Hike Mt Moosilauke

Turned out 6 of the 11 of us on this trip stayed at the Ravine Lodge on Sat night, but since we did not know each other we never got togther. Joey & I & Jonny stayed in the basement room of the ravine lodge and since has been a wet spring, it was pretty musty down there. Stephen, Robin & Mathieu stayed in a bunk room and thought it was fine and their dinner Sat night sounded good too. The Lodge breakfast Sun morning was good and the pack lunches they made were also good.

The weather forecast posted Sunday morning called for showers until 10 am, then thunderstorms from  10 am to 2 pm, then showers from 2 pm until 6 pm......basically rain all day. It was almost 9 am. The summit of  Moosilauke was in a cloud. It was definitely a bad hair day due to the humidity in the air around the lodge. We left the lodge area at 9:30 or so after brief introductions. We left with 11 people and 1 Dog, (Sonny) and there were 11 people plus 1 dog when we returned to the lodge, so it was a success as far as Dan was concerned, (Joey & Jonny are missing from the picture, but they made it back too).

We took the "normal" route, up Gorge Brook and down the Carriage Path to Snapper. The sound of a mtn stream hosted us much of our hike up and back. We spread out nicely, going at our own pace and dropping back or going ahead to spend time speaking with other members of the group.

The summit was clouded right in. There were probably 2 dozen people scattered about on the summit while we lunched up there. It was very windy, but not a cold wind. We did hunker down behind a portion of the old stone foundation of the former hotel to eat our lunches. During our 20 minutes on top, the blue skies did appear briefly in a couple spots.

We all were back at the lodge by 3 pm. Fred had some cold soda's he shared which were enjoyed on the lodge porch. The group picture you see here was taken about 3:15, so it does not appear too cloudy now, but several hrs earlier, the green forest in the background would not have been visible. I don't think anyone donned a rain jacket durning our hike.....pretty good considering the morning forecast!

Joey & Dan plan to hike to the summit of Mt Moosilauke on Sunday, 5/29. We have a bed reserved at Dartmouth's Ravine Lodge on Sat night with breakfast Sunday morning before we head off. To reserve your bed call 603-764-5858.

If the forecast does not call for constant rain, the plan is to take the Gorge Brook Trail 3.7 miles and 2450 feet to the summit of Moosilauke. If it raining, this hike will be postponed.

You should bring water, good footwear, a snack and clothing appropriate for the weather. It will be much cooler on this 4800 foot summit than it is is at the lodge.