Memorable Moosilauke 5/28/2007

[Roxi]

A friend recently mentioned having done Moosilauke in years past, and I thought, “I remember that mountain! What a beautiful hike! Loved the alpine garden meadow, the ruins, the flag being flown on July 4th....or maybe it was Sept. 11th...my memory isn’t what it used to be.” Since it has been a few years since I hiked up Moosilauke, I thought I’d revisit it on this beautiful Memorial Day. I remembered how to get there, but looked at the map anyway you know, just in case. I remembered that the lodge had bathrooms (I always remember where there are bathrooms! ). I remembered that I had hiked the Gorge Brook Trail to the summit, then the Carriage Road to the Snapper Trail back to the lodge. The weather today was perfect - sunny, good temps, low humidity, and almost no bugs! I couldn’t ask for better. The trails were in great shape, with just a little mud here and there. The views of Franconia Ridge as I ascended the mountain were wonderful, and the alpine meadow was still as beautiful as I recall. I remembered this mountain being beautiful, but I had forgotten how beautiful until today. I remembered it being breezy on the summit, but had forgotten just how windy the summit is. I hunkered down behind one of the ruins to eat my lunch last time too. And I remembered being on the Carriage Road headed to South Peak (which is well worth the short jaunt to its summit), but had forgotten that the Carriage Road after South Peak really isn’t that interesting and feels much longer than the 1.1 miles the sign listed it as being until it reached the Snapper Trail. Hmmm...note to self: hike Moosilauke more often so I’ll remember these things! The Snapper Trail was wonderful and sooner than the Carriage Road felt, I was back at the lodge taking advantage of the facilities one more time before leaving. A great hike revisiting a beautiful mountain that will hopefully be more memorable than the last time I was here.

 

[grouseking]

And I remembered being on the Carriage Road headed to South Peak (which is well worth the short jaunt to its summit), but had forgotten that the Carriage Road after South Peak really isn’t that interesting and feels much longer than the 1.1 miles the sign listed it as being until it reached the Snapper Trail.

I've hiked down the the Carriage Rd twice...and both times it felt more like a two mile trek down to the Snapper Trail than a 1.1 mile walk. Both times, it took me nearly an hour to hike the 1.1 miles, which made me wonder....

But still, such a great loop! Any snow left up high?

grouseking

 

[Roxi]

Any snow left up high?

I saw one small patch on the side of the Carriage road on my way down. That was it. Trails were in good shape. Thanks for confirming my feeling about that stretch being longer than listed.

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

Length of Carriage Road to Snapper junction

Hmm ..., what exactly are you referring to?

Carriage Road from summit to Snapper is 2.1 miles according to the WMG, and that is what my GPS logs show.

These 2.1 miles consist of 0.9 miles from the summit to the Glencliff junction, and 1.2 miles from the Glencliff junction to the Snapper junction, again confirmed within rounding error by my GPS logs.

 

[Roxi]

Hmm ..., what exactly are you referring to?

Carriage Road from summit to Snapper is 2.1 miles according to the WMG, and that is what my GPS logs show.

These 2.1 miles consist of 0.9 miles from the summit to the Glencliff junction, and 1.2 miles from the Glencliff junction to the Snapper junction, again confirmed within rounding error by my GPS logs.

We're talking about the distance from where the trail intersects with the spur to South Peak, and where it intersects with the Snapper Trail. There is a sign at the intersection w/ South Peak that reads that the Snapper trail is located 1.1 miles from that point. That 1.1 miles feels much longer, perhaps because of the nature of the Carriage Road trail at that point.

 

[David Metsky]

It goes much faster on skis.

The sign is slightly inaccurate, since we've moved the junction a little further down the hill when we rerouted the Snapper trail. That probably covers the 1.1 vs 1.2. Granted, that sign also mentions the summit is 4810' which should tell you how old that sign is.

-dave-

 

[grouseking]

It goes much faster on skis.

The sign is slightly inaccurate, since we've moved the junction a little further down the hill when we rerouted the Snapper trail. That probably covers the 1.1 vs 1.2. Granted, that sign also mentions the summit is 4810' which should tell you how old that sign is.

-dave-

Also, I was putting on and taking off my snowshoes every few minutes, which really slowed me down. But it did seem like 1.7 mi or something. Looking at my timestamps on my pics from past trips, it took me 38 minutes in June of 2004, and 57 min last May with all that deep snow. So yeah, I'd say its a little more than 1.1, but the very deep snow affected my travel time back on May 1st.

grouseking