A quick note.

I wrote a entry on this site last Jan. of my last fall trip up to the top of Big Moose Mountain. It  had been a couple of months between the time I did that hike and the time I wrote the blog entry. Suffice to say, I forgot a few key things during that time. lol

I remembered that the hike was somewhat of a challenge, but seemed to have forgotten just how steep some of the places on the trail really are.   I did manage to get more pictures on this hike,as well as a video of the view from the top.

The solo hike

For that last few months I have been wanting to return to Big Moose Mountain so I could capture a video for our YouTube channel and share it with some of my family members who no longer can get out on the trail. ( as well as for other Youtubers who no longer can get out and enjoy the views the state of Maine can offer.)

Thanks to a little thing called “Life”, Getting a day scheduled with a few friends of mine to do the hike was almost impossible.  I decided that if I was to get pictures and a video while the leaves were still green, I had better be doing it. So I decided to go solo. Rule of thumb on hikes is take a buddy.  That way if you  slip fall and get injured, there is someone to help you or worse, hike out and get help. I broke that rule. But it is a fairly well hiked trail so I was not overly concerned about no one finding me if I happened to get hurt.  (plus, I’m a mountain goat. lol )

The original plan was to climb Big Moose in the morning and be back on the road by noon time.  It wasn’t to be, and I didn’t even make it to the trail head until 20 minutes after 1 o’clock that afternoon. It was actually 1:28 pm when I stepped out of the parking lot and headed up the trail. I even managed to get a picture of the trail head this time.

Big Moose Trail Head

And here is a close up picture of the information sign about the area.

Information sign at Big Moose Trail Head

As I gathered my camera,tripod and  camera bag, I realized I didn’t bring a day pack. I had forgotten it at home in my haste to get here. So there I was, at the trail head with no gear, food or most importantly water.

At THIS point, I made a very STUPID, novice mistake. I decided to do the hike anyways. After all I thought, “It’s only a short trip”.   Another mistake, I UNDER ESTIMATED the mountain.  I should have at least drove to the near by store (about 5-6 miles) and bought  some water.  But I didn’t, I was in a hurry.  Before I reached the top I sure was missing something to drink.  I mean sure, there is a stream around the half way point but I didn’t have a filtration device.

As I hiked  up the trail I stopped and took some pictures of some mushrooms I spotted scattered  all over the place. I will have those uploaded  on the photo album page under mushrooms.

I also stopped and took a very brief video clip to show you  what to expect on this hike.

Big Moose Trail

there are a few places near the top where you are walking along the ridge and you can see for miles on both sides of the path.

On Big Moose you never reach above tree growth, so even at the top you have to contend with looking around little pines unless you can find a rocky area to stand on. I found such a place and will try to give you direction on how to find it further on in this post.

Now, there are generally two goals people strive for when hiking this mountain.

1. The old fire tower that was first built back in 1905. 9which had been updated though out the years until unmanned) Which is pictured below.

No longer used Fire Tower atop Big Moose Mountain

What you don’t see in that picture are the solar panels and the now functioning enclosed building that does all the work and more of what that one person sitting in that tower could do. (got to love technology)

The view from this spot is ok.  But as you can see, it is a little obstructed by guide wires and small trees.

View from Base of Fire Tower Big Moose

The Helicopter pad

Once you reach the fire tower, you will see that the trail continues right past it. Follow that trial and it will take you to a Helicopter pad that consists of wooden planks nailed together to create a flat surface. You can see a decent view from here, but this is not where you want to stop.

with your back towards the trail you left, look over the wooden pad slightly to your left.  You will see what appears to be an animal path. It is narrower then the path you have been hiking.

as you start in on that path you will see that it forks. Take the path to the right. it will look like it ends on a rock. (sort of a small place to stand) As you reach what appears to be the end of the path, you will see that it opens up to a fairly good size area on the rocky surface to the left. Do not worry, there is no sheer drop off and you can easily have a party of 4 stand in that area without being crowded.

From here you can see an unobstructed view of Moosehead Lake. At the end of this post I will add the video I took of the view.

I  met some really nice people on the trail and we chatted for a while before we all went our separate ways, which indecently was the same direction. Go figure! But what I meant was we all had our own  speed set. Coming back down was faster for me then going up. ( who woulda thought?)

I sure was glad to see the parking lot, and knowing a bottle of water was waiting for me at the store down the road.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it was not bad.  Considering the fact that I had stopped to take pictures, talk to people and make a 5 minute video from the summit.  I hit the trail at 1:28 pm and was back in the parking lot at 4:23 pm.   For the casual hiker who is in no rush the round trip is about 4 hours, and for the experienced hiker it is said you can do it a little less then 2 hours. So you could say, I’m a medium hiker lol.  But those times do not really mean anything. Example you might be a fast hiker but decide to take 3 hour s at the time to enjoy the view and have  lunch.

I found that the hike really put a work out on all the muscles in my legs.  My calf muscles on the way up and my things and knees on the way down. I still give the hike a rating of 7 out of 10 not because of the distance but because of the severity of the climb. I really due think it’s mother nature’s version of the stair master.

Now here is the video of the awesome view.

Sorry for the jerky movement, I was not able to use my tripod doe to the unevenness of the rocks.