Mt. Moosilauke (4,802 ft) 9-14-24

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, some good food and more stories made for a great end of the day.

Early rocky section of trail

My daughter and I with smaller flags on display

Liliana with the summit behind her

View of the South Peak from the summit

The flag is up

Group shot at the summit with my daughter and I on the right

Liliana at the summit, her 6th 4K

View to the north from the summit

View to the east from the summit

A couple group members at the summit

Trail viewpoint on the descent

Liliana at on the bridge at the end of the hike

Google Earth representation of the hike

This is an actual piece of one of the towers that a group member has

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

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Mt. Jefferson (5,712 ft) 9-9-23

Distance: 5.19 mi.
Elevation: 2,696 ft. (Overall) 2,829 ft. (Total)
Time: 3:05 (summit) 5:28 (total)
Trails: Caps Ridge Trail

This year for Flags on the 48 our group picked Mt. Jefferson, which we have done before 10 years ago. Just like last time, we planned to go up the Caps Ridge Trail as it is the shortest and most direct route to the summit. It has some steep and rocky sections, but means we have to carry the pole and other equipment a shorter distance. This year however, the weather was throwing us a big curve ball. The forecast called for cloudy skies early with thunderstorms and heavy rain likely for later in the day. Because of this, we planned to be at the trailhead for 6am and with boots on the trail shortly after that. Our plan was to fly the flag early, then be headed down the mountain before weather got real bad. Of course, mother nature didn't read the forecast and decided to do something completely different.

We were on the trail at roughly 6:15am with some damp conditions after the rain that came through the state early last night. With the combination of the cloudy skies and early start, it also wasn't very light out yet. We made good progress and were at the viewpoint at the potholes rocks approximately 1 mile up the trail by 7am. Ten years ago we had no view from this point, but today we at least had a little bit of a view. It was still cloudy, but the clouds were just above us and there was what looked like some clearing off in the distance to the west. This gave us some hope that it might clear up some instead of just being cloudy for the day.

Some clearing at the potholes

As we continued up we worked our way up into the clouds more and conditions stayed damp. This made some of the rocky scrambles trickier than normal. Adding in carrying a pole and trying to get a dog up some of these spots added to the challenge of today's hike. Once we were up to the junction with the Cornice Trail we were really in the clouds and it was starting to rain lightly. Before too much longer I was putting on my rain jacket and covering my pack. Through this section we all started to get a bit more spread out working at our own pace in the wet conditions. Once at the summit I put on my rain pants too and found a place to put my pack where it wouldn't get wet.

Finding a way up the steep rocks

Hiking into the clouds

We worked on getting the flag up as quick as we could with the wind and rain making things more difficult for us. We had the flag up well before 11am (with the goal of the event being from 12 to 2pm) and were all gathering out of the wind as much as possible. As the day continued on, the wind died down a little bit and the rain soon stopped. We started to see a glimspe of nearby peaks as well from time to time. As even more time passed, the clouds started to clear more around us and were starting to get better views. We could see the nearby peaks and undercast clouds in the surrounding valleys. Before it was time to pack up, it became apparent that the weather forecast was basically backwards and instead of rain coming later in the day, it happened early and then things cleared up nicely for the afternoon.

The flag is up

A brief view of Mt. Adams

Our flag at the summit

The view to the west over the clouds

Peaks to the north in the clear

After we picked up we hiked down at a nice casual pace with the weather being so nice. We were having fun telling stories and discussing the day while making sure we were careful hiking down over the steep or rocky sections of trail. We took another good break at the potholes before finishing out hike and getting into more comfortable clothes and dry footware. Most of us also went to the after party in Littleton as well to enjoy some food and find some of the Flags opn the 48 beer.

Hiking back down

Google Earth representation of the hike

Partial group photo taken by another hiker after we got the flag up

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

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Mt. Cabot (4,161), The Bulge (3,945 ft), & The Horn (3,900 ft) 8-20-23

Distance: 17.1 mi.
Elevation: 2,665 ft. (Overall) 4,431 ft. (Total)
Time: 0:38 (Bunnell Notch Trail) 3:37 (Cabot Cabin) 3:51 (Cabot Spring) 4:10 (Mt. Cabot) 4:45 (The Bulge) 5:15 (The Horn) 9:10 (Total)
Trails: York Pond Rd, Bunnell Notch Trail, Kilkenny Ridge Trail, Cabot Spring Spur, The Horn Spur, Mill Brook Trail

I was going to be up north for the start of the weekend so I took advatage of this to hike a loop of the northern most 4K and two of the New England Hundred Highest peaks. I made this into a bigger loop than normal so that I could get in some good redlining miles while I was at it. The worst part of doing today's loop would be the approximately 2 mile road walk between the two trail heads. Because I didn't want to end the day with a boring road walk, I decided to start the day with it so that I could end my hiking at my truck.

