Tag Archives: Mountains

Winter Hike: Howe, Shelburne Moriah, Moriah

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Jeff, John, Michael and I planned on taking a day off to hike Mount Washington on the second day of winter. The forecast showed Mount Washington in the clouds all day with gusty winds from the Northwest, and a some snow and increased winds in the afternoon. So we switched up our plans and did Mount Moriah via a Howe Peak bushwhack and over Shelburne Moriah Mountain. The weather and views weren’t great but I knocked off a New Hampshire 200 Highest, two trails red-lined, a new section of the AT, and got Mount Moriah for my December Grid and New Hampshire Winter 4000 Footer list.

ROUTE

  • Left vehicle at Rattle River Trail parking off Route 2 in Shelburne, NH
  • Parked at Shelburne Trail North parking off Conner Road in Shelburne, NH
  • Hiked up Shelburne Trail to intersection with Kenduskeag Trail
  • Bushwhacked east to Howe Peak and back
  • Turned right on Kenduskeag Trail over Shelburne Moriah Mountain to intersection with Carter-Moriah Trail
  • Turned right on Carter-Moriah Trail to Moriah spur trail
  • Turned left on Moriah spur trail and climbed to Mount Moriah summit and back
  • Turned right on Carter-Moriah Trail back to intersection with Kenduskeag Trail
  • Turned left on Kenduskeag Trail and returned to intersection with Rattle River Trail
  • Turned left on Rattle River Trail and hiked down to parking lot

PHOTOS

STATS

Date: 22 December 2020
Distance: 14.8 miles
Moving Time: 07:18
Pace: 29:33/mile
Elevation Gain: 4019′

Tracing White Mountains Trails:
Kenduskeag Trail
Rattle River Trail

Contact Me

maine.wanderlust@gmail.com

Trail Race: Sugarloaf Uphill Climb

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Michael and I signed up for the Sugarloaf Uphill Climb, a 2.2 mile race up Sugarloaf Mountain in Carrabassett Valley with roughly 2500′ of elevation gain. The average pitch was 20%, but at its steepest was 30%. The race was advertised as being 2.5 miles, so we were both surprised when we turned the last corner to find the finish line.

ROUTE

  • The race started from the quad lift
  • We ran up Binder Trail to summit
  • The finish was a few hundred feet below the true summit

PHOTOS

STATS

Date: 11 October 2020
Distance: 2.2 miles
Pace: 18:04/mile
Elevation Gain: 2362′

Time: 0:39:12
Place: 35/166
M40-49: 3/15

Contact Me

maine.wanderlust@gmail.com

Trail Race: 2020 Beast of the East

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Not surprisingly, the races I planned to run this year were cancelled due to Covid-19. So I was pretty pumped when I heard that the Beast of the East half marathon was going to happen. It had been on my radar for a couple of years, so I signed up for it right away. Bibs were sent out to runners and the start was done in heats of 50 people socially distanced by cones with bib numbers on them spaced out six feet apart. I was grateful for some normalcy and the day was perfectly cool and dry for a race.

ROUTE

  • The race started from the beach at Echo Lake
  • Ran south on Echo Lake Trail to Bryce Path
  • Turned left on Bryce Path to Bryce Link
  • Turned right on Bryce Link to Cathedral Ledge Road
  • Followed an unnamed trail along Cathedral Ledge Road to top of Cathedral Ledge
  • Jumped on Bryce Path to White Horse Ledge Trail
  • Turned right on White Horse Ledge Trail to White Horse Ledge and on to Red Ridge Link
  • Turned right on Red Ridge Link to Red Ridge Trail
  • Turned left on Red Ridge Trail to Moat Mountain Trail
  • Art the top of the ridge, turned right on Moat Mountain Trail to North Moat Mountain summit and continued down to Red Ridge Trail
  • Crossed the river to take Red Ridge Trail back to Red Ridge Link
  • Turned left on Red Ridge Link back to White Horse Ledge Trail
  • Continuing right on White Horse Ledge Trail to Bryce Path
  • Turned right on Bryce Path and headed back toward Echo Lake Trail
  • Continuing left along Echo Lake Trail to the beach at Echo Lake and the race’s finish

PHOTOS

STATS

Date: 20 September 2020
Distance: 13.1 miles
Pace: 16:30/mile
Elevation Gain: 4429′

Time: 03:35:13
Place: 81/130
M40-49: 20/31

Tracing White Mountains Trails:
Red Ridge Trail
Red Ridge Link
Bryce Link

Contact Me

maine.wanderlust@gmail.com

Winter Hike: Whiteface & Passaconaway

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Winter hike Whiteface and Passaconaway

In early 2017 my friend Michael and hike snowshoed a loop of Mount Whiteface and Mount Passaconaway. I was grabbing them for my Grid and Winter New Hampshire 4000 Footers lists, and he was getting them for his New Hampshire 4000 Footers list.

