Showing posts with label Shelburne Moriah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shelburne Moriah. Show all posts

Many Many Delightful Miles . . . Wild River Loop

Date of Run: 8/10/19

Basin Trail: 2.2 miles  /  Basin Rim Trail: 1.4 miles  /  Meader Ridge Trail: 2.0 miles  /  Eagle Link: 2.7 miles  /  Wild River Trail: 4.8 miles  /  Wildcat River Trail: 1.7 miles  /  Appalachian Trail: 10.9 miles  /  Kenduskeag Trail: 2.7 miles  /  Shelburne Trail: 3.2 miles  /  Wild River Road: 0.6 miles
Total Miles: 32.2 (9,408 feet elevation gained) AMC White Mountain Guide

Trip Report:
- the annual MMD 50K run with a fun group of trail runners took place along some of the most lightly used trails (Eagle Link, Wild River Trail, Shelburne Trail), along with the heavily used Appalachian Trail from Carter Notch past Mount Moriah.
- The weather was nice and cool in the morning with a few showers along Meader Ridge and heading up Carter Dome.  The trails were slick so we all used caution, especially for the nasty descent off North Carter which has been the scene of a few bad hiker falls over the years.
- For the first half of the run to Carter Notch Hut I ran with Ben and Hilary, along with Ben's dog Wish.  During the second half I ran with Nate and Todd, and Nate's dog Piper.
- Some of the highlights of the run; the clouds lifting and staying just above us for some nice views into the Wild River Valley, watching rain showers close in on us from the Presidential Range, the post run BBQ, Kyle meeting me at the finish with Sarge, and waking up the next day with a fun rash on my right leg, most likely Poison Oak, the first time I have ever gotten any rash on or off trail in the Whites!
- For backpackers, hikers or runners, I would definitely suggest checking out the trails branching off from the Wild River.  Some of these trails are Eagle Link, which heads up to the Baldfaces / Meader Ridge, between June and late September expect summer growth encroaching the trail.  Shelburne Trail which heads to Shelburne Moriah Mountain via Kenduskeag Trail, which is an open summit with tremendous views, much better than 4K Moriah to the south.  Moriah Brook Trail, very lightly traveled as you will most likely will not see anyone, it leads up to the Carter-Moriah Trail just over a mile south of Mount Moriah, it can be very muddy and overgrown in spots but still not hard to follow if you pay attention.  Black Angel Trail leaving from the Rim Junction this trail heads down and across the Wild River then up to just north of Carter Dome's summit, the trail up to Dome has a very wild feel to it.  Wildcat River Trail, the southern terminus of the Wild River Trail, a much quieter and attractive approach to Carter Notch Hut compared to the Nineteen-Mile Brook Trail.  Last but not least, Rainbow Trail, this heads up to Carter Dome's summit, traveling through one of the best on trail Birch glades in the White Mountains!

 Map of the route

Elevation profile

Ben and Hilary taking a look over to the Baldfaces

Running Meader Ridge

Eagle Link, it's a jungle in there!

The gang heads up the steep ascent to Carter Dome

Running past the Dome's summit

Taking a break on Mount Hight

Hilary and Nate taking in the views from Hight

Carefully making our way over the slabs along the A.T.

Todd leads the way to Middle Carter

Very well placed but very slick bog bridges

Nate drops in on the nasty descent off North Carter

Piper, Todd, and Nate on Mount Moriah

Piper, his second MMD!

Piper and Todd head up Shelburne Moriah

Leaving Shleburne

We catch up with Justin and cool off in the Wild River

Piper goes for a swim!

 Post Run BBQ group pic.  In case any of the "old guard" yell at clouds types see this and start to assume a bunch of BS, no we did not run all together ignoring wilderness group size regulations.  There were groups of eight that started at 5-6-7AM.  which quickly spread out to even less than that. :) 

Volunteers did a great job painting the rocks this year for us runners :) 

 On Monday, Sarge headed into Tucks to take the last turns of the 2018-2019 ski season!

 Scoping out a line...about to drop in...

Send it Sarge!!!

Random Hikes in July : Washington, Moriah, Thunderstorm Junction :)

July 2nd: Shelburne Moriah & Moriah
Shelburne Trail: 4.0 miles  /  Kenduskeag Trail: 4.1 miles  /  Carter-Moriah Trail: 1.6 miles  /  Stony Brook Trail: 3.6 miles (13.3 miles, 4,200 feet elevation gained)

July 3rd: Mount Washington
Tuckerman Ravine Trail: 4.6 miles  /  Lion Head Trail: 1.6 miles  /  Tuckerman Ravine Trail: 2.5 miles (8.7 miles, 4,419 feet elevation gained)

July 16th: Thundersstorm Junction
Airline: 3.2 miles  /  Chemin Des Dames: 0.4 miles  /  King Ravine Trail: 0.2 miles  /  Great Gully Trail: 1.0 miles  /  Spur Trail: 2.0 miles  /  Randolph Path: 0.5  /  Cliffway: 0.3 miles  /  Amphibrach: 1.5 miles  /  The Link: 0.7 miles (9.8 miles, 5,041 feet elevation gained)

Trip Report:
- Quick recap of a couple of stragglers I've procrastinated on writing about over the past few weeks.  Whitney is redlining, (hiking all the trails in the A.M.C White Mountain guide) and I tag along, the first and third hikes on this list she was redlining, Shelburne Trail and Great Gully Trail, while the second one was a beat the crowds to the summit of Washington in the morning hike.
- Some highlights, July 2nd, Shelburne Moriah Mountain is a very