The road walk felt quicker than expected and I was soon (enough) at the other trail head and turning off the road to start the hiking. Today the trail started off dry down low other than minor mud. Since this year has been so wet this summer, that was a nice start, even though it wouldn't last. Once the trail makes the 90 degree left turn a way up it and it starts to actually gain some elevation, things got a bit more wet. It still wasn't bad with standing mud or anything, but you could tell things were just a bit more damp. Once I had had followed along the brook up through Bunnell Notch more and started to gain some real elevation the trail really started to get wet. As I was now hiking through the clouds some, at times the trail was more like a small brook. The water flowing down the trail never got very deep, but it was still running down the trail covering the surface and where you would want to walk.

The trail was wet in many places

The first really wet section was at the junction with the Kilkenny Ridge Trail near the height of land in Bunnell Notch. There was lots of standing water right in the trail here and you either had to make your way around it or just get wet feet. Now the trail was a mix of some standing or running water in the trail and also that of wet rocks. I didn't have any problems with slipping on wet rocks or anything, but it could be a possibility. On the way up the trail I stopped at the view point at Bunnell Rock where I was treated to a view of the inside of the clouds. This is a nice little spot, but not so much today. After this the trail seemed to go quicker and before I knew it the trail was leveling out some and I saw the outhouse for the Cabot Cabin just before rounding the corner to the cabin.

Cabot Cabin

I took a nice break at the cabin to get out of the breeze a bit and adjust my gear some. Inside the cabin is a small map that included where the spring for the cabin is. This provided some nice reassurance as the first bit of redlining for me today would be the spur to the spring. I didn't know it existed the first time here so I didn't hike it, and the second time was winter and it didn't make sense in all the snow. The Cabot Spring Spur is a little ways past the cabin before you get to the summit. There is a wide section where the trail makes a bit of a left turn. The spring heads off to the right and there is a small sign on a tree that is most easily seen when heading from the cabin towards the summit. The spur isn't super wide or noticeable if you aren't looking for it and has the appearance of being a bit better than just a herd path into the woods. The spur ends up being more of a herd path than an actual trail all the way down to the spring. It is narrow, tight, and you do have to climb over a couple downed trees on the way down. The worst part is probably just how much elevation you lose hiking down in such a short distance. This makes coming back up that much more tiring. And if you are just redlining and don't really need the water, it seems more like a waste. Perhaps leave most of your gear near the start of the spur. The spring was flowing well today though, and the white pipe in the ground makes it easy to tell you are in the right spot.

Cabot Spring

Cabot Spring Spur is steep and narrow

After coming back up from the spring, I did the short and easy hike over to the summit of Mt. Cabot. The actual high point is just behind the sign that is in a large open area of the trail. There is a small cairn just into the trees following a short path past the sign. I took a short break here since I had taken a longer break at the cabin. Plus the clouds were starting to break up some and conditions were getting nicer. I was at the highest point of the day, but still had lots of hiking left to do.

Mt. Cabot

Coming down from Cabot and heading towards The Bulge the trail always feels to me that is turns further to the right (east) than it actually does and it always messes with me somewhat through here. Despite this though, the hike over to The Bulge went pretty quickly and soon I was at the viewless summit that only has a small cairn marking the top which someone could pass right by without really knowing what it was. Part of the descent of The Bulge is a little bit steep and had a tree that had fallen across it. This had the nice surprise though of being where I crossed paths with some my other hiking friends. With the unpopularity of Mt Cabot and even more so going past it to the Bulge and the Horn, it wasn't surprising that I only ran into other people I know that are working on either redlining or their grid of the 48 4Ks.

