Mowglis Mountain

 I've been procrastinating on hiking in the Cardigan back country as it intimidates me. The couple times I have been out there it feels very remote (which is a good thing) but it's not easy and the access points are limited, making redlining a challenge as most hikes end up being a little longer than I like with that sort of technical terrain and elevation gain. That being said, my bestie said "let's just get out there and do it". Initially my hiking plan had us parking at the end of Old Dicey Road/Welton Falls Road and walking up the entire length, but having done this before I wasn't overly excited at the prospect, when the night before I saw trip reports from others stating they had driven up and parked near the Back 80 Loop trailhead. It's only 1.2 miles, so not nearly as long as some of the rough roads into Pisgah. I didn't find it a bad drive at all, though it is very rocky, so I took lots of care to try and avoid any hidden sharp rocks. There is an open grassy area in between the turn up Old Dicey Road and the Back 80 Loop trailhead, so I pulled in there off the road. We were completely surprised to see a car camp setup right at the trailhead. The camper was already in the woods when we set out, but we saw him and his pup on our return. That's one way to get in a few hikes over a couple days! We set out on Back 80 Loop, which I had done a couple months ago. My memory of the trail was muddy and buggy.. it was still muddy, but thankfully a little less buggy. It's a good climb up and is a bit messy with debris, but nothing impassable. We reached Back 80 Trail and from here on out, it was all new miles for me. We took a right hand turn and headed for Elwell Trail. This section is a nice cruisy 1.6 miles. No real ups or downs. Lots of moss, lots of mud and a beaver pond near the intersection. The closer we got to Elwell Trail, the wetter it became. Right at the intersection of Elwell Trail it was very muddy, but we carefully rock hopped and skooched the best we could. I saw a description of Elwell Trail as PUDS.. pointless up and downs. We found this to be very accurate! Short steep little ups, followed by some gorgeous ridge hiking with lots of moss before heading back down. Repeat. There is one view point about half a mile from the Back 80 intersection, but as has been the case for most of this year, it was very hazy and the views were not as outstanding as they could have been had it been clear. The Mowglis Mountain summit felt like it would never arrive. We'd go up, it would level out and we'd think "this must be it" but it wasn't and we'd go up again! The summit is wooded and just about a mile from the Back 80 intersection. There is a giant rock with a memorial plaque to the founders of Camp Mowgli. Here the Oregon Mountain trail diverges and heads over to Oregon Mountain. Our original plan had been to do this, however the day was very hot and humid and we were getting zapped of energy. Thus, we stayed on Elwell Trail and headed down to Old Dicey Road and the car. The trail is so beautiful and mossy. I had heard this area was at times difficult to follow, but I have also seen a couple recent reports of someone who has begun actively maintaining the area and it shows. There was good signage at the intersections (with accurate mileage) and the plenty of blazes. The first half mile of Elwell Trail after the Oregon Mountain intersection has peekaboo views over the surrounding area and has more of those PUDS. I was starting to think we were never going to descend but once you do, down it goes. There was one more little up over a knob and then a pretty steep descent with some slabs that had me butt sliding at times to avoid slipping and falling. The trail descends into a gorgeous mossy col and at roughly 1.2 miles from the Mowglis summit meets up with Carter Gibbs trail. Turning right the trail continues to descend before meeting up with Old Dicey Road. Elwell Trail heads left here and continues on towards Newfound Lake. We stayed on Old Dicey Road which was a gravel road, rather steep and hot at times under the sun. At about 0.7 miles there is a gate and we turned right to arrive back at the car. 

Strava Activity

You can just see the tent of the car camper ahead

Back 80 Loop starts with a cascade crossing

then a little further along, there's another one

cellar hole at Back 80 Loop and Back 80 intersection

along Back 80 trail

heading up to the viewpoint on Elwell

lots of short steep ups on Elwell

but also lots of beautiful moss

Mowglis summit

from wide open space on Elwell

to tighter passageways

and some funky red water at the Carter Gibbs intersection

Old Dicey Rd

not seen: how steep it was down