Little Moose Mountain - Little Moose Wilderness - 10/3/15

This weekend I spent both days doing hikes off of Cedar River Road, west of Indian Lake.  Saturdays hike was Little Moose Mountain (3620').  I parked the car at campsite #9  and began my bushwhack.  I was looking for a trail labeled "Butter Brook Trail" (as shown on the National Geographic map), but is most be long gone for for the most part.  I saw remnants here and there, but not much is left.

Lots of soft moss.

I crossed the small Butter Brook in one leap and rock hopped over the Moose River.  After the river, I picked up the drainage that leads to a small pond high on the west shoulder of Little Moose Mountain.  I usually try and check out ponds or other features along the way.  This pond turned out to be worth the stop.  

A nice small pond high on the shoulder of Brown Mountain.

I continued on past the pond and I found the woods to be open for the most part.  After 2.5 hours of hiking, I was on top of Little Moose Mountain.  The first bump that I thought was the summit bore on indications of such so I pushed on down the ridge.  Soon I found a tiny ledge that offered the view below.  Rev and I had started our hike at 9:30 and now it was noon so we stopped for lunch.  I was enjoying the sunshine on the day which had a forecast of cloudy.

  

I believe that is Lost Pond in the distance.

When it was time to head down, I took a little bit of a different route.  I came to some large cliffs with some split rock that could be walked through if you could get in.  Once down at the bottom, I found a way in.  It looked just like an open doorway.

Isn't this cool?

Another look at the opening.

Soon I hit some even bigger cliffs so I had to work my way back over to my ascent route to be able to get down.

The colors looked more vibrant that this picture indicates.

 Once we got down low, Rev began to see a lot of chipmunks and that piqued her interest.  She was never quite fast enough.

Rev gave chipmunk chasing a valiant effort. 

A small pond near Butter Brook.

We got back to the car at 3 PM.  I spent an hour getting out the campsites and settled on #20.  I looked like a new site.  It had a new fire pit, outhouse and picnic table.  Even better yet, the previous camper had left a nice supply of wood.  It saved me from spending time foraging.

South Branch Moose River

Cedar River Road

At home at campsite #20.

I fed the Rev and set up the tent.  I got the campfire going about 5:30.  At 6 PM, I heard someone fire off about 6 shots.  It was enough to scare Rev (who had already climbed into the tent).  She went into the car to hide.  I sat out and enjoyed a nice fire until 9 PM then I grabbed Rev and we turned in to the tent.  Sunday would be a big day with a trio of peaks planned.

A relaxing and warming fire.

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  8.2 miles

Hike Time:  6 hours

Total Vertical Gain:  ~2000' 

The hike route and the location of campsite #20.

The route on National Geographic