6.8 mile loop (went up Caribou Trail and down Mud Brook Trail), 2,145′ elevation gain. 88 degrees and 84% humidity. Evans Notch, ME. This was the hottest, muggiest, muddiest, buggiest hike ever! It was July 4th, 85 degrees. The trail follows Morrison Brook most of the way up, criss-crossing back and forth over the brook at least a half-dozen times. No bridges or anything, so it took a little creativity to get across without having to take our boots off every 5 minutes. The brook was really beautiful and probably worth the mosquitoes and mud that came with it. View from the top was glorious, the summit is a long series of ledges with views in every direction and we could see a whole lot of mountains despite a little bit of humid haziness. This trail is poorly marked and I don’t think it’s really used a whole lot – even on a summer holiday, we only passed two other hikers on the whole day. Beautiful and quiet, a little challenging to stay on the trail at times, but worth the effort.
