Elevation over Distance Profile (Strava Link)
7/5/25
Road Walk: 0.5 miles / Carter Moriah Trail: 13.8 miles / Nineteen-Mile Brook Trail: 0.4 miles / Wildcat Ridge Trail: 2.7 miles / Wildcat Ski Trails: 2.1 miles / NH 16: 0.7 miles / Tuckerman Ravine Trail: 4.2 miles / Gulfside Trail: 1.1 miles / Mount Clay Loop: 1.2 miles / Gulfside Trail: 0.7 miles / Mount Jefferson Loop: 0.7 miles / Gulfside Trail: 1.2 miles / Lowe's Path: 0.3 miles / Airline: 0.6 miles / Gulfside Trail: 0.3 miles: Osgood Trail: 0.5 miles / Watson Path: 0.3 miles / Pine Link: 3.5 miles / Pine Mountain Trail: 4.2 miles / Coos Trails: 1.1 miles
Total Miles: 40.0 (16,125' elevation gained)
Trip Report:
- 4th of July weekend, I was able to get in a physically demanding day looping the Moriah-Carter-Cats range and the Northern Presidential range (Washington, Clay, Jefferson, Adams, Madison), starting and finishing at Big Day Brewing in Gorham, NH, which is about a mile north of my home.
- I started at first light, 4:37AM, and walked a few of the side streets from the brewery to the Carter Moriah trailhead on Banger Road.
Dawn at Big Day Brewing
- First ascent of the day was up to Mount Moriah's summit. The trail follows an old logging road before becoming more rugged as it climbs. There are great views from Mount Surprise, a nondescript summit about 2.5 miles in. After Surprise, the trail meanders its way toward Mount Moriah, with a few short level sections, moderate grades, and steep bursts. I arrived at the summit at 6:22 AM, and was greeted with great views.
View from Mount Surprise looking towards the Northern Presi's
Looking at the Carter Range from the summit of Mount Moriah
- From the summit of Moriah, I hooked onto the Appalachian Trail and started the rollercoaster ride through the Carter Range. First, I dropped down about a thousand feet and then made my way around Imp Mountain before the brutal, but thankfully, short-lived, steep and rugged ascent up to North Carter.
Along the A.T. between Moriah and Imp
Looking back Imp Mountain and Moriah from North Carter
- Levaing Hight, I quickly made my way to Carter Dome before steeply dropping down to Carter Notch Hut, arriving at 9:15 to refill on water and take a ten-minute break before continuing on. During my stop at the hut, I bumped into fellow endurance enthusiast, Tim L., whom I follow on Strava, attempting an unsupported White Mountain 100 (A.T. from Shelburne to Glencliff)
A nice little alpine meadow between Middle and South Carter
Zeta Pass
Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Madison as seen from Mount Hight
South and Middle Carter
Carter Notch Hut
- Ahead of me was another steep climb, 0.7 miles and 1000 + feet up to Wildcat A Peak. I conserved my energy up to the summit before running at an easy pace over B, C, & D peaks before quickly dropping down the Wildcat Ski Area trails and NH16 over to Pinkham Notch. As I descended from 4000' to 2000', the rising temperature and sun quickly made me throttle down as I still had a long way to go. At Pinkham, I grabbed some lemonade and ate my Uncrustable before starting the second half of the loop at 11AM.
Carter Notch Lake
Carter Notch and Carter Dome from Wildcat A Peak
Wildcat Ski Area just below Wildcat D Peak
- The second half of the loop started with the Tuckerman Ravine Trail as the midday heat and humidity kept ramping up. At "First Bridge", I came upon a family with a Golden Retriever. The dad was trying to coerce the dog out of the water below the bridge. I had planned on dousing myself in the cold water before coming upon the family, and I didn't stop my stride as I charged down into the water and cooled myself off, the dog happily sharing the space with me. The family thought I was a little strange, par for the course, but the dog loved me!
