BIGEarl
Well-known member
January 10, 2009: Moriah
Trails: Stony Brook Trail, Carter-Moriah Trail
Summits: Moriah
Hikers: Windy, Trail Trotter (Sue), Getawaygirl (Amy), Scoutmaster (Gary), Steve, KevinMac, Fitz, and me
The hiking day was interesting right from before the start. Five of us carpooled from Nashua. The drive was relatively normal until we reached the Lincoln area when stuff started to happen. First, roughly a mile south of the Lincoln exit a Subaru passed us with a crazy looking guy on the passenger side smiling and waving on the way by. A minute later the phone went off and it was Damon Ritter. He and Marc Howes were the ones that blew past headed for Goose Eye. I let him know we were headed for Moriah but first had a more pressing matter to deal with. We made a quick detour for a bio break at McDonalds. A few minutes later and we were back on the road headed for Gorham. On the drive north the temperature was cool but not really a concern. Once we cleared Franconia Notch the numbers started to change – fast. By the time we exited from I-93 the display showed zero and Kevin asked if it went negative. Sue confirmed it did go negative. By the time we reached five corners the display showed negative 10 degrees and it continued down. The official reported temperature from the National Weather Service was -15 degrees. We continued on to Gorham and trusted the temperature would go up as forecast.
In Gorham we made one last stop at Burger King before heading to the trailhead lot to meet Windy and Gary. While there Steve and I bumped into each other in the men’s room. He was reluctant to shake my hand not knowing what else it may have been shaking recently. Everybody decided to change into their hiking boots there instead of at the trailhead. Soon, we were off to the trailhead where we arrived right on plan. Gary arrived before us and decided to start up the trail knowing we would catch him eventually. Within roughly fifteen minutes Windy was there and we were all geared up and ready to hike. While we waited for Windy to arrive, Sue completed some scouting of the trail and reported we had a hard packed trail with light powder on top – suitable for bare booting or light traction. Some of us decided to bare boot and others went with light traction.
I believe when we finally set off the temperature was approaching zero; possibly it was around -5 degrees. As Sue reported, we had great trail conditions. A solid snowshoe track exists for the full route. The temperature had us going through some unusual exercises. Adequate layers to stay comfortable on the stops meant we were overheating while hiking. If we layered to stay comfortable while hiking the stops became difficult. It seemed that we generally stopped to cool off a little and started into the hike again when we started to feel the cold, which usually didn’t take very long at all. We managed to make steady progress with frequent but short stops all of the way to the junction with the Carter-Moriah Trail. (Trail Info: CMT south of Stony Brook was not broken out) There was a light breeze from the west and I was interested in a warm, sunny spot that was a short distance past the junction and continued on. The others soon arrived. When I reached the open ledges and the sun I also saw Scoutmaster sitting in the middle of the trail enjoying the sun and patiently waiting. Evidently he heard us coming and found this spot to be an ideal meeting place. Good choice. Now, the group is complete and we were on the final climb to the summit.
The National Weather Service hourly forecast graph showed a cloud cover of less than 10 percent for the day. With the amount of exposure on this section it was the best part of the hike. We were regularly treated to terrific views of the Carter Range, Northern Presidentials, and unlimited views to the north and east. Roughly a third of the way up this final climb, those of us that had not yet gone with snowshoes made the move and generally stayed with them for the remainder of the hike. We needed some added traction for the climb of the open ledges and probably would need snowshoes after the false summit so it seemed snowshoes made the most sense.
Slowly we made our way through the climb frequently stopping for pictures. The hike had become one big Kodak moment. Everywhere we looked there was amazing scenery, clear views to neighboring summits, bright sun, and clear blue sky. We couldn’t have ordered a better day.