Soon the trail levels off more and becomes a nice walk to the junction with the trail leading up to the Horn. This trail starts off good and gets steeper as it goes on. Near the actual summit the trail seems to split and go mutiple directions up and over the rocks to get you to the top. At least one of these paths kind of forces you to go through the trees which are a bit tight to get to the top. Once at the top, the real high point is the top of a large exposed rock. This rock is a bit hard to climb up though to get up on top of it. You might need to check out a couple different spots to find which out which one allows you to get on top of it.

The Bulge

View from The Horn

After leaving the Horn it was time to make my way to Unknown Pond. The hiking through this section is pretty gentle without any real big ups or downs. Of course I was also going downhill for any of the elevation change. This was the time of day I started to encounter the most water though other than the water running down the trail near Bunnell Notch. Through here, there were lots of muddy spots with standing water in places as well. There were some bog bridges going over the water, but plenty of places to get your feet wet through here today. After Unknown Pond, the trail goes uphill again for a little bit slowly gaining some elevation. You will then go through a section where there was lots of ferns on both sides of the trail making it feel a bit narrow, but it was still easy to follow. After the ferns, the trail starts to drop downhill steeper than I was expecting and it keeps going for longer than I expected too. After the descent, the trail becomes mostly flat again which also means wet again. There are a couple places where it crosses the edges of some small ponds or bogs. One of these was easy with a bog bridge that was slightly sunken. Another one of these resulted in wet feet as what is left of the bog bridge is at a spot where the beavers have built a dam as well. The crossing starts off ok, but the end of it is basically walking on the beaver dam as there are no more bridge sections and the sticks rolled under my feet resulting in me stepping into the water and mud to keep from falling in.

Crossing the water

You'll likely get wet feet here

After the last pond/bog crossing, the trail all of a sudden widened up. Clearly someone had recently done some trail maintenance through this section. This made for some nice walking to the junction with the Mill Brook Trail. Starting down the Mill Brook Trail required a brief uphill climb leaving the intersection before things leveled out. Once heading back downhill, the trail is a long gradual decline all the way back to the parking area. It follows a bit of a sidehill higher up, then comes down closer to the brook where it then follows along the bank for quite some time as well. This trail had more wet sections just like much of the day had. At least now I already had soaking wet feet and didn't care if I stepped in more water since I knew I had dry shoes back in my truck. At the very bottom of the trail you come to a small pond with a small dam at the outlet. There is a sign saying to keep off the dam, so I turned right and went around the pond this direction before popping over onto the access road which you can follow the short way back to the parking area.

Given the weather to start the day, the length of the route, and the trails picked for the route this was a nice hike for a longer route. There weren't many people that I ran into and I didn't see a single person after passing Unknown Pond. The water on the trail was the biggest detractor of the day, but I still enjoyed the hike and added approximately 6 miles of new trails for the day of redlining.

Following the brook near the bottom of Mill Brook Trail

Given the weather to start the day, the length of the route, and the trails picked for the route this was a nice hike for a longer route. There weren't many people that I ran into and I didn't see a single person after passing Unknown Pond. The water on the trail was the biggest detractor of the day, but I still enjoyed the hike and added approximately 6 miles of new trails for the day of redlining.

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

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Lakes of the Clouds Hut, Mt. Monroe (5,384 ft), and Mt. Washington (6,288 ft) 7-22-23 thru 7-23-23

DAY 1
Distance: 4.42 mi.
Elevation: 2,484 ft (overall) 2,603 ft (total)
Time: (with a 9 year old setting the pace) 2:34 (Gem Pool) 5:33 (Hut)
Trails: Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail

Once my oldest daughter was able to see one of the AMC's huts in person, she wanted to stay at one. So for Christmas last year I surprised her with a reservation for the two of us at the Lakes of the Clouds Hut. The plan would be for us to hike up to the hut on the first day, then hike up Mt. Monroe and Mt. Washington the second day before hiking back down to the truck.

Since we only had to make it to the hut in time to check in before supper, I wasn't worried about our pace and the way up and let my daughter set the pace the entire time. The hike from the Ammo parking lot to the junction just above the base station seemed to go pretty quick for a 9 year old who is just getting over being sick setting the pace. The trail is easy to follow and has nothing really difficult about it other than maybe the 1 brook crossing. Water wasn't super high today, so it went well with my daughter just wanting a hand to make sure she didn't slip off the logs that we used to walk across the water.

The first and biggest brook crossing of the day

After the junction near the base station the trail got a bit muddy (lots of rain this summer and more this week) and a bit rockier. The trail follows right next to the river which is neat (I always like a trail next to a river/brook), but this does mean it can get narrow if the bank is steep. There is also a reroute being worked on at this time to avoid part of this as there is a section of trail that is getting eroded by the river. I didn't get a picture of this section because it was lightly raining at the time. About halfway to the Gem Pool we did start to have some very light rain today. It wasn't enough for me to put on my rain jacket, but I did put on my pack cover so all of our clothes, camera, and other stuff for the night would stay dry. My daughter put on her rain jacket, but mainly because the cool mist on her arms was making her a bit colder than she would like. By the time we reached the Gem Pool, the rain was done for the day, even though the clouds and fog remained.

Liliana at Gem Pool

After taking a nice break at the pool and having some snacks, we started the steep climb up to the hut. I had only done this trail in winter so far so I didn't know how rocky the trail would be, just that it was going to be steep almost all of the way to the hut. Because it was going to be steep, I made sure to let my daughter set the pace so we wouldn't get her to tired at any point.

A small ladder high up on the trail

The trail above the pool was about as rocky as I would have expected given how much use it sees and where it is located. There were also some spots I thought were fun as they were a bit scrambly. My daughter seemed to like them too, but she is a fan of things like that as well. The only real difficult parts are the places where the trail has some water flowing down it or you it crosses the brook higher up. Some of these spots just make for possibly tricky footing.

Liliana enjoying herself near the falls above the trail

As the trail starts to level out some near the hut, Liliana thought it was fun hiking in the clouds, but she was also really looking forward to getting to the hut so we could take a break, but more importantly she could pick out her bunk bed. Just over a hundred feet from the hut it was still so foggy that she couldn't see the hut. I was able to just make out the top of the roof line through the clouds, but only really because I had been there before. Liliana was excited to be so close, but wasn't happy I was spending times taking pictures of us in the clouds instead of going inside.

Even though you can't see it, we're there

Once inside, we checked in and went to our bunk room. Our room had bunks that went 3 levels high and Liliana was thinking the whole trip she wanted the top bunk. She climbed up to the top and checked it out, but in the end decided she didn't like being that high up and choose to take the second bunk with me below her. This is still about as high as a normal bunk bed anyways. After we set out all of our gear we were going to need in our bunks, we got some hot choculate and checked out the rest of the hut. Once ready, we had a great meal and were able to talk with some other nice hikers. After supper we played some card games and a couple rounds of Jenga after watching a couple have a truly impressive game of Jenga that ended with a very tall stack and almost no moves left over at all.

Checking out the view from the top bunk

Google Earth representation of the the first day

DAY 2
Distance: 9.2 mi.
Elevation: 1,207 ft (overall) 1,894 ft (total)
Time: (with a 9 year old setting the pace) 0:37 (Monroe) 1:09 (Hut) 3:44 (Washington) 9:36 (Cog) 9:57 (Total)
Trails: Mt. Monroe Loop, Crawford Path, Trinity Heights Connector, Gulfside Trail, Jewell Trail, Base Station Road

Day 2 and we are ready to hit the summits of this hike. After a hearty breakfast at the hut, we packed up our gear and went outside. We took a couple parting shots of Liliana and I in front of the hut before we headed up to Mt. Monroe. There was a mix of sun and some high clouds to start the day, but the forecast was for increasingly better conditions. We had a good amount of sun for our short-ish (I do have a 9 year old with me) hike up to the summit of Mt. Monroe. As we got to the summit, the wind picked up some and we had some clouds just a little bit above us. The wind was enough that we both put on a layer to stay warm on the summit. Liliana was super excited to be on top of the first peak of the day and her first 5000 footer.

The two of us ready to leave the hut

Liliana on the summit of Mt. Monroe

We enjoyed some time at the summit, but we knew that we couldn't spend all morning here as we needed to hike back down past the hut and then up the steady rocky climb to Mt. Washington before making the long hike back down to the truck. The hike back down to the hut went well with the one steep spot requiring Liliana to climb down facing the rock instead of away from it so that she felt more comfortable. Soon enough we were back to the hut for a quick bathroom break before climbing up Mt. Washington.

View south from Mt. Monroe

Looking back down to the hut

As we started our climb up Mt. Washington, the summit was still in the clouds. But as the forecast predicted, the clouds got higher and thinner the longer we climbed. The trail is easy to follow here despite being completely on the open rocks. Liliana was doing well setting the pace, but was a little more tired than I had hoped for. This was her first multi day hike though, so I couldn't complain too much. We saw lots of other people on the trail with many of them giving Liliana words of encouragement and saying how good she was doing for her age.

Looking up towards the summit of Mt. Washington

By the time we were probably three quarters of the way to the summit of Mt. Washington the clouds had cleared and we had great views all around us. We really did luck out considering this trip was planned 8 months ago. As we neared the summit, things were getting busier and our pace was slowing some. It wasn't until we had been at the top for a little bit that I noticed it was already about 2pm, and we still had more than 5 miles back to the truck. As much as we both wanted too spend more time at the summit, we cut it shorter than planned. We were still able to check out a lot of things, rest some, and replenish our water, but we had a lot of hiking to do still. So we walked close to the summit, avoiding the long line, so that between people taking pictures Liliana could walk over the high point of the mountain (making it official of course). We then went just past the summit sign and took pictures with a nice view in the background instead of at the sign.

Liliana on the summit of Mt. Washington

After our photos, we headed for the Great Gulf and Mt. Clay. The plan was to climb down the Jewell Trail back to the truck making for a nice loop while getting me a few miles of Redlining as well (I haven't done the Jewell Trail before). Coming down the rocky terrain towards the top of the Jewell Trail proved to be a little bit harder for Liliana than I thought it would be. Her feet were starting to get sore and climbing around on rough terrain was a bit harder for her. In her defense though, we had been walking on solid rock all day though and in the end she was still making good progress.

The view north from just below the summit of Mt. Washington

Liliana working her way down the mountain

For me, the highlight of coming down this way is the view into the Great Gulf from the trail as it goes right around the top of it where it drops steeply off down from the ridge. To me this is the best place to get a real sense of just how big the gulf really is. Liliana also really liked this area and it was great to spend some time here taking a break with her.

Looking out over the Great Gulf

After our last short climb around the back side of Mt. Clay, we finally hit the Jewell Trail and were ready to really start the descent. By this time, we were also starting to feel the effects of being above treeline in the sun and we could tell our foreheads were getting a bit red. I don't do the best with sunscreen, and I forgot all about it again today with Liliana since we started in the clouds. Even though we were late to do so, we did put some sunscreen on now to keep things from getting too bad.

Looking back over to the hut from the Jewell Trail

I know lots of people like hiking these two peaks together using the loop we were doing, but to me I was dissapointed in the Jewell Trail. I'm not sure what I was really expecting from it, but I found it felt like it wandered a bit too much and really could have used a few more small cairns and a few blazes on the rocks would have been nice in some spots as well. While on open rocks, the trail at times makes a turn and the only real indication of this is paying attention to how much wear and tear there is on the surface of the rocks. Coming down one field of rocks, we saw the group in front of us and behind both go straight when the trail made a left and followed the side of the rock field. This resulted in the other hikers wandering around not sure where the trail was or where they were going until they found a way out by trampling over the fragile vegetation above treeline. In this case, there was a wide and very beaten path over and through the plants that will likely never recover.

Descending the Jewell Trail

Once we got to the treeline we were happy to be in the shade and took a small break since our sunburn was starting to affect us some. Luckily the trail becomes smoother and eventually not as steep as well. This meant my daughter was enjoying it a bit more and we were able to pick our speed up some. To pass the time and try to keep ourselves going through this section, my daughter would ask random questions and we would then discuss the subject until another came up. When we got to the split where we could continue down the trail to the parking lot and use a bridge to cross the river or go left and wade through the river at the base station for the cog railway, I let my daughter make the decision. I had checked out the water level a week ago and knew about how deep it should be. I explained our options to her and reminded her that as soon as we crossed we could change into the crocs we brought for the night at the hut and use them to walk back to the truck. With feet that were getting sore, she decided we should use the trail to the base station and she could get her looser fitting crocs on that much sooner. She was a bit nervous when it came to the actual crossing, but I helped her all the way across and in the end it really wasn't that bad. After changing shoes on one of the benchs, all we had left was the walk back to the truck as things got darker out because the sun had gone down.

Google Earth representation of the the second day

TOTALS
Distance: 13.62 mi.
Elevation Gain: 4,497 ft (total)
Time: (with a 9 year old setting the pace) 15:30



For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

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