- Feeling refreshed, I continued onto HoJo's, running into JP, who I often see at Friday Night Vert, and has participated in a few of my AVD and MMD trail runs.
- Saturdays on Mount Washington are usually a zoo, but I got lucky as I didn't hit any bottlenecks heading up through the ravine and over the headwall. Along the way, I ran into Pat, AMC hut maintenance man during the summers, doing a double Washington and looking strong.
- Once I hit Tuckerman Junction, I finally caught up to the crowds. Thankfully, there was plenty of room to easily maneuver around everyone, summiting just before 1PM.
- I took a quick break at the top to refill my water, scarf down a summit hot dog, chug a Powerade, and take a coffee cake for the road.
Hermit Lake Ranger's Cabin / Tuckerman Ravine Headwall waterfall. The remaining snow would melt by the middle of the following week
Tuckerman Ravine and Wildcat Ridge
Views from the top! Jefferson, Adams, Madison
- After escaping the crowds on the summit cone, I made my way north, tagging Clay, Jefferson, Adams, and Madison along the way. High-level clouds started to float in from the west, making the trek much easier without the sun beating down on me from above treeline.
- I felt good along the way, only hitting a little bit of a slump as I approached Edmands Col, where the coffee cake I had purchased came in handy.
- Views were pretty spectacular from Clay (1:30PM), Jefferson, (2PM), Adams (2:50PM), and Madison (3:30PM)
Along the Mount Clay Loop
Monticello Lawn with Mount Clay, Mount Washington, and Great Gulf headwall in view
Flag waving in the wind on Mount Jefferson
Looking north to Mount Adams
Star Lake and Mount Madison as seen from Mount Adams
Madison Spring Hut and the summit cone of Madison
JQ Adams, a sub-peak of Adams, can be seen rising above the hut with Mount Adams rising above JQ
Mount Adams and Washington from the summit of Mount Madison
- It was now time for the final segment of the loop, ruggedly dropping back below treeline to Pinkham B Road, followed by one final burst up Pine Mountain before making my way back to Big Day Brewing.
- The initial 0.3 miles down on the Watson Path to the Pine Link junction is over jagged boulders, one wrong step could end in a twisted ankle or a terrible knee-bashing fall. I carefully picked my way down and safely made it to the Pine Link Trail where I was greeted with much better footing until treeline. Unfortunately, the upper section of Pine Link has grown in, and I was swimming through tree branches, making for a tedious half-mile descent before the trail conditions improved dramatically.
- I only ran into three people on the way down: a father with his two sons, slowly making their way to Madison Spring Hut.
- I reached Pinkham B Road at 4:40PM, and crossed onto Pine Mountain Road for about a mile, shuffling along while getting passed by a Horton Center councilor out for an afternoon run. I banged a right off the road onto the Ledge Trail, ascending steeply to the Pine Mountain Ledges, where I enjoyed incredible views looking back at my whole route for the day.
- Just above the ledges is the official summit of Pine Mountain, no views, so I continued to my last view of the day, Chapel Rock, reached by a short, steep out and back.
- After leaving Chapel Rock, I cruised down the Pine Mountain Trail into Gorham and then connected onto the Coos Trail system, arriving at my Jeep at Big Day Brewing at 6PM.
- Back at the gym, I cleaned forty miles of dirt and sweat off me and relaxed for a solid twenty minutes. After settling down, I hoped to score a seat to eat a bunch of food and drink a beer before heading back home, but Big Day was jamming, so I was out of luck. I was starving and craving garbage food, so I made my annual visit to McD's for nuggets, fries, and a shake, scarfing those down at home with Sarge, who earned a couple of french fries for being a good boy while I was out all day!
- This was a fun and challenging route, about a step below a Hut to Hut with an easier back end and shorter in miles, but similar in elevation gain and ruggedness!
Pano from Pine Mountain ledges. You can see practically my whole route in this picture; Moriah-Carters-Cats to the left and Presidential Range to the right
Chapel Rock
One last view from an awesome day on the trail!
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