Mt Morgan 3/2/08

[Paradox]

The Mt Morgan trail is a popular trail leading to the Crawford-Ridgepole Trail along the Squam Range Mountains. I started out about 10:30 am on a trail that was broken out yesterday but the day's winds had drifted over most of it. Hence, I was breaking trail for almost all of the 2 miles to the top of Mount Morgan. Most times I was in dog deep powder with many drifts up to my thighs. My plan was to do the Morgan-Percival Loop. However, after a quarter mile along the top of the ridge I was getting pretty tired with my poles sinking up to the handles. I bagged it and headed down. 4.75 miles round trip, 2:45 up, 1 hour down, beautiful day. I got the chance to try out my new Kestrel: 19.5 degrees F on top with peak wind speeds of 26.5 MPH. Used snowshoes all the way, it was very nice to have a hood on my jacket to flip up and down as needed.

Pictures

 

[NewHampshire]

What a great place Morgan and Percival are. Best bang for the buck south of the Whites! Love the picture of Zippy "dog deep" in snow .

Brian

 

[Silverfox]

Mount Morgan..Crawford Ridgepole

Nice photos from a gorgeous day on an excellent backyard hike...I ended up having to work on that beautiful day but there was enough light left by 430 that I went up Cotton Mt..just before sunset..Hard to beat the Crawford Ridgepole Trail and all its connectors...

 

[Paradox]

Nice photos from a gorgeous day on an excellent backyard hike...I ended up having to work on that beautiful day but there was enough light left by 430 that I went up Cotton Mt..just before sunset..Hard to beat the Crawford Ridgepole Trail and all its connectors...

Yes, one of these days I want to do a Squam Range Traverse: Sandwich Notch Road to Cotton Mountain and I guess the Science Center in Holderness. I'd need a fellow hiker to spot cars. The ridge has some very deep drifts on it now, but maybe this summer. It would be long for such an unassuming range of mountains. About 10.5 miles and 3100' of vertical. Get us a good start on the 2000' list. Any takers, Silverfox?

 

[Paradox]

You've got two takers here...for summer that is.

Great! We'll do it!

 

[chinooktrail]

And two more takers here for summer!

Right now the snow looks to be 2 1/2 Geneva's high!

But by summer she should be almost fully grown.

 

[Paradox]

This is turning out to be a "Mutt Run". Zippy gets along with other dogs and humans very well. Anybody else out there with dog socialized dogs?

 

[carole]

I’ve enjoyed several hikes in that range included an end-to-end from Cotton Mtn. to the Wentworth trail. There are many good views along the way and, since I especially like stonewalls, there was a treat on Livermore. It is lovely terrain. Something I would like to repeat.

 

[BobC]

A bunch of us including New Hampshire & Dave Bear did this - or at least part of it - last July. Instead of starting from Sandwich Notch Road, though, which is farther from the Cotton Mtn. trailhead (and very bumpy), we went up the Doublehead trail to Doublehead Mtn., intersecting with the Crawford-Ridgepole trail on the way. This is the first mountain you'll hit anyway, even if you start at Sandwich Notch Rd. on the very end of the Crawford-Ridgepole trail, and this route saves you a few miles between car-spots.

We had planned to hike the whole range but decided to bail out after Mt. Morgan, skipping the three smallest peaks (Webster, Livermore, Cotton). It was still a fun hike, but I'd be interested in making another try at getting the whole range done in a day this summer. Percival and Morgan are great places to take a break and soak in the sun.

 

[Silverfox]

Crawford Ridgepole

Hey nice responses on this section of trail..awesome hike with exceptional views for sure and have done the length a couple of times.. I am somewhat partial to doing the steep section from the Notch to Doublehead as I am official maintainer of that section...certainly worth the side trip down to doublehead Outlook..awesome spot...I also find it easier to start at Mead Base..Wentworth Trailhead..as it avoids the difficult driving on sandwich Notch Road..adds about a mile of hiking but a beautiful stretch by Cow Cave and Beede Falls..you could argue that it takes less time then the arduous ascent by car and lack of parking at the actual trailhead..Count me in..with enough folks this would be a good snow hike though I doubt section from Notch to Percival is packed out...

 

[ADKnBVI]

Hey nice responses on this section of trail..awesome hike with exceptional views for sure and have done the length a couple of times.. I am somewhat partial to doing the steep section from the Notch to Doublehead as I am official maintainer of that section...certainly worth the side trip down to doublehead Outlook..awesome spot...I also find it easier to start at Mead Base..Wentworth Trailhead..as it avoids the difficult driving on sandwich Notch Road..adds about a mile of hiking but a beautiful stretch by Cow Cave and Beede Falls..you could argue that it takes less time then the arduous ascent by car and lack of parking at the actual trailhead..Count me in..with enough folks this would be a good snow hike though I doubt section from Notch to Percival is packed out...

Hi SilverFox, am I to understand that you park at Mead Base (the parking lot where you would park for Mt Israel) and do the length of the ridge from there? That never occurred to me!! We have one car with 4WD and another that is NOT equipped for Sandwich Notch Road, so our last traverse was a bit nerve-wracking as my husband held his breath and tried to drive around the potholes and craters in Sandwich Notch Road. I didn't realize that there was a trail between those two locations. I'll need to get out my map! Thanks!!

Valerie

p.s. we're the official maintainers for the other end -- Cotton Mtn!!

 

[Michelle]

That ridge is a great hike, I did it a few yrs back with a group of folks who did an annual bike/hike trip. We spotted a truck by the sand pit/gravel area off 113 (bottom of Cotton Mtn area) and then drove to Mead base, biked the road back to the spotted truck, locked up the bikes and then hiked Crawford-Ridgepole back to Mead base......needless to say, I'm not much of a biker and I was beat before we even started the hike! 113 is really hilly by bike! But it was a fun/different way to hike the ridge.

 

[Silverfox]

Mt Morgan

Hi Valerie

Nice job taking care of the trail!!! Cotton Mt one of my favorite workout loops..don't always do Livermore ..sometimes bushwack the old logging road back to the gravel pit...

Yes..you can park at Mead Base..or somewhere along the road in winter..The Bearcamp River Trail bears sharp left from the parking lot at Mead Base and ascends moderately past Cow Cave and Beede Falls to reach the Notch Road at the Beede Falls Parking Lot..short road..well sort of a road..walk to the trailhead..The brook crossing can be interesting around Beede falls but doable..much more desireable most seasons than the Notch Road...small world..see you out there!!

 

[Danielle]

Paradox,
Thanks for posting photos from your hike. Looked like fun
Have always eyed that area as one that looked like it would be good hiking with great views! Morgan and Percival are now definitely on my list of hikes to do this season.