king tut
New member
I had been thinking of doing this hike for a while, since I had heard many good things about this mountain and it's great views. I planned on attending a gathering w/ some friends in southern NH on Saturday afternoon, so I decided to swing by Mt Moosilauke and get in a quick hike in the morning. The drive from Burlington was about a two hour drive to get to the Ravine Lodge through some very nice Vermont countryside. I arrived around 8:30 and got a parking spot on the side of the road. I went over and checked out the lodge, and discovered that it was a rather pleasant lodge and looked like a nice place to stay. I assume they have beds there?
After a few minutes in the lodge, I headed out onto the trail a little before 9. I decided to ascend via the Gorge Brook trail. The trail had a nice gentle but steady grade as it climbed up the mountain. I wanted to do a moderate hike, but nothing too strenuous this morning. My hamstring was still healing from a moderate tear about a month ago, and I have yet to do anything too difficult yet. I did do Breadload and Wilson the prior weekend but found the muscle to be getting pretty tight by the end of that hike. So today's 7 mile and 2400 vertical foot climb seemed to be the right decision. The trail ascended parallel to the brook and was a nice ascent, but not overly scenic.
After an hour or so, I came upon my first group of hikers. They were an older couple that I chatted with, and they were wondering how much farther up the trail went as they were getting a little tired. I told them that I though it was probably another mile or so and 1000 feet up. They didn't seem to excited about my guesstimate. Shortly after I left them, I came up above treeline for the first time, and saw absolutely no views. So much for the partly sunny forecast. After a few minutes, I came up above treeline for the last time and I saw something orange up in the distance. I thought it was a hiker wearing neon. As I got closer to it, I realized that it was the summit sign! It was nice to be on top, but I was actually hoping for a little more of a hike.
I took a few minutes on top to look around, and there really were not any views to be seen. Sporadically the clouds would clear just enough to get a little bit of a view, but not enough to really be able to comprehend what I was looking at. Oh well. I huddled by the rubble of the old summit house and ate my muffin and Snickers bar as the wind howled and the clouds raced by my head. After about 15 minutes on top, I decided to head down via the Carriage road and Snapper trail. This was a nice gentle descent. I came upon two older gentlemen who were thru hiking and I talked to them for a few minutes each. They were very nice and very excited about the prospect of getting to Maine soon. They were a little winded by the climb up Moosilauke. I told them that the trail wasn't going to get any easier for the next few hundred miles.
The rest of the walk down was pretty easy. I came upon a few other people who were on their way up the mountain. One lady that I saw was carrying a bug swatter in her hands. I didn't stop to ask her why, partly b/c she kind of scared me a bit. I got back down to the river crossing at the beginning of the hike in a little over an hour, and I dunked myself in the cool, refreshing stream. It felt very good. All in all, a good hike. The easiest hike that I have done on a mountain of that elevation. Maybe next time there will be views?? I took a few pics, nothing too spectacular.
http://www.parazz.com/albums/kingtut
After a few minutes in the lodge, I headed out onto the trail a little before 9. I decided to ascend via the Gorge Brook trail. The trail had a nice gentle but steady grade as it climbed up the mountain. I wanted to do a moderate hike, but nothing too strenuous this morning. My hamstring was still healing from a moderate tear about a month ago, and I have yet to do anything too difficult yet. I did do Breadload and Wilson the prior weekend but found the muscle to be getting pretty tight by the end of that hike. So today's 7 mile and 2400 vertical foot climb seemed to be the right decision. The trail ascended parallel to the brook and was a nice ascent, but not overly scenic.
After an hour or so, I came upon my first group of hikers. They were an older couple that I chatted with, and they were wondering how much farther up the trail went as they were getting a little tired. I told them that I though it was probably another mile or so and 1000 feet up. They didn't seem to excited about my guesstimate. Shortly after I left them, I came up above treeline for the first time, and saw absolutely no views. So much for the partly sunny forecast. After a few minutes, I came up above treeline for the last time and I saw something orange up in the distance. I thought it was a hiker wearing neon. As I got closer to it, I realized that it was the summit sign! It was nice to be on top, but I was actually hoping for a little more of a hike.
I took a few minutes on top to look around, and there really were not any views to be seen. Sporadically the clouds would clear just enough to get a little bit of a view, but not enough to really be able to comprehend what I was looking at. Oh well. I huddled by the rubble of the old summit house and ate my muffin and Snickers bar as the wind howled and the clouds raced by my head. After about 15 minutes on top, I decided to head down via the Carriage road and Snapper trail. This was a nice gentle descent. I came upon two older gentlemen who were thru hiking and I talked to them for a few minutes each. They were very nice and very excited about the prospect of getting to Maine soon. They were a little winded by the climb up Moosilauke. I told them that the trail wasn't going to get any easier for the next few hundred miles.
The rest of the walk down was pretty easy. I came upon a few other people who were on their way up the mountain. One lady that I saw was carrying a bug swatter in her hands. I didn't stop to ask her why, partly b/c she kind of scared me a bit. I got back down to the river crossing at the beginning of the hike in a little over an hour, and I dunked myself in the cool, refreshing stream. It felt very good. All in all, a good hike. The easiest hike that I have done on a mountain of that elevation. Maybe next time there will be views?? I took a few pics, nothing too spectacular.
http://www.parazz.com/albums/kingtut
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