bintrepidhiker
New member
Never had I experienced a hike as hard as this one turned out to be.
With the weather expected to be really nice, I figured this was a good time to get back into hiking after not doing much the last 2-3 months. Moosilauke seemed to be a good choice due to the lack of stream crossings that likely figured to be difficult all over with the last storm that came thru last week. So I was up at 4:30 and on the road from Manchester at 5, arriving in the area at 7. The road leading to the Lodge was closed off so I had to walk that mile first before reaching the trailhead. Gave me the chance to warm up and stretch the legs before getting on the mountain so I won't complain about that. I arrived at the Gorge Brook trailhead around 7:30 and started my accent.
From the moment I stepped off the road, all I ended up doing was sinking up to my knees on average into the snow with each step I took. It wasn't bad starting off but after the first hour of that I was like "c'mon this has to get easier" the further up I went. It really didn't with the steepness factor thrown in especially. At times I was taking 3-4 steps and having to rest for a minute or 2 before continuing. So many times I thought of turning around but I didn't want to waste the day. Had I not had my gators at least I definitly would have but I pushed on. Around 10:30 I got my look of the destination and got a second wind. It also helped that up top the snow was more firm and i wasn't sinking anymore. I finally reached the top around 10:45 where there were skiers that had hiked up Carriage Road basically with the same opinion as me, not good thoughts, about the trails. After conversing for a short while, they started their way down and I had the summit to myself. The winds were out of the North so as long as you were below the summit line on the south side, its was beautiful up top with views all around. I snapped a few shots and had my lunch then feeling slightly rested and starting to cramp up, I started down around 11:30.
The wind was blowing something fierce between the summit and the tree-line heading towards Carriage Road. My best guess put the winds around 40-50 MPH. Once I was below the trees, I warmed up immediately to the point I hiked the rest of the trip in my t-shirt. I striiped down at the start of Carriage Road and going down was much easier. I was still postholeing but it wasn't much of a hinderence as it was helping to cushion each step. The gators continued to keep me dry and at times I did sink down to my hips. I'm sure there are spots i could have lightly jumped and sunk down to the top of my head. After an hour, I reached Snapper Trail and went down that to rejoin Gorge Brook. Along the way I met a few groups of people just starting up, but that was all for contact today. I haven't been happier than I was when i broke thru the snow and landed on the road; finally having solid ground I wouldn't sink through. I also had the opportunity to take off the gators and zipped off the pant legs. That definatly felt great starting to dry out. The boots were soaked as much as you could make them but I didn't care, I was almost out of there! Finally at 2 PM, I met up with my car and just sat in the back airing out a bit before driving back. Did stop at the Gypsy Cafe for a BLT and Mcd's for an iced coffee for the trip home. So proud that I was able to do this whole trip from start to finish. Yay!
Note to self: Snowshoes might have helped today although the snow was so soft I probably would have fallen through anyway. Also having my sunglasses would have helped so i wasn't squinting for the second half of the trip. Oh well, learn by doing right?
Time: 3hrs, 45 mins up, 2.5 hours down for a total of 9.2 miles (including the road)
With the weather expected to be really nice, I figured this was a good time to get back into hiking after not doing much the last 2-3 months. Moosilauke seemed to be a good choice due to the lack of stream crossings that likely figured to be difficult all over with the last storm that came thru last week. So I was up at 4:30 and on the road from Manchester at 5, arriving in the area at 7. The road leading to the Lodge was closed off so I had to walk that mile first before reaching the trailhead. Gave me the chance to warm up and stretch the legs before getting on the mountain so I won't complain about that. I arrived at the Gorge Brook trailhead around 7:30 and started my accent.
From the moment I stepped off the road, all I ended up doing was sinking up to my knees on average into the snow with each step I took. It wasn't bad starting off but after the first hour of that I was like "c'mon this has to get easier" the further up I went. It really didn't with the steepness factor thrown in especially. At times I was taking 3-4 steps and having to rest for a minute or 2 before continuing. So many times I thought of turning around but I didn't want to waste the day. Had I not had my gators at least I definitly would have but I pushed on. Around 10:30 I got my look of the destination and got a second wind. It also helped that up top the snow was more firm and i wasn't sinking anymore. I finally reached the top around 10:45 where there were skiers that had hiked up Carriage Road basically with the same opinion as me, not good thoughts, about the trails. After conversing for a short while, they started their way down and I had the summit to myself. The winds were out of the North so as long as you were below the summit line on the south side, its was beautiful up top with views all around. I snapped a few shots and had my lunch then feeling slightly rested and starting to cramp up, I started down around 11:30.
The wind was blowing something fierce between the summit and the tree-line heading towards Carriage Road. My best guess put the winds around 40-50 MPH. Once I was below the trees, I warmed up immediately to the point I hiked the rest of the trip in my t-shirt. I striiped down at the start of Carriage Road and going down was much easier. I was still postholeing but it wasn't much of a hinderence as it was helping to cushion each step. The gators continued to keep me dry and at times I did sink down to my hips. I'm sure there are spots i could have lightly jumped and sunk down to the top of my head. After an hour, I reached Snapper Trail and went down that to rejoin Gorge Brook. Along the way I met a few groups of people just starting up, but that was all for contact today. I haven't been happier than I was when i broke thru the snow and landed on the road; finally having solid ground I wouldn't sink through. I also had the opportunity to take off the gators and zipped off the pant legs. That definatly felt great starting to dry out. The boots were soaked as much as you could make them but I didn't care, I was almost out of there! Finally at 2 PM, I met up with my car and just sat in the back airing out a bit before driving back. Did stop at the Gypsy Cafe for a BLT and Mcd's for an iced coffee for the trip home. So proud that I was able to do this whole trip from start to finish. Yay!
Note to self: Snowshoes might have helped today although the snow was so soft I probably would have fallen through anyway. Also having my sunglasses would have helped so i wasn't squinting for the second half of the trip. Oh well, learn by doing right?
Time: 3hrs, 45 mins up, 2.5 hours down for a total of 9.2 miles (including the road)
