Elevation: 2,716 ft (overall) 3,038 ft (total)
Time: 3:27 (Summit) 5:18 (total)
Trails: Eyebrow Trail Trail, Old Speck Trail
Today's hike would be hike number 2 of the weekend. After picking up my tent early and having breakfast, I left the campground to hike Old Speck Mountain on the way home. Before I was even really out of town, I noticed a man holding a big camera lens standing next to his car a ways off the road. Sure enough, there was a moose. Not wanting to disturb another photographer, I kept going. For this, I was rewarded with my own moose right next to the road. I was able to turn around and get a couple of shots before she walked off, but nothing special. Two moose in the first 10 minutes, hopefully this would mean a good day. The funny part is that Route 16 between Rangeley and Stratton becomes an almost steady stream of traffic in the evening with people looking for moose. And here I am just getting an early start (without looking for moose) and I see two of them easily.
Roadside moose
At the trail head you can see the first obstacle I was planning on today, The Eyebrow. It's a pretty big rock face, luckily the trail leads around it. Things start off gentle and you take a right at the first intersection just after the start of the trail. After a bit more distance, the trail hits the steep portions. Right off you are presented with a section with posts and a cable for a hand hold to help you climb up. With the dry conditions today, I didn't need them.
Cables
Further up you come to an open rock slab you must cross. Metal rungs help you up the left side to more metal rungs you can hold on to in order to walk across. Then there are even more rungs to come down the far side a bit to reach the ladder which leads you into the woods. Again, with dry conditions this wasn't any real issue. A bit of water on the far side just meant a couple cautious steps. Back into the woods you soon come to more rungs that are placed well to be used as steps to go up over a steep section of rock. Before long the trail levels out some and works across the top area of the eyebrow to come to a view point at the far end. This provides a nice view down into Grafton Notch and up to the summit.
Crossing the open rock
Hazy view into Grafton Notch
The only bad thing about this portion of trail is that it turns down to the left after the viewpoint and drops nearly 100 feet in elevation before it comes back to the main trail. I was almost starting to think I missed the intersection and was headed the wrong way. It's nothing big, only some extra effort after you just climbed a steep trail. Steadily gaining elevation, the trail is pretty nice without any major difficulties. For portions it goes over some of my favorite type of terrain... exposed open rock that is still in the trees. Further up, the trail gets back to being rocks and dirt like you would expect. There are a few small humps in the trail that make for small PUDs, but they don't add up to much at the end of the day.
One of my favorite types of trail
Getting higher up the mountain, the trail seems to get a bit steeper, but still not to a difficult degree. I think it was mostly that I had hiked the day before and today was on the humid side with rain storms possibly developing. After a couple short breaks and a small view point, I was at the intersection near the summit. Only 0.3 miles left of easy mostly level trail. At the summit, there is a small opening with a partial view. To get the best views though, simply climb the fire tower which is in real nice condition. At the top, you can see for miles in all directions.
Summit fire tower
The view to the west shows a rain storm
Baldplate Mtns to the north
Presidential Range in sight
From the fire tower I could see that there was a small rain storm to the west near the state line. Possibly coming this way some, this made a few hikers staying at the Speck Pond Campsite nervous as they had left their tents open. After a short chat with them, they headed quickly down the trail to beat the rain. While more clear to the north, another storm appeared to be in that direction. It was still a distance away, but that seemed to be the direction the clouds were coming from today. So after enough time to enjoy the views and take it all in, I headed down the trail to try and keep from getting too wet. Shortly after leaving the summit, it sprinkled briefly, then the sun came back out. But further down the mountain, it started to rain again and didn't let up until the trail head. I didn't take many pictures on the bottom half of the hike down due to this. But after being so humid today, the rain felt nice and it wasn't hard enough to really get you too wet. After changing into dry non-hiking clothes at the car, I did hear a rumble of thunder and the rain picked up significantly while I was driving home. Hopefully all the hikers I saw headed up were prepared for this.
The Old Speck Trail section bypassing the Eyebrow Trail wasn't too difficult. Some rocky sections, but generally good footing. Only a couple small brooks to cross through here. Definitely an easier route while also being 0.1 miles shorter.
For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE
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