Denmark Mountain Hikers

SW Ridge Trail Clean Up Day, May 22, 2026

(Report by Greg Moulton and Jacob Schor, Photos by Greg, Laura, Gordon and Jacob)

As described in our previous post announcing this hike, we’ve been helping Loon Echo Land Trust keep this section of the Pleasant Mtn trail system in good order for many years. https://denmarkmountainhikers.com/2026/05/18/work-party-sw-ridge-trail-mt-pleasant-may-22/

We had a nearly perfect day on the hill today.  Cool morning temperatures kept the bugs at bay. Good turn out of eager minded hikers wielding a range of implements. The water bars ended up well scoured and cleaned with hands on coaching from Jon Evans of LELT and on top of that a select group of inspired and ambitious hikers made it to the summit.  The report below submitted by Greg Moulton details their walk up:

“The Denmark Mountain Hikers hiked and did trail work on Pleasant Mtn., on the Southwest Ridge Trail, on Friday, May 22, 2026. 

Fourteen Demark Hiker’s gathered at the trailhead.   Hiking and trail-working today were: Greg Moulton, Jacob Schor, Kathy Huchthausen, Janet Arens, Sandy Bell, Jennifer Schmidt, Phil Johnson, Mary Lou Moulton, Greg Dean, Bev Reid, Laura Sullivan, John Patrick, Polly Lombardi and Gordon Farrell. That’s Jon Evans standing on the right between Jacob and Gordon. Ruby was there somewhere and Laura Sullivan was taking the photo.

After an introductory talk by Jon Evans of Loon Echo Land Trust, we divided into two groups: 

One group was to work on clearing the water bars on the lower part of the trail.  The other group was to go above the water bars, past “Phil’s Corner”, and work from there at least up to the Teepee, scouting the trail conditions, clearing brush and branches, and rebuilding cairns if needed.  Both groups started up the trail around 9:30 AM.

Here is the report of the “upper” group from Greg M.:

Five hikers headed to the upper part of the trail:  Greg M., Janet, Laura, Jennifer and Polly.  The trail up to the teepee was in good shape.  There were hardly any branches or brush blocking the trail.  We did some clipping and sawing, concentrating on “potential” issues, namely bushes and trees which were poised to send branches across the trail with their next growth spurt.  Cairns were also in good shape, though we did top off or straighten a few as needed.

On the way, we noticed vultures circling above us, an ominous sign.  They probably thought we looked like easy pickings, but we outlasted them and eventually they gave up and moved on.

We reached the teepee at 11:15 AM, and stopped for a break. 

The teepee had been our initial goal but, as often happens, we talked ourselves into going further.  “Let’s try going for a little bit and see what it’s like” and then, “We’ve come this far, we might as well go for the summit.”  So, we did. At some point Greg D. joined our group.  He had been working with the water bar group on the lower trail, but had no trouble catching up with us afterwards. The trail past the teepee was in good shape, with few obstructions, so we kept doing our clipping and sawing of potential issues. 

On the upper part of the Ledges Trail, we saw a leaning dead tree that might come down at some point.  To bring it down intentionally will probably involve a chainsaw and some expertise.

Gordon, often to noticing things, many of us trudge by, shared these two photos:

We reached the summit at 12:35 PM.  It was beautiful, with a 180-degree panoramic view toward the west, including Mount Washington and many other mountains and lakes.  The sky was mostly sunny and clear, and there was a nice cool breeze. 

We hung out there for a while, having lunch and admiring the view.  We headed down at 1:00 PM.   The descent was uneventful, and we reached the parking lot at 2:55 PM, with a sense of accomplishment for a great hike and our efforts to improve the trail.

So ends Greg’s account.

The lower group worked methodically clearing the twenty water bars that keep the trail from eroding up to Phil’s Corner where the trail begins a relatively level traverse until it reaches the rock section and resumes its uphill thing. The initial uphill section of trail is, as Jon explained to us, is leftover from when the area was originally logged and skidders didn’t waste time, with leisurely traverses or switchbacks, but went straight up the hillside. The working group, as we might call them, did not have the luxury to stop and pose for photos on the way as the upper group seems to have. So no illustrations as Jon deftly demonstrated how to maneuver boulders. Rather the working goup lugged their tools up the somewhat brutal climb, relieved that the temperatures were cool and the bugs not fully active. Greg Dean of couse in his graceful way both participated in cleaning the water bars and also managed to reach the summit with the first group.

Next week’s hike, May 29th,

is actually a choice between two hikes:

Both starting from the same trail head so you don’t have to make a decision as to which one until you get there.

Both trails are in Evans Notch.

Easy – Hermit Falls (730 ft), Evans Notch, NH – 2.6 mi RT, 60 ft elevation gain. RT hiking 3.0 hours. RT driving 2 hours. (Dual Hike- see below). There’s a stream crossing at the inlet for the pond.

or

Difficult – Speckled Mountain (2,906 ft.), Evans Notch, ME. 6.2 mi. RT, Elevation gain 1650′, RT hiking 6.0 hours, RT driving 2.0 hours. Meet at the Denmark church at 8:30 AM. We will climb via the Spruce Hill Trail.  [not that this is slightly different rout than originally posted. Greg assures us that we will appreciate this change.

Meet at the Denmark church at 8:30 am. It’s about an hour drive so, those meeting us at the trailhead expect to see our cars at 9:30 am.

The Trailhead is on Rte. 113 in Evans Notch across from the East Royce trailhead parking lot.

More related to Loon Echo Volunteer options:

While Jon had us as a captive audience on Friday, we had the opportunity to discuss other volunteer options for Denmark Hikers interested in helping Loon Echo and their mission to both preserve our wild areas and make them available to the public. Loon Echo is keen to recruit Trail Ambassadors. More information about that is here. Note that ther annual information/recruitment/training pizza dinner is on June 10, so if you are interested mark your calendars.

However, as Greg M. astutely commented, “This whole Ambassador thing sounds like it is meant for people who are far more extroverted than I am. Id rather just hike around and be useful.”

If that’s the case, and with only a few exceptions the Denmark Hikers are not known as extroverts, then we are hoping to organize a simple, informal program providing Loon Echo with Trail Scouts, hikers who will walk their trails on a more regular basis, tidying up here and there, and reporting areas that need work such as trees down on trails or areas of heavy trail erosion that need water bar repair etc. This wouldn’t be a public facing task nd not require being an extrovert but rather the ability to walk and look about. Loon Echo has 35 miles of trails and we will soon come up with a walking schedule. If interested, Jacob has offered to coordinate this. (at least for the moment)

There was no hike report from last week, May 15th as wwe canceled because of the weather. Nevertheless, here are a few photos from the Sebago Cove trail from that Friday. The dogs knew it was Friday, the day we hike on going somewhere. Sebago Cove is still one of our most pleasant jaunts in the area. The walk is interesting, the trail nicely built, with interesting things to see and hear. The small stream is musical and lovely but the volume was turned up that day.