Fumbling Around In The Woods: September 2024

Distance: 8.72 mi.
Elevation: 2,351 ft (overall) 2,613 ft (total)
Time: (with an 10 year old setting the pace) 3:44 (Summit) 6:59 (Total)
Trails: Gorge Brook Trail

This year for Flags on the 48 our group picked Mt. Moosilauke to hike. We had a number of less experienced hikers and people that were new to the event so we chose a hike that is a little bit easier than many other 4000 footers in the state. Our route would be to go up the Gorge Brook Trail and then descend back down the same way. With so many hikers in our group and at so many different abilities, we were going to start at multiple different times so that everyone could be at the summit by the time we were going to raise the flag. Since my 10 year old daughter was with me, we started off hiking with the early group so that we would have plenty of time to get to the summit so that she could help with raising the flag. The last time she participated in this hike we didn't make it to the summit in time to help raise the flag and she wanted to be part of it this year. This plan worked well as by the time we got to the summit, most of the groups had caught up with each other and we all got there around the same time.

We got the mountain early enough that we were able to park along the side of the road close to the ravine lodge. So after a little talking with group members and friends, we were geared up and ready to start our hike. This mountain is popular enough and this trail sees enough hikers that it ends up being a bit rocky for most of the time with wear and tear on the soil making the rocks stick up more on the trail. This makes hiking a bit slower, but the rocks aren't so big that they make it too bad. This route also has a few water crossings along the lower half, and each of these are easy to get over with the bigger ones having nice bridges over them.

My daughter and I kept a steady pace on our climb up the mountain. We didn't take many big breaks, but instead multiple much smaller ones. We spent a little bit of time at the view point along the trail while climbing up, but after that only took a couple more short breaks as we were now hiking with more members of our group. Once we got close to the summit and the terrain leveled out more, we started picking the pace back up since my daughter was getting a new boost of energy to get to the summit.

We were at the summit well before the time we needed to be, so my daughter and I had some good time to rest before we started to help the group with setting up the flag. My daughter was able to participate some and was happy to help. We got the flag up before noon and were able to easily have it on display for the two hours of the event. While we relaxed and enjoyed the views around the summit, we got to meet a lot of nice people and hear lots of stories from other people and their experiences around 9/11.

When it came time to pickup the flag and get ready to go back down the mountain, my daughter wanted to help again. This time she asked to be the person that got to lower the flag and we were more than happy to let her do so. We have had the same flag setup for a few years now, so cleanup went pretty quickly as we know what we are doing really well with it now. We hiked back down the same route that we came up while a few others went down the Carriage Road and Snapper Trail and a couple others came down using Asquam Ridge Trail.

At the bottom, we met back up with the rest of our team. Some had already gotten down and headed home, but a few were still hanging around and talking with each other. Once we knew everyone was down the mountain safely, we packed up and headed down the road so that we could gather again at a local restaurant to hang out a little bit more and see some of the other hikers that particpated in the event today. Weather was great and everyone had a good time in our group, so good food and more stories made for a great end of the day.