Shelburne-Moriah via Rattle River and Kenduskeag trails 8/18/09

[Cymbidium]

This is my first trip report and my first time trying to embed photos so be kind! Couldn't figure out how to get them a little bigger!

Because of the heat and humidity we ditched our plan to do Adams and Madison opting for Shelburne-Moriah. A gem of a peak and one of the 52 WAV. The Rattle River Trail to the shelter was pleasant jaunt with great footing. All the river and brook crossings were easy so we were at the hut in a flash. Met two thru hikers: one gal was NB the other guy said he was SB but did not look the part ( is there such a thing as an AT poser???) The deep pool and cascade above the hut were really inviting.

Mmm cold mountain pool!

There was an impressive amount of rock work on the steep climb to the intersection with the Kenduskeag Trail. FYI Kenduskeag is an Abenaki word meaning “a pleasant walk” It was a hot climb today and we sucked down lots of H20 on this section.

The K trail has some deep muddy areas combined with lovely walks on planks through alpine bogs. Lots of cranberries too!

Lunch on the flat ledgy summit of Shelburne Moriah was a breezy delight. And the hazy views of the Baldfaces, Carter Range and the Mahoosucs made for a good dessert for the soul!

It was a great, but Hot & Humid day. I think we met 9 thru hikers (one possible poser). Gave a young NB woman a ride into Gorham where it was 90+. That icream cone really hit the spot. Great day to be in the mountains.
Thanks to hiking buddy Silver Fox for the photos!

 

[NeoAkela]

Great first trip report! Shelburne-Moriah is a great peak - nice and quiet, too, compared to the busy trails on the other side of 16. Glad you had a good hike despite the hot and humid weather!

Photo embedding gets easier as you get used to it. For the sizing, if you have a program such as Microsoft Photo Editor, just resize to a horizontal value between 600 and 800 pixels before uploading them to whatever host site you are using.

Looking forward to your next report!

 

[DougPaul]

Photo embedding gets easier as you get used to it. For the sizing, if you have a program such as Microsoft Photo Editor, just resize to a horizontal value between 600 and 800 pixels before uploading them to whatever host site you are using.

That is fine if you are starting with a bigger picture, but if you are expanding a smaller picture, it will just become blurry.


Cymbidium:
Glad you had a nice hike--thanks for the report.

Doug

 

[Silverfox]

Sure was a hot day

even with the haze the views were excellent making Shelburne Moriah one of my favorite peaks

nice swim afterwards as well

keep up this kind of trip report and you'll be doing them all!!

nice job

 

[NeoAkela]

That is fine if you are starting with a bigger picture, but if you are expanding a smaller picture, it will just become blurry.

Thanks for mentioning that, DougPaul! I forget to consider some cameras take tiny photos. Downsizing to 600 px or so is fine... if your camera takes photos of less than 600 px width, upsizing to 600 px is not so fine!

 

[Cymbidium]

Thanks for mentioning that, DougPaul! I forget to consider some cameras take tiny photos. Downsizing to 600 px or so is fine... if your camera takes photos of less than 600 px width, upsizing to 600 px is not so fine!

Thanks guys for the encouragement and for the photo advice!

 

[1HappyHiker]

Cymbidium, regardless of whether this is your first report; it’s still a very fine report.

And now that you’ve taken that first small step, I’ll look forward to you taking a giant leap into posting many other reports on this Forum!

 

[forestgnome]

Nice TR! Keep it up! You've reminded me of those trails; it's been a while.

happy trails

 

[The Unstrung Harp]

Oooh. I love love love Rattle River. Glad you had a good trip in such a lovely area.

 

[pocahontas]

Hi Cymbidium

Thanx for the great TR
your pics came out fine!
a good visual of the gems of the trail!

We're trying to fill in all the gaps on the AT that we haven't done
Rattle River is high on our list
(w/ a trip to Shelburn-Moriah of course)

Really enjoyed reading your impressions of the trails!

 

[Jimmy Legs and Little D]

A great initial trip report and photos too. We also, needed assistance with attaching and sizing pictures on our first tr, submitted on another website and received excellent help from, I believe his last name is "gnome."

Look forward to more reports.

Little D

 

[Cymbidium]

Thanks for the encouragement everyone!! I love hiking and I'm so happy to be here on VFTT!

A great initial trip report and photos too. We also, needed assistance with attaching and sizing pictures on our first tr, submitted on another website and received excellent help from, I believe his last name is "gnome."

Look forward to more reports.

Little D

 

[Cymbidium]

Hey Tricia!
Thanks for your comments! Have fun in them thar mts!!

Hi Cymbidium

Thanx for the great TR
your pics came out fine!
a good visual of the gems of the trail!

We're trying to fill in all the gaps on the AT that we haven't done
Rattle River is high on our list
(w/ a trip to Shelburn-Moriah of course)

Really enjoyed reading your impressions of the trails!

 

[Cymbidium]

Thanks DougPaul. Help from Senior members is really important to me!!

That is fine if you are starting with a bigger picture, but if you are expanding a smaller picture, it will just become blurry.


Cymbidium:
Glad you had a nice hike--thanks for the report.

Doug