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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Hedgehog Mountain (2,543 ft) 6-1-24

Distance: 5.82 mi.
Elevation: 1,230 ft (overall) 1,669 ft (total)
Time: (with a 5 and 10 year old setting the pace) 2:23 (Ledges) 3:19 (Summit) 5:02 (Total)
Trails: UNH Trail

For a family hike with my wife and both daughters, we picked Hedgehog Mountain accessed from the Kancamagus Highway. This would be a new peak for all of us and with that, some new trails for me to add for redlining. This hike uses just one trail, the UNH Trail, which splits and forms a loop. My plan was to do this loop clockwise so that we could hit the ledges before we got to the summit.

This hike starts off from the Downes Brook Trailhead with the UNH Trail going off to the left almost immediately. It follows what appears to be on old railroad grade which makes for easy walking to start getting yourself warmed up. After about 0.2 miles, the hiking trail breaks off to the right. It starts to gain more elevation now, but it is still pretty easy hiking. After about 0.5 miles of this, you get to the split in the trail and can choose which direction you will go.

The split in the trail with signs giving directions

As planned, we took a left at the split. The trail losses a little bit of elevation in this direction before starting to gain elevation again. This side of the loop starts with good footing on the trail which then goes away some for parts of it as it gets more rocky or has more roots in the trail. All in all though, it stays pretty good for a trail in the White Mountains though.

Gaining elevation while surrounded by green

A short root filled section of trail

While on our way up the trail getting closer to the ledges, there was a small viewpoint on the left of the trail that made for a nice shaded area to have a rest and a snack to keep everyone's energy up. After our break, we got moving again and were soon at the start of the exposed ledges that this hike is known for. We took another much longer break here after finding some nice rocks to sit on in the shade. Everyone, especially the kids, thought the view here was great. The open ledges do provide a nice view, and it is nice after the close up view of Mt. Passaconaway from a side other than the south that most hikers see if from.

Mt. Passaconaway from the ledges

View east from the ledges

After this longer break, we got moving again and followed the trail along the sections of open ledges. As noted in the guide book, care should be taken through here to make sure you are staying on the trail. While in the open, the trail makes a left turn without much for markings on the ground. If you aren't looking for the markings that start going to your left, you are likely to go straight like my wife and daughters did in this area. The open area through the small trees does make it appear that the trail goes straight, but very quickly you come to a spot where the trail just seems to have stopped. We went back just a bit, and after looking for more yellow blazes, were able to see where the trail actually turns left and heads back into the trees.

In the area where the trail makes a left without much indication

Leaving the ledges, the trail drops down in elevation a little before maintaining a consist elevation for a while. As the trail loops around to the right more after going mostly straight, it starts to gain elevation quickly. This is probably the steepest section of trail for the day. This steeper climb leads you up to the summit though and once it levels out some, you are near the high point for the hike. As we went up the trail and crossed over small ups and downs, we tried to determine which spot was the highest. Based on the description from the trail guide, we decided a small opening to the left of the trail was the high point. We took a nice long break here to have lunch and rest our bodies some.

An interesting rock face next to the trail

View from the summit

View from the summit

Family photo

The hike down was a pleasant one with my daughters playing a game of seeing how many trees they could find that had a painted blaze on both sides of them. There weren't any overly difficult sections of trail to slow us down. There were some partial views through and over the trees after leaving the summit, and the short side trip up the path to Allen's Ledge was worth the effort. This was the best view of the descent and it wasn't too hard to climb up to.

A bit of a view shortly after leaving the summit

View from Allen's Ledge

After Allen's Ledge, the remainder of the hike out went very smoothly with everyone's mood staying good while we had a easily walk back to the car. After the trail joins back up to itself, we knew exactly what to expect and were able to keep moving at a good speed until we got back to the car where a big jug of ice water was waiting for all of us.

