A group of four set out to trek Moxie Bald Mountain the “long way” last weekend on Saturday, June 29. We took a minor detour to avoid a washed out bridge, which brought us along Stream Rd for most of the way in. After the pavement ended and the gravel dirt road began, we got an up close look at the Moscow Wind Farm and portions of the CMP corridor. Despite the long drive in, our excitement for a day in the woods was palpable.

At the trailhead, we geared up to enter the trail enclosed by lush late-spring greenery. A touch of humidity brought us in the path of some flying insects around “Joes Hole,” but as we progressed along the first two miles of the trail, an occasional cool breeze provided relief. Our group lucked out with hardly any rain.

After the first two miles, we crossed an alternate trailhead before beginning our steeper uphill climb of one of the mossiest sections of the A.T. We reached another fork a half mile from the summit and chose to head right towards the summit and then take the bypass trail back down, allowing us to view multiple angles from the top of Moxie Bald Mountain.

During this out-and-back trek, which measured about 9.6 miles, we encountered a dozen fellow hikers, half of whom were thru-hiking. Our summit lunch was peaceful and the views of one of our flagship projects, Bald Mountain Bond, were unbeatable on the way down the summit bypass loop. Though close to 3 hours from Portland, our starting point, this day in the Maine mountains was well worth the trip.