WeRmudfun
New member
Sunday was a great day to get out and hike so we took full advantage of it. We headed to Orford, NH and hiked up Mount Cube, hitting the North and the South peak. Mount Cube is on 52WAV.
We got to Baker Road a little after 8:00AM. There are ruts in the dirt road, but they were firm, of course it was also only 14 degrees at the time. We parked at the turn around and chatted with one of the friendly residents and was greeted by her friendly dogs. LOL
It was a short walk to the trailhead for the Cross-Rivendell Trail. When we started the trail was very firm so we elected to carry the snowshoes and bareboot it. The trail is well blazed in babyblue and easy enough to follow. The South Summit is only 2 miles from the trailhead. This trail is a nice easy trail due to the switchbacks, so it never got really steep and it was cool to walk through the ever changing forest.
When we got to Spruce Outlook, we got great views including Sunday mountain. When we got to the second viewpoint, we knew we would be in for a treat at the summit, so we continued on. Right before the South Summit is the only steep section we encountered and it was a short section. At the summit, we decided to head to the North peak and check out the ledges first. The snow was softening up, so we put on the snowshoes.
To get to the North Peak we followed the AT Trail (Mount Cube Trail) north until we came to the North Peak side trail. The side trail was not broken out and someone had tried to bareboot it, but was unsuccessful. We did break it out all the way to the ledges and it was well worth the effort. The views were specular. We decided to have lunch with Mount Moosiluake as our backdrop.
After lunch we headed back to the South Summit and checked out the views there before heading back down. We wore the snowshoes all the way to the hardwoods, then the trail was firm enough to not require them.
It was a great day on a great little mountain and we had the afternoon to do whatever we wanted. BTW one of the things we wanted to do was wash our vehicle as Baker Road was a completely different experience leaving than it was entering. Those ruts became extremely muddy. The road was still passable by almost any vehicle though.
We got to Baker Road a little after 8:00AM. There are ruts in the dirt road, but they were firm, of course it was also only 14 degrees at the time. We parked at the turn around and chatted with one of the friendly residents and was greeted by her friendly dogs. LOL
It was a short walk to the trailhead for the Cross-Rivendell Trail. When we started the trail was very firm so we elected to carry the snowshoes and bareboot it. The trail is well blazed in babyblue and easy enough to follow. The South Summit is only 2 miles from the trailhead. This trail is a nice easy trail due to the switchbacks, so it never got really steep and it was cool to walk through the ever changing forest.
When we got to Spruce Outlook, we got great views including Sunday mountain. When we got to the second viewpoint, we knew we would be in for a treat at the summit, so we continued on. Right before the South Summit is the only steep section we encountered and it was a short section. At the summit, we decided to head to the North peak and check out the ledges first. The snow was softening up, so we put on the snowshoes.
To get to the North Peak we followed the AT Trail (Mount Cube Trail) north until we came to the North Peak side trail. The side trail was not broken out and someone had tried to bareboot it, but was unsuccessful. We did break it out all the way to the ledges and it was well worth the effort. The views were specular. We decided to have lunch with Mount Moosiluake as our backdrop.
After lunch we headed back to the South Summit and checked out the views there before heading back down. We wore the snowshoes all the way to the hardwoods, then the trail was firm enough to not require them.
It was a great day on a great little mountain and we had the afternoon to do whatever we wanted. BTW one of the things we wanted to do was wash our vehicle as Baker Road was a completely different experience leaving than it was entering. Those ruts became extremely muddy. The road was still passable by almost any vehicle though.