Map of hike

ROUTE

  • Parked at Ferncroft Parking of Ferncroft Road
  • Walked down Ferncroft Road to Blueberry Ledge Trail
  • Snowshoed up Blueberry Ledge Trail to intersection with Rollins Trail
  • Continued up Rollins Trail to Mount Whiteface summit and along the ridge to Dicey’s Mill Trail
  • Turned left at Dicey’s Mill Trail and hiked up to Passaconaway summit and to Walden Trail
  • Turned right on Walden Trail and down to Wonalancet Ridge Trail
  • Turned right on Wonalancet Ridge Trail to Hibbard Mountain and Mount Wonalancet, and then down to Old Mast Road
  • Turned right on Old Mast Road and returned to Ferncroft parking

STATS

Date Hiked: 04 February 2017
Elevation Gain: 4500′
Distance: 11.0 miles
Book Time: 7:45

Tracing White Mountains Trails:
Blueberry Ledge Trail
Wonalancet Range Trail
Wonalancet Short Cut

Contact Me

maine.wanderlust@gmail.com

Hike: Shelburne Moriah

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SUMMARY

Shelburne Moriah, the sometimes overlooked sibling if 4000 footer Mount Moriah, is one of the taller 52 with a View mountains. In mid-November 2016 I tackled this summit not just for its status on the aforementioned list, but because it was supposed to be a beautiful summit to behold.

I parked at the Shelburne Trail head and hiked on the Shelburne Trail until it intersected with the Kenduskeag Trail. I followed the Kenduskeag trail to the summit of Shelburne Moriah and little beyond, and returned via the same route. The trip was 11 miles long, included 3600 feet of elevation and took just under 6 and a half hours to complete.

Hike Shelburne Moriah

Map of hike

After a moment of confusion and consulting my maps, I found my way to the parking lot at the start of the Shelburne Trail off of Route 2 in Shelburne, New Hampshire. It was cool, windy and cloudy, but there was only one other car in the parking lot, so I knew the hike would be a solitary one.

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Hike: Baldpates

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SUMMARY

In early November 2016 a friend and I camped out near Grafton Notch in western Maine. The next morning we hiked the two peaks of Baldpate Mountain. Baldpate was supposed to be a great hike above treeline, so we had to check it out.

We parked at the Old Speck parking lot and crossed the street to follow the Appalachian Trail north. We took the side trail to Table Rock and rejoined the Appalachian Trail to both peaks of Baldpate Mountain. We returned along the Appalachian Trail with a short side trip to see Baldpate lean-to. The hike was just short of 8 miles with 3800 feet of elevation gain and took us a little less than 6 hours.

Trail map

Map of hike

At around 9:30 am we pulled into the parking lot along the Appalachian Trail on Maine Route 26 at the Old Speck Trail head. It was mostly cloudy, 30 degrees and there was only one other car in the lot.

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Hike: Mount Cube

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TRIP REPORT

After a quick hike up Mount Major for a sunrise that never really showed its face, I headed to Orford, New Hampshire to meet a couple friends and hike Mount Cube. I thought that Mount Cube would have a square shape to it, but in fact its name is a local corruption of Mount Cuba. As legend has it, the mountain was named after a dog that fought a bear on its summit.

I first caught sight of the mountain as I drove around Lower Baker Pond on Route 25A, its rocky north summit stood high above the water. I passed by our starting point, the roadside parking for the Appalachian Trail and hooked around the northern side of the mountain. I was meeting my friends on the dirt Baker Road on the west side of the mountain at the Cross Rivendell Trail head, where we would be completing our hike.

They arrived soon after I go there and we headed back to the Appalachian Trail in my friend’s truck. We got to the start of our hike at 9:15 am. There were two other cars parked off the road and the weather was in the 40s and overcast. We started up the trail following a couple with a dog, and we were followed by a guy and his dog. We soon lost the trail and we all convened in a clearing slightly befuddled. In short time we discovered that we were on a logging road, not the Appalachain Trail. We headed back out to the road and found the trail on the western end of the parking area. It was signed and pretty obvious once we looked for it.

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