Mt. Moosilauke & South Peak 4/28/12

After hiking Mt. Tecumseh earlier in the morning, I drove my way over to the Glencliff Trail to hike Moosilauke and South Peak. For those who have hiked it, Moosilauke is always great. The forecast for the weekend was pretty rough, but it turned out to be much better in terms of the amount of wind, especially by the afternoon. It was in the low 30s and breezy at the trail head, so I made sure to have my winter face protection and gloves, and an extra layer, as opposed to what I had in my pack earlier. The sun was bright and pretty warm, so as long as you kept moving it was a great day to be out.

I love the fact that on my 3rd time around, I'm still able to approach the peaks from different ways. That is only a minuscule part of what makes us crazy hikers keep coming back to the 48. At 10am, I started up the Glencliff Trail, which follows a pasture road from a parking lot on High Street. It was bright and sunny, and I was wondering how cold and windy it was going to be up top.

White blaze on the AT, near start of Glencliff Trail

Glencliff Trail to Mt. Moosilauke

At whatever elevation it started at, the trail was as nicely coated as Tecumseh from the overnight and morning snow. I only passed one couple on the way up, and once at the top, there were more hikers. It was nice hike up, but it felt much slower. I had not hiked since the weekend before the Awards dinner, which was four weeks ago. I still finished this one in 4 hours, but I'm still sore as I'm writing this. The approach is really the most difficult part. Once you get to the Carriage Road, both peaks are easy from there (pending conditions).

Trail bridge on the Glencliff Trail

The summit was spectacular. It was crystal clear with puffy clouds, and the deep blue color of the sky was just amazing. It was nice to see the snow capped peaks still. There were several groups hanging around the summit. Franconia Ridge looked just as great as ever. I could look at pictures of it all day long.

Franconia Ridge from Mt. Moosilauke

My GoPro camera is insane. It's fun. When you learn to use all of the features, the stuff you come back with is awesome. I switched the video mode to the widest angle possible, and I won't be going back. The video at the end of this report is not to be missed. I might need to go re-do a couple hikes, haha. The two pictures below are 8MP, and I can set it to take a picture every 2, 5, 10, or 30 seconds to get cool shots like these.

I hung around the summit for about 15 minutes. I sat behind one of the walls, put my bag down, and took some shots all around. There is nothing like being on the summit of a prominent peak After that, I head back the same way and scooted up to South Peak, why not get it again, right? There was no one else up there, so having a 4500' peak to my self for a few more minutes before descending is all worth it in my book.

Me on Mt. Moosilauke, with a favorite over my shoulder

Bagging Mt. Moosilauke, South Peak

The descent was pretty quick. I thought the Glencliff Trail was pretty steep, and the wet snow from being melted in the snow all day was pretty tricky. I fell at least three times on the way down. Once I nearly pulled my shoulder, and once I nearly hit my temple on a rock, its one of those close calls that make you think about the dangers out here. On the way down, it is easy to tell when it is not going to be steep any more, that was cool, because it was a nice walk out with under a mile left. My legs were toast.

Franconia Ridge taken from Route 118

Hike Stats

Trails: Glencliff Trail, Moosilauke Carriage Road

Distance: 7.8 miles

Elevation Gain: 3,300 ft

Book Time: 4hrs