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

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Mt. Randolph Redlining 5-4-24

Distance: 10.4 mi.
Elevation: 1,678 ft (overall) 2,978 ft (total)
Time: 2:10 (Mt. Randolph) 4:51 (Pond of Safety) 7:43 (Road) 8:03 (Total)
Trails: Vyron D. Lowe Trail, Crescent Ridge Trail, Underhill Path, Four Soldiers Path, Crescent Ridge Trail, Sargent Path, Road Walk

The intention of this hike was to do some redlining in the sections further from home, but in an area that was still low enough elevation that I would hopefully avoid the snow that is still in the woods during this time of year. I was trying to get away without needing snowshoes or gaiters, and it almost worked on this hike.

I picked a route that would allow me to check off a few different trails completely with some others partially, all without too much overlap during the hike. My plan was to start using the Vyron D. Lowe trail which has limited roadside parking, but enough of it to fully get off the road with your vehicle. The trail starts at a signed location behind a spring in a grassy area on the side of Durand Rd.

The start of the Vyron D. Lowe Trail

I never felt lost while on the Vyron D. Lowe Trail, but at times the foot path isn't very well defined and it seems kind of like a find your own adventure type of trail. The trail starts off well defined and easy enough to follow, but near the middle it was much less defined at times. At any point if I wasn't sure where the trail went, I would just stop and look in the direction I had been going. I would look for a defined path of some sort, but also look further ahead and try to find blazes on trees in the distance. I think I was always able to find another blaze somewhere further up the trail when I needed to. At the top of the trail, it does get much easier to follow again and more well defined before it meets the Crescent Ridge Trail.

The Vyron D. Lowe Trail isn't well defined in some spots

The Crescent Ridge Trail was well defined for the entire hike that I was on it. It starts with some gentle climbing, but gets steeper as you go further up it, mostly after the Four Soldiers Path crosses over it. In the steep section, there was one area that was pretty rocky, but still manageable to climb. Shortly before the summit of Mt. Randolph, I started to see some fresh looking piles of moose poop in the trail. I thought that was a good sign, and in fact just a few yards short of the summit, I heard a noise in the trees to my right and there was a bull moose about 25 feet into the trees. I tried to get my pack down so that I could get out my camera, but he worked his way out of the trees and into the trail too quick for me. He went a short distance down the trail away from me, and was quickly out of sight without ever running.

Steep rocky section of Crescent Ridge Trail

Moose poop near the Mt. Randolph summit

Mt. Randolph summit

After a little break at the summit of Mt. Randolph, I continued along the trail, which is when I started to encounter snow. It wasn't very deep or long stretches at a time to start though. It didn't take too long after leaving the summit where I encountered the moose again as he hadn't really gone far off trail. This time, he ran off into the woods away from the trail for good. Even with snow on the ground, the trail was mostly easy to follow through here. Unfortunately, thick tree cover and the contour of the land made it so not as much snow had melted in some sections. At times, I was post holing knee deep into the snow and getting it into my shoes. I needed to go a bit slower at times so that I could try and find the most solid footing to avoid falling through every step.

By the time I got to the junction with the Underhill Path, the snow wasn't as bad, but I was getting sick of it. Unfortunately, when I looked up the Underhill Path, the snow continued. And with this trail being on the northern, more shaded, side of the ridge, I was expecting it to be just as bad. Luckily, it wasn't as long lasting as I expected, and things were more wet and muddy than snow covered.

I wasn't able to avoid the snow, there were some sections still remaining

Smaller snow patches on the Underhill Path

The Underhill Path was easy to follow and the foot path was decently defined. Being spring time though, it was muddy at times, and in some places there were bog bridges to help. I was able to make pretty fast progress on my way to the Four Soldiers Path. The trail down lower was still just as wet and muddy here, and again the trail was a little less defined at times. Eventually the trail comes down to the road for Pond of Safety, and I started following that to get to the pond. There were some patches of snow along the road (which is open seasonally), but the more difficult obstacle was the downed trees along it. A couple of them were easy to get over or around, but for a couple others, you had to go into the woods or just push through all the branches. Once to the pond, I headed down the easy path that leads to the boat launch along the shore. Once getting to the boat launch I saw some fresh moose tracks in the damp dirt, so once I got to the edge of the water, I looked around and was able to see a moose on the opposite shore that appeared to be eating as it walked along. I had planned to eat my lunch here anyways, so today I got to eat lunch with a moose, since we were both doing the same thing, even if it was hundreds of feet apart.