We cleared the false summit and found the group starting to spread out. All of us hiked at our own pace knowing we would re-group at the summit. Gary, Kevin, Fitz, and I were the last to come through. A short distance from the junction with the Kenduskeag Trail we could see to the summit and noticed there were a number of other hikers there as well. We reached the Kenduskeag junction, which is also the location of an always interesting climb of some ledges. (Trail info: Kenduskeag Trail north of CMT is not broken out) It was missing and replaced with a huge snow ramp. The ledges were completely drifted in and we simply walked up a very nice snowshoe track to the upper section of trail. Not bad. A few steps along and we reached the summit spur. Both summit clearings were crowded places. Including us I’d guess the total number of hikers there at the time were ~twenty (+/-). Evidently, the other hikers all came up via CMT from Bangor Road. It wasn’t windy but it was cold. The NWS forecast for midday at 3000 feet was 14 degrees. I’m sure we were enjoying cooler than that.
We stayed around to visit, take more pictures, have a snack, and generally get real cold. Eventually, we all needed to move and started heading for the exit. I was thinking it would be better if I went with mittens but I knew heading downhill would generate lots of heat and I’d soon be comfortable. Soon didn’t arrive until the junction with Stony Brook, but there I was finally warm and comfortable again.
We were again spread out on the hike down. I have Atlas 1230 snowshoes that slide really nice if I let them. I was able to enjoy some great slides on the exit from the summit and then again on Stony Brook leaving the ridge. The others were generally on MSRs and they tend to hit and stick with a great deal of traction. By sliding I could move quite a bit faster on the descent. When I caught up with Fitz and Kevin they told me to go ahead and they would hike out with Gary. Eventually I managed to catch up with Steve and then we caught Windy, Sue, & Amy. The final hike out was clear sailing. A little over seven hours after our start we were back at the trailhead lot packing gear and preparing for the drive south.
While we were there waiting for the others to come out, in came the Subaru that flew past near Lincoln. Damon and Marc had finished Goose Eye around noon and were now cruising trailheads. They stopped to visit for a while. It’s been quite a while since the last time I hiked with either of them. It was really good to see both.
The day couldn’t have been better. It has been a number of months since the last time I hiked with Windy, Gary, and Steve. I really enjoyed getting together with them again. It’s always a pleasure to hike with Sue, Amy, Kevin, and Fitz. Thanks to all for a fun day in the mountains.
Pictures will follow.
Trails: Stony Brook Trail, Carter-Moriah Trail
Summits: Moriah
Hikers: Windy, Trail Trotter (Sue), Getawaygirl (Amy), Scoutmaster (Gary), Steve, KevinMac, Fitz, and me
The hiking day was interesting right from before the start. Five of us carpooled from Nashua. The drive was relatively normal until we reached the Lincoln area when stuff started to happen. First, roughly a mile south of the Lincoln exit a Subaru passed us with a crazy looking guy on the passenger side smiling and waving on the way by. A minute later the phone went off and it was Damon Ritter. He and Marc Howes were the ones that blew past headed for Goose Eye. I let him know we were headed for Moriah but first had a more pressing matter to deal with. We made a quick detour for a bio break at McDonalds. A few minutes later and we were back on the road headed for Gorham. On the drive north the temperature was cool but not really a concern. Once we cleared Franconia Notch the numbers started to change – fast. By the time we exited from I-93 the display showed zero and Kevin asked if it went negative. Sue confirmed it did go negative. By the time we reached five corners the display showed negative 10 degrees and it continued down. The official reported temperature from the National Weather Service was -15 degrees. We continued on to Gorham and trusted the temperature would go up as forecast.
In Gorham we made one last stop at Burger King before heading to the trailhead lot to meet Windy and Gary. While there Steve and I bumped into each other in the men’s room. He was reluctant to shake my hand not knowing what else it may have been shaking recently. Everybody decided to change into their hiking boots there instead of at the trailhead. Soon, we were off to the trailhead where we arrived right on plan. Gary arrived before us and decided to start up the trail knowing we would catch him eventually. Within roughly fifteen minutes Windy was there and we were all geared up and ready to hike. While we waited for Windy to arrive, Sue completed some scouting of the trail and reported we had a hard packed trail with light powder on top – suitable for bare booting or light traction. Some of us decided to bare boot and others went with light traction.
