It had been a long time since I'd been in the Mahoosucs, something I planned to rectify and there was an AMC Boston Chapter trip headed up to Goose Eye and I quickly signed up. We stayed in a campground in Gorham on Friday night and planned an early start for Saturday. After a bit of searching we found the start of Success Pond Road in Gorham which is how you get access to most of the Mahoosucs. It's a private road owned by a paper company, and when on the road keep in mind that logging trucks have the right-of-way. The road is not always in great shape for passanger cars so keep this in mind when driving there in summer. It's not plowed in winter unless they are actively logging.
This is a nice loop, one of the few you can do in the Mahoosucs. We got organized at the trailhead and our little group headed out. The Carlo Col trail takes you up to the Carlo Col shelter where we stopped for a rest and to check the place out. It's just a short trip from there up to the ridge where I elected to head south along the AT to the NH-ME border since I just wanted to see it. I was going to catch up to the rest of the group along the ridge. I quickly met up with some guys from Maine who were finishing up their section hike of Maine, had dropped their packs at the junction and were finishing up this part of the AT. There are some views to be had almost immediately, then you drop back into the woods. We had fun chatting and I even captured them finishing their trek. There were also several thru-hikers entering their final state on the northbound trek. They looked pretty happy as well.
I turned around and headed back north, catching the group just as they left their rest spot out in the sun. The ridge is open in many places, giving a nice airy feeling as you hike along. The views were pretty spectacular and we had an extremely nice time on the hike. As we got closer to Goose Eye I hung back and let some others climb the ladder up ahead so I could get a nice photo. All my hikes revolve around getting the right shot. The solitude was nice too. Then I joined the rest of the group at the base of the ladder and up we went to the summit of Goose Eye. We met a thru-hiker there and loaded him up with brownies and other treats from the North End. He was surprised and appreciative. We also had great views of Mahoosuc Notch and Old Speck from there, hopefully on my list of trips for next summer. Finally we decided it was time to head down the Goose Eye trail.
The top section is steep, with some bare slabby sections followed by some rough rocky ones. We made it down fine enough by taking it nice and slowly. The trail goes near and between some clear cuts which are pretty unattractive, then across a small section of logging road before re-entering the woods for the final stretch. We made it back to our cars, finished the drive out to real roads, then headed back to the campsite for a swim, a shower, and a fine dinner. The next day we did a short hike up to Rim Junction in Evans Notch and headed home.
