By Louise Jensen

Goose Eye Mountain with its two peaks, in the Mahoosuc Range is one of the Maine A.T. Land Trust’s most popular community hikes, and one of the most strenuous. Five of the original ten sign-ups chose to ignore the weather forecast of 40% chance of rain, and head to the hills. The group gathered at the Wright Trail trailhead, a scenic trail that begins off Bull Branch Road in Ketchum that is located on a branch of the Sunday River. Bull Branch Road is also home to a popular swimming area called Frenchmen’s Hole.

The day started off cloudy, chilly and even a bit humid, but luckily for us, the rain held off, although leftover clouds from the edges of hurricane Dorian threatened from time to time. We traveled along the trail where it follows the Goose Eye Brook, passes a designated campsite at about 2.5 miles and then crosses the brook. The trail continues to ascend with some very steep and rough up-and-down sections and eventually takes you onto open ledges. Even with the clouds and mist that dogged us most of the day, we still had some pretty amazing views, especially on our return trek.

We eventually summited on to the West Peak (the main summit) where it was cool, damp and breezy so we layered-up before hunkering down to eat lunch. Despite the clouds overhead, we were still awarded great panoramic views of the Presidentials and the surrounding peaks in the Mahoosuc Range.  We did not linger to long as the sun continued to elude us although we could see it shining in the distance. As we made our way back, the skies started to clear and we were treated to some clearer views of Mahoosuc Notch and the surrounding landscape. Back at the trailhead, the sun came out and the temperatures warmed up but no one lamented the fact that we had less than perfect weather; we were all completely delighted to have the opportunity to hike one of Maine’s amazing mountain peaks.