A Hike to Moose Pond

[1HappyHiker]

This past Thursday (08-October), I did a bushwhack to Moose Pond. Some maps don't even show this pond, and other maps show the pond, but fail to identify it. However, it is in fact a geographic feature that has officially been named as 'Moose Pond'. In case some of you might be unfamiliar with the location of this very small pond, the map below shows its location (almost due south of the Rocky Gorge Scenic Area on the Kanc).

As my starting point for this bushwhack, I used the valley drained by Steam Mill Brook (called Stream Mill Brook on some maps). There are still some remnants of the old Steam Mill Brook Trail that used to go up this valley. I was able to utilize this trail for the early part of my journey, but the trail eventually petered out.

It came to my attention after completing this hike that Steve Smith wrote an excellent article about a winter visit to Moose Pond (page 28 of Mountain Ear, January 8, 2009). In this article, Steve has the following to say about the old Steam Mill Brook Trail:

". . . opened by the Forest Service about 1930 as a Class 3 Trail , or 'manway', and made its last guidebook appearance in 1955. The 1934 edition of the AMC Guide defined Class 3 Trails as: 'service trails built primarily for fire protection and maintained at a lower standard than that of regular trails'. Thus, even when the Steam Mill Brook Trail was in use, it may not have been that easy to follow."

Despite encountering a fair amount of pesky hobble-bush after the old trail petered out, it was a fairly easy bushwhack the rest of the way to Moose Pond.

Below is a photo taken from the north shore of this mini-pond looking southward toward Third Sister.

[Snow Miser]

That looks like a nice little pond tucked way back in there.

[KSearl]

Wow...how cool! I love hikes like this that are not too well known or not really a common destination. Basically, to see something that so few people have actually seen when you think about how many hikers are out there. I'm hiking to the Bomber Crash site tomorrow on Mt. Waternomee for this reason.

Very nice. Thanks for sharing. I think this is awesome.

Karl

[JimS]

In case some of you might be unfamiliar with the location of this very small pond, the map below shows its location (almost due south of the Rocky Gorge Scenic Area on the Kanc).

I find this line funny...as I doubt many have

Great effort, and a beautiful reward! Thanks for sharing in your journeys!

[KD Talbot]

Thanks again. What a great shot!

KDT

[1HappyHiker]

Bob; Karl; Jim; Kevin: A big MEGA thanks to each of you for your generous comments! Much appreciated!!

It is indeed very rewarding to venture to places where few others go. For me, it's sort of like having a "mini-experience" that's perhaps similar to what the early settlers to the region might have had when they discovered today's more well-known places like Ethan Pond, etc, etc. For places like Moose Pond, I know in the back of mind that other "adventurers" have been there before me, but I also know that their numbers are small, which gives "specialness" to such places.