I believe when we finally set off the temperature was approaching zero; possibly it was around -5 degrees. As Sue reported, we had great trail conditions. A solid snowshoe track exists for the full route. The temperature had us going through some unusual exercises. Adequate layers to stay comfortable on the stops meant we were overheating while hiking. If we layered to stay comfortable while hiking the stops became difficult. It seemed that we generally stopped to cool off a little and started into the hike again when we started to feel the cold, which usually didn’t take very long at all. We managed to make steady progress with frequent but short stops all of the way to the junction with the Carter-Moriah Trail. (Trail Info: CMT south of Stony Brook was not broken out) There was a light breeze from the west and I was interested in a warm, sunny spot that was a short distance past the junction and continued on. The others soon arrived. When I reached the open ledges and the sun I also saw Scoutmaster sitting in the middle of the trail enjoying the sun and patiently waiting. Evidently he heard us coming and found this spot to be an ideal meeting place. Good choice. Now, the group is complete and we were on the final climb to the summit.
The National Weather Service hourly forecast graph showed a cloud cover of less than 10 percent for the day. With the amount of exposure on this section it was the best part of the hike. We were regularly treated to terrific views of the Carter Range, Northern Presidentials, and unlimited views to the north and east. Roughly a third of the way up this final climb, those of us that had not yet gone with snowshoes made the move and generally stayed with them for the remainder of the hike. We needed some added traction for the climb of the open ledges and probably would need snowshoes after the false summit so it seemed snowshoes made the most sense.
Slowly we made our way through the climb frequently stopping for pictures. The hike had become one big Kodak moment. Everywhere we looked there was amazing scenery, clear views to neighboring summits, bright sun, and clear blue sky. We couldn’t have ordered a better day.
We cleared the false summit and found the group starting to spread out. All of us hiked at our own pace knowing we would re-group at the summit. Gary, Kevin, Fitz, and I were the last to come through. A short distance from the junction with the Kenduskeag Trail we could see to the summit and noticed there were a number of other hikers there as well. We reached the Kenduskeag junction, which is also the location of an always interesting climb of some ledges. (Trail info: Kenduskeag Trail north of CMT is not broken out) It was missing and replaced with a huge snow ramp. The ledges were completely drifted in and we simply walked up a very nice snowshoe track to the upper section of trail. Not bad. A few steps along and we reached the summit spur. Both summit clearings were crowded places. Including us I’d guess the total number of hikers there at the time were ~twenty (+/-). Evidently, the other hikers all came up via CMT from Bangor Road. It wasn’t windy but it was cold. The NWS forecast for midday at 3000 feet was 14 degrees. I’m sure we were enjoying cooler than that.
We stayed around to visit, take more pictures, have a snack, and generally get real cold. Eventually, we all needed to move and started heading for the exit. I was thinking it would be better if I went with mittens but I knew heading downhill would generate lots of heat and I’d soon be comfortable. Soon didn’t arrive until the junction with Stony Brook, but there I was finally warm and comfortable again.
We were again spread out on the hike down. I have Atlas 1230 snowshoes that slide really nice if I let them. I was able to enjoy some great slides on the exit from the summit and then again on Stony Brook leaving the ridge. The others were generally on MSRs and they tend to hit and stick with a great deal of traction. By sliding I could move quite a bit faster on the descent. When I caught up with Fitz and Kevin they told me to go ahead and they would hike out with Gary. Eventually I managed to catch up with Steve and then we caught Windy, Sue, & Amy. The final hike out was clear sailing. A little over seven hours after our start we were back at the trailhead lot packing gear and preparing for the drive south.
While we were there waiting for the others to come out, in came the Subaru that flew past near Lincoln. Damon and Marc had finished Goose Eye around noon and were now cruising trailheads. They stopped to visit for a while. It’s been quite a while since the last time I hiked with either of them. It was really good to see both.
The day couldn’t have been better. It has been a number of months since the last time I hiked with Windy, Gary, and Steve. I really enjoyed getting together with them again. It’s always a pleasure to hike with Sue, Amy, Kevin, and Fitz. Thanks to all for a fun day in the mountains.
Pictures will follow.
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