is a handful of rapids breaking up the slower stretches. In high water the heaviest rapid is a choppy, wavy class II. The rest of the rapids are pretty straightforward.  At lower water levels the river tends to be rockier presenting different challenges.

Today the river was flowing high and fast.  It was wetsuit weather though with temps in the mid 50s and a strong wind.  There was still patches of snow along the banks of the river at places and even some lingering ice at a couple spots in the water.  There is always some wildlife sightings along this stretch of river.  Today we saw too many ducks to count, a few bald eagles, and a few loons.  This is the earliest we have been on the river.

Puma in her kayak

Ice on the banks

Hard to see but there is a bald eagle visible above the trees, left of clouds if you click on the pic

Approaching Low's Bridge

Low's Bridge