A moose (2nd of the hike) on the back side of Pond of Safety

Pond of Safety

Next, I headed back up the Four Soldiers Path to loop around Mt. Randolph on the western side. This trail was a gentle climb and then descent after the high point. It was mostly easy to follow, but it is clear that this trail doesn't see a lot of traffic. Like near the start of today, I would have to look ahead for blazes at times to help make sure I was on the trail. Some sections also had thick bushes and saplings along the trail that could have really used some trimming back. The high point of this trail is called the Eye of the Needle, but I am not sure the reason for the name. A little bit after that, there is a side path to the right that leads to a small view point.

A tight section of the Four Soldiers Path

Eye of the Needle (height of land)

Limited view off the to side of the Four Soldiers Path

After the limited view, the trail eventually becomes much easier to follow again shortly before it reaches back to the intersection with the Crescent Ridge Trail. I took a right here to head back downhill some so that I could work my way over to the Sargent Path. At the top of the Sargent Path is a nice viewpoint called Lookout Ledge. After taking a break to enjoy the view, I headed down the Sargent Path, which is pretty steep in the upper sections. The leave and pine needles on the ground made this a bit slow going so that I could make sure I didn't slip and fall. Eventually the trail starts to level out some as it gets closer to the road. It does get a little bit rocky though in sections near the end though. After reaching the road, I did the easy road walk back to my truck to finish out the day.

View from Lookout Ledge

View from Lookout Ledge

Steep descent on the Sargent Path

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

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Mt. Paugus (3,100 ft) 12-16-23

Distance: 8.81 mi. (9.88 with road walk)
Elevation: 1,908 ft (overall) 3,000 ft (total)
Time: 3:11 (Mt. Paugus) 5:14 (Big Rock Cave) 6:25 (Road) 6:55 (Parking Lot)
Trails: Old Mast Rd, Lawrence Trail, Old Paugus Trail, Big Rock Cave Trail, Cabin Trail, Road Walk

It is nearing the end of the year and I needed to get in another hike with some redlining since I didn't do as much as I wanted so far. With all the trails that are in the area around the Ferncroft Trailhead, I decided to pick a route around there that would get me a peak while using all new to me trails. I hadn't been to Mt. Paugus before, and there were lots of options I could use for trails with maybe a bit of road walking at the end.

I started off from the parking lot using the Old Mast Rd. This trail has a gradual incline when it wasn't just flat and the trail is pretty wide, while only narrowing up towards the upper end of it. Being mostly in the hardwoods, the trail had the extra benefit of plenty of sun with no leaves on the trees this time of year. I didn't run into any snow until the upper portion of the trail, and it was never that deep when it was on the trail.

Easy going still on Old Mast Rd

At the upper junction, I turned right onto the Lawrence Trail. Along the ridge now, there was steady snow on the ground. It wasn't very deep and was also pretty hard from melting and refreezing, so I wasn't really sinking in. I don't think it was until after the Whittin Brook Trail that I put on my microspikes. I probably should have done so earlier, but I was trying to hold off. Once I slipped while coming downhill and took a bit of a spill, I decided I should just put them on finally. Of course, it wasn't too long before I was back on south facing slopes in the sunny hardwoods and the snow disappeared, so I took them back off.

Steady snow once up to the Lawrence Trail

Back to no snow on the southern slopes

Once the Lawrence Trail got back into the softwoods and started climbing again, the snow returned to the trail and stayed until after the summit. I put my spikes back on as soon as the snow was steady again so as to avoid another fall and to make the steady climb of the trail easier. As the trail gets close to the summit, it levels out a lot. Spikes could have come off again here, but it was easier to just leave them on.

Snow again nearing the summit

The trail doesn't actually go over the summit of Mt. Paugus, but does come to a high spot with some open cliffs nearby and that is all that is required if you are hiking the NH 52 With a View list. There is a sign post at this high point as the trail going down the other side has a different name. There is also a small sign on the post that points in the direction of the views. I am sure the herdpath is easier to follow in summer where you can see the wear in the dirt and plants to lead you along, but even covered in snow I was able to walk out to the ledges just fine with no other tracks in the snow.

