Exploring Moriah Gorge (Was "Reading about Hawthorne Falls")

[Hillwalker]

After reading the Hawthorne Falls thead I thought of a location that I have explored a wee bit years ago. Has anyone ever really explored, I mean really with ropes etc. all of Moriah Gorge. There are places in there where it is quite deep and very spooky. I was the adopter for the Black Angel trail in the 80s and used to spend a lot of time in the area but never wanted to tackle it alone. .

Dr Wu and I spent a bit of time looking for HF about ten years ago to no avail.

 

[dr_wu002]

After reading the Hawthorne Falls thead I thought of a location that I have explored a wee bit years ago. Has anyone ever really explored, I mean really with ropes etc. all of Moriah Gorge. There are places in there where it is quite deep and very spooky. I was the adopter for the Black Angel trail in the 80s and used to spend a lot of time in the area but never wanted to tackle it alone. .

Dr Wu and I spent a bit of time looking for HF about ten years ago to no avail.

I remember running into a bouldery area shortly after leaving the trail near where Franconia Brook Trail meets the GRT and said F'k it and went back to the trail. I'd like to get back to some of these interesting areas but with a newborn at home, that ain't happenin anytime soon.

I've been through Moriah Gorge just once and didn't have time to explore much. Seemed pretty interesting. It was actually a trip that I did that involved the Black Angel Trail which is also a pretty neat trail. Not a lot of use on that one. The switchbacks up Carter Dome were pretty cool.

-Dr. Wu

 

[JustJoe]

Been in there once about 5 years ago. Although it's on maps, I don't remember a spur trail leading to it. I also did not spend much time in there. Probably do the difficulty negotiating the terrain. I'll have to see what I have for pix.

 

[Hillwalker]

Been in there once about 5 years ago. Although it's on maps, I don't remember a spur trail leading to it. I also did not spend much time in there. Probably do the difficulty negotiating the terrain. I'll have to see what I have for pix.

The gorge is very easy to access from the Wild River Campground since the Moriah Brook trail/old RR bed parallels it for quite a long way just before the old trestle crossing just above the beginning of the gorge. Of course nowadays the suspension bridge across Wild River would be an issue. You can still see old iron work sticking out of the ledges where the trestle crossed. This was the location of one the White Mountain's more spectacular Logging Train boiler explosions. Reference can be found to the incident in one or more of the logging railroad books, but I'm not sure which one(s).

Hmmm, might be a project for Steve Smith.

If anyone is interested in doing this I am game to act as a support person. Probably best done during low water seasons.

 

[NHClimber]

Was up there the summer before last. We explored a fair amount. No ropes or anything -- just climbed up and down the stream bed a bit. It was certainly a cool place. We found the access straightforward from the trail.