Denmark Mountain Hikers

Hike Report – Mosher Hill/Mtn.  – January 4

Due to the fact that the forecast over the past week predicted Friday’s temperature would be in the low single digits and that the planned destination of Peary Mountain’s summit would be even colder and windier, the decision was made to shift the hike  to a more temperate adventure, the small hill behind Jacob and Rena’s home on Peabody Pond in Naples. This provided an opportunity to, again, take advantage of their hospitality and allowed us to celebrate the New Year’s indoors and hold our scheduling meeting around a warm and cozy table.

Arriving at their home around 10:00 am were Greg Moulton, Susan Sedita, Jeff Sturgis, Tom Dugas, Sandy Bell, Andy Bradford and Linda Horowitz.

Susan stayed to help Rena prepare our refreshments while the rest of us bundled up and at 10:15 am  in relatively balmy 12° F sunny conditions began our hike up toward the summit of Moser Mtn and the Big Tree.  Jacob and Andy had previously made this hike several times so the snowshoe packed trail was easy to follow.. The recent rain had reduced the snowpack and the snowshoes most of us wore were hardly necessary while on the trail.  The trail first follows a well maintained woods road gradually rising up the hillside through a mainly young, deciduous forest. Near the summit of Mosher Mountain , the snowshoe track leaves the old road and gently zigs its way to the top of the hill marked by a rock cairn. We arrived at 10:45 am to the tree covered summit where there was not much of a view, but the surrounding trees down the slopes were beautifully encased in a veneer of ice from last Tuesday’s rain.  Sunlight peeking through sparkled through the ice encased tree branches in a way best described as enchanting.  Topographical maps of the area name the hill Mosher Mountain.

At 874 feet in elevation the hill is apparently the highest point in the town of Naples.  Foster Pond just to the Northwest is 469 feet and Peabody about ten feet higher so summit to shore of either pond is only about a 400-foot climb.  Thus, it is easy to refer to Mosher as a Hill.  Bald Pate, of course, is higher at 11,50 feet but it’s located in the town of Bridgton rather than Naples.

The assumption is that our prominence is named for the Mosher family who were prominent early settlers in this area. The Mosher family traces back to Hugh Mosher who arrived in Boston in 1632 aboard the James. This ship is often referred to as “The James of London” and made several voyages of note during the Great Migration of the 1630s.  The James is the ship that brought the Puritan settlers in 1635 including Master William Cooper and Richard Mather. As notable as those tidbits may sound, the summit isn’t that exciting with only scant views of the surrounding land through tree branches.

After a short stay, we trudged another ten minutes to see what Jacob and Andy refer to as The Big Tree.   This huge hemlock tree was discovered by Andy last winter when he was wandering about and who reported that it was probably the largest hemlock he had ever seen.  The largest hemlock in Maine however is exceeds it in diamter by ab out an inch or so. Although the area has been logged repeatedly over the years, the most recent clearing was in the 1970s, this tree somehow escaped axe or saw for centuries; we assume that it was simply too large to handle. Link to Maine’s Big Tree Registry

After admiring the girth and height and marveling at a survivor of old growth forest, we took a quick group  picture at its base, we headed back to Jacob’s home at 10:55 am.  It might have warmed a degree but didn’t feel like it.  We arrived back at 11:30 am to warm up and to enjoy some good food after a very nice, but cold, ramble of about 2 miles.

Rena had made a pot of wonderful chili that she served with fresh cornbread and then we topped off the meal with various goodies brought by the rest of us. After we ate, we hashed out a hiking schedule of the winter months which will be available on the website. In view of the recent cancellations, postponements and schedule alterations  forced upon us by recent  bad weather on Fridays, we also had a good discussion about the criteria and process for changing hikes. We agreed that, due to the variety of local conditions and the locations of the hikes, we would consult with the hike leaders at the beginning of the week and make decisions as early in the week as possible. If there are changes or a cancellation, we will continue to alert members through emails and postings on the website as we have been doing. After thanking our hosts for, again, saving us when frigid weather loomed, we all left around 1:00 pm after a very enjoyable hike, a productive meeting and a wonderful New Year celebration.

Next week’s hike is scheduled to be up Mt Willard. We’re already watching the forecast closely as it currently looks interesting. We’ll update the website with the schedule and any changes as well as send out a post to your email if once again the destination gets changed.