The ledges make for some nice views mostly to the west. The rocks were just a bit icey, so I didn't wander around too much not wanting to risk slipping and not being able to stop. The only odd thing I found was that is almost seemed like there was a phone or something that was making noises somewhere in the area even though there was no one else around. I'm not sure if a bird managed to mimic the sound of if my mind was just playing tricks on me, but it sure seemed odd to randomly hear this noise for a few seconds on multiple occasions. After quite some time here, plenty of pictures, and some lunch I was headed down the Old Paugus Trail.

High point on the trail, go right for the view

Mt. Paugus view

Looking over at Mt. Passaconaway

Panoramic view from Mt. Paugus

The guide book mentions one possibly tricky turn to find on the descent in this direction, and with snow on the ground and no other tracks, I found that to be the case. I went past the turn in the trail, turned back and retraced my steps without seeing it, then went back most of the way to the summit to try again incase I missed something I would see the second time. I still wasn't having much luck the second time around and was wondering if I should turn around and just head back down the way I came up. I finally found where the trail heads down over some open rock and into the thicker trees just before making a steep icey descent into the spruce. I was glad to find the trail, but the climb down this section was a bit tricky.

A hard to descend steep icy section

After this, the trail was pretty easy to follow. Eventually it starts to follow a path that resembles what you would expect of a small brook that forms when there is a lot of rain or snow melt. I wondered at times if I veered off the trail, but occasional brush trimmings let me know I was still on the trail. Once you come out to a small view point, the trail is back to being easy to follow. At this viewpoint I was ready to remove my spikes, but there was just enough ice on the short steep descent after it to keep them on for another couple minutes. After that though, I took them back off.

For probably another half mile or so, there was small patches of very thin ice along the trail. It was just enough to be slippery or make you go slow, but not really enough that you wanted to put spikes back on. After a couple slips and one fall onto my knee, I decided to put the spikes back on for a while and deal with the hassle of walking on them when there wasn't either snow or ice on the ground. This was the right decision as I was able to keep crusing along after this without needing to slow down repeatedly in bad sections.

Just enough ice to cause you to slip and fall

A cool rock face next to the trail

I hiked down to cross the Whittin Brook Trail and corresponding brook. After the crossing, the trail climbs uphill again as it goes over Mt. Mexico near the summit. On the way up, the trail goes past Big Rock Cave. Since I hadn't done a lot of research about this, I wasn't sure how big it would actually be. There is a pretty good size glacial erratic next to the trail that has an overhang on the lower side and I was wondering if this was supposed to be the rock and cave. If it was, I was pretty dissapointed. I took a few quick pictures, and headed up the trail again. Soon after this, I would find out that the big rock and cave were MUCH bigger than the one I had recently past. The rock was the size of a house, and the cave looked big enough to stand up in. I'll be bringing my kids back here sometime in the future.

Big Rock Cave

After passing Big Rock Cave, it wasn't too much longer before the trail leads you up and over Mt. Mexico (not quite at the summit though). From here on out it was smooth hiking to the junction with the Cabin Trail. And a short 0.3 miles later, the Cabin Trail leads you to a driveway that you can then follow back down to Route 113A. I had originally planned to hike back to the Ferncroft Parking lot using the Gordon Path if I could find the driveway where it started from. I wasn't able to tell while walking by which driveway it would have been not being on it before, so I just decided to walk the road back to the parking lot. I had a nice casual walk from here on out on the flat road while there wasn't any traffic.

Smooth sailing over Mt. Mexico

All in all this turned out to be a pretty nice hike. I liked the loop and doing trails I hadn't been on before. Climbing back up from Whitten Brook was a bit tiresome to my legs with how little hiking I have been doing latetly. I also am not sure how much I like the Old Paugus Trail. I suspect that if I were to do it without the snow and ice making it slippery and harder to follow it would change my mind some. It wasn't a bad trail, just not as enjoyable as I was expecting. In the end, I think I ended up with about 8 miles of new redlining as well.

Google Earth representation of the hike - clockwise loop

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

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