Moose Mountain Redlining 5-25-25

Distance: 9.96 mi.
Elevation: 1,354 ft (overall) 2,587 ft (total)
Time: 2:03 (Three Mile Rd) 3:19 (South Peak) 3:42 (Shelter) 4:18 (South Peak) 5:05 (Total)
Trails: Hanover Center Trail, Moose Mountain Trail, Fred Harris Trail, Nat Thompson Trail, Moose Mountain Shelter Loop

Another day of redlining in the Hanover area, starting where I left off with my last hike. To eliminate needing to rehike almost all of the route to get back to my truck, I made use of my bike to peddle my way from one parking area to another to start the hike. I parked in the small pull-off on Three Mile Road where the Hanover Center Trail and Moose Mountain Trail meet. From there, I rode my bike down Three Mile Rd to Ruddsboro Road. I then went right until Etna Road, where I quickly hit Partridge Road to save some distance and elevation over to Trescott Road. From there it is a short ride to the trailhead, where I locked my bike up off in the trees.

The early sections of today's hike were very gentle with no big ups or downs along the way. The trail passed through varied different sections of forest that were all lush and green with the newly opened leaves on the trees and plants. This part of the hike was very enjoyable and almost seemed like it was over too quick, as I was soon coming to the road crossing of Etna Road.

Hanover Center Trail following a stone wall

A sea of green

Bridge crossing just before Etna Road

After crossing Etna Road, the trail suddenly enters into a section of softwoods which seemed to have a thick enough canopy that it blocked some of the light and made the trail darker. After a little while, it ended just as quick as it started with a sudden transition back to hardwoods. After entering back into the hardwoods, the trail soon comes to an old field that appears to be growing back in with trees and plants. The trail through here started quite muddy, and there wasn't much way around it without getting wet from the grass next to the trail. I did my best and was glad things dried out some, but not completely, as the trail got higher into the field. After this, the trail was a bit more of a mix of softwoods and hardwoods, with it being more in the hardwoods with lots of green leaves all around. Soon enough, I was at my truck where I adjusted my footwear before crossing the road the head up Moose Mountain.

Going through a darker section of forest

This field was muddy, but also nice

I started up the Moose Mountain Trail, which has a little bit of ups and downs through here before it drops to a bridged stream crossing. Not far up the trail from here, the Fred Harris Trail crosses the AT. For redlining, you need to take a left here and take it to the Nat Thompson Trail, where you turn right and go past the Dartmouth Class of 66 Lodge. The lodge was a good place for a short break and some pictures. It seemed like it might start raining here, but it didn't really materialize.

Bridged stream crossing

Dartmouth College's Class of 66 Lodge

The Nat Thompson Trail goes past the left side of the lodge and starts climbing up what appears to be an old woods road. The steepest section of this trail is early on, and soon enough it levels out some (but not completely) while still following the woods road through a few small muddy sections. Eventually, the trail becomes just a path in the woods and brings you up to the Moose Mountain Trail (AT), just before actually reaching the south peak.

Before going to the south peak, I wanted to head out to the Moose Mountain Shelter, and Loop Trail. It was just starting to rain lightly, and I figured the view would be better after the rain stopped and the clouds could go away some. The trail drops in elevation to the crossing of an old section of Wolfeboro Road. It then gains elevation slowly before reaching the southern junction of the Moose Mountain Shelter Loop. I hung out at the shelter for a little while enjoying the small view and having some lunch.

The AT heading away from the south peak summit area

Moose Mountain Shelter

View from the shelter

When leaving the shelter, I continued up to the northern end of the loop before heading back towards the south peak using the Moose Mountain Trail (AT). I did this so that I would know for sure where I needed to stop when I come in from the other direction to redline the rest of the Moose Mountain Trail. From here, I kept things at a casual pace to get back up to the south summit. I had plenty of time and didn't feel like rushing though a nice section of forest. Once I reached the south peak, I took another long break to enjoy the view and take some pictures. I wanted to try and find some of the plane wreckage from a crash that happened here years ago. I wasn't able to find enough info before this hike to narrow down how close to the actual summit the crash happened, but there are a few small pieces of the plane that can be found scattered around.

Moose Mountain South Peak summit view

The descent back down the mountain was pretty straight forward with the trail having just a bit a mud in places high up, and some rocks along the way, which should be expected being the AT and how much traffic that sees. The trail gets a little steeper as it gets lower down, and it also kind of follows along in a sidehill manor for a bit. But, soon enough, I was back at the Fred Harris Trail, where I then retraced my steps back to my truck. Before putting on dry clothes and shoes, I drove over to the parking lot and picked up my bike from where I stashed it in the woods. Then I changed into dry clothes and went looking for some lunch on the drive back home.

Heading back down the Moose Mountain Trail (AT)

Google Earth representation of the hike

Today's hike was a very nice walk in the woods through some beautiful areas of trail. Nothing was overly hard, and while there wasn't much for views, even at the summit, it was an enjoyable day and I was glad to check off some more miles and trails for redlining.

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

---

Hanover, NH Redlining 4-19-25

SECTION 1

Distance: 1.74 mi.
Elevation: 518 ft (overall) 595 ft (total)
Time: 0:21 (AT) 0:37 (Trescott Spur) 1:04 (Total)
Trails: Oli's Eagle Trail, Velvet Rocks Trail

For today's hike, my plan was to redline all of the trails needed in the area surrounded by Route 120, East Wheelock Street, Trescott Road, Etna Road, and Greensboro Road. I am sure I could have done this from just one parking spot, but for something different and to break up the multiple out and backs, I decided to park in 3 different areas to do this, thus turning it into three sections of hiking. It probably didn't significantly change the mileage or elevation, but I went with the idea anyways. I picked this area to hike today because I hadn't been out at all in a while and I wanted something closer to home, and low enough in elevation to have no snow or much mud. Also, I spent a while going over maps and making notes last fall of where each trail from this area until the whites was on maps, and I wanted to take advantage of that effort.

The first section of hiking was the Oli's Eagle Trail that can be found off of Velvet Rocks Drive, with a small parking area and trail kiosk. This was a short trail that went through some varied terrain, but never got difficult. In order to eliminate some elevation gain later in the day, I also hiked south on the Velvet Rocks Trail to the height of land and junction with Trescott Spur. After reaching that, I headed back down retracing my steps. This simple out and back was a good way to get warmed up for the day and check off a full trail early.

Early section of Oli's Eagle Trail

Velvet Rocks Trail (AT)

Trescott Spur, where I turned around

Google Earth representation of section 1

SECTION 2

Distance: 5.18 mi.
Elevation: 396 ft (overall) 1,472 ft (total)
Time: 0:20 (AT) 1:00 (Shelter) 1:38 (Hanover) 2:53 (Trescott Spur) 3:08 (Trescott Rd)
Trails: Ledyard Link Trail, Velvet Rocks Shelter Loop Trail, East Wheelock St. Spur, Ledyard Spring Spur, Velvet Rocks Trail, Trescott Spur

This section was the longest and most wandering section of today's hiking. I parked in the small dirt lot at the intersection of East Wheelock Street, Trescott Road, and Grasse Road. Across the road from the parking area is the start of the Ledyard Link Trail, which is where I started for this chunk of hiking. I followed this gentle climb up to the spring (water for AT hikers) and then up to the Velvet Rocks Trail, where the northern end of the Velvet Rocks Shelter Loop meets it.

Ledyard Spring

Rocky cliff next to the trail

From the junction, I headed up the steep section of the Velvet Rocks Shelter Loop, trying to get the climbing done with earlier with fresher legs. After the steep climb up the small ridge, I then hung a right and headed back downhill along the East Wheelock Street Spur. While going down, I also did that out and back over to the spring I passed on the way up, just to make sure I got that trail as well. Once I hit East Wheelock Street, I turned right back around and headed back uphill to the shelter loop trail.

Back up near the top of the hill, I kept straight along the Velvet Rocks Shelter Loop past the one limited view of the day. After this, the trail goes gradually downhill, eventually passing the Adirondack style shelter. After some pictures at the shelter, I kept heading down to the lower junction with the Velvet Rocks Trail. Now it was time for another out and back, this time all the way down to downtown Hanover, where the trail comes up next to one of Dartmouth College's fields, and the back of a gas station. There were a couple rocky spots, but nothing overly steep or difficult. I took a break at a picnic table behind the gas station to readjust my shoes and get the debris that had gotten into them back out.

View from the shelter loop

Velvet Rocks Shelter

Heading down towards downtown Hanover

After my break, I headed back along the edge of the sports field and back into the woods. There was a bit of mud where the trail enters back into the trees, but some pieces of wood have been put down to help you keep your feet dry. It was a straight forward hike back up to the lower junction with the shelter loop trail since I already had been through here. Once at the junction, I headed right to stay on the Velvet Rocks Trail, avoiding the little bit of extra climbing of the loop trail. It didn't take too long to get back to the upper junction with the loop trail, where I then had to do more climbing to get up to where I had stopped during my first section of the day. This section of trail was a bit more like what you would find in the whites with some actual elevation gain, but still nothing too steep. It also went through some nice areas of forest, and I heard an owl making noise during the middle of the day.

Trail heading into the woods after following the edge of the sports field

On the climb to the Trescott Spur

Once reaching the highpoint of the trail where I left off earlier, I turned left to go down the Trescott Spur. The White Mountain Guide book mentions the trail sign possibly missing here, but it has been replaced. The sign is easier to notice coming from the north though, based on where it is hung and which direction it is facing. The upper section of this trail has lots of thick moss on either side, which signs tell hikers to try and stay off of. At the bottom of it, it goes through a section of trees that look like they had lots of wind damage at one point and had to be cleaned up. From the bottom of this trail, it was a short road walk back to my truck, but I planned it so that it was all downhill, and I took the time to have a snack while walking.

Coming down the mossy Trescott Spur

Google Earth representation of section 2

SECTION 3

Distance: 3.54 mi.
Elevation: 182 ft (overall) 570 ft (total)
Time: 0:56 (Oli's Eagle Trail) 1:58 (Total)
Trails: Velvet Rocks Trail

The last section of the day was an out and back along the Velvet Rocks Trail (AT) from a parking lot on Trescott Road. I didn't take as many pictures as normal through here as it was off and on light rain, and I only had to go as far as where the Oli's Eagle Trail junction that I hiked through in my first section of the day. The trail starts with a slight uphill, before heading downhill through some muddy and wet sections of trail. I had to pay attention more through here to keep my feet dry. Eventually, the trail gets to the low spot near a bog/swamp that has a bridge leading over the edge of it. While the bridge isn't exactly straight or level, it did seem plenty sturdy for hikers to be using.

Nice walking through a small switchback between large rocky areas

From the bog/swamp, the trail heads gradually uphill through some areas with interesting large rocks on either side of the trail. I was surprised today by some of these features, and also the signs of people using them from rock climbing. In fact, in this area there were two climbers packing up when I first hiked through. The hiking up to the junction I was at earlier today went smoothly and without any steep or rocky areas. Being the AT, it was very easy to follow, and I got lucky by seeing 2 deer just before I reached where I needed to turn around.

One the way back out, the rain seemed to have stopped, although it never rained hard enough for me to want a rain coat on. I also rain into an old co-worker from when I use to work back in this area. The only "hard" part of the walk back to my truck was the wet/muddy spots on the trail again. But being near the end of my hiking for the day, I wouldn't have had to worry much about getting my feet wet since I always have a spare change of clothes and shoes in my truck.

The bridge on the way back out

Google Earth representation of section 3

OVERALL

Distance: 10.46 mi.
Elevation: 1,096 ft (overall) 2,637 ft (total)
Time: 6:10

It was nice to get this spaghetti bowl of trails done all in one day so that I wouldn't have to come back again for just a small section of them. Some of the sections of trail were a little lack luster, but all in all it was an enjoyable day spent in the woods. now I can keep working my way closer to the whites from here.

Google Earth representation of the hike

Orange: Section 1, Red: Section 2, Yellow: Section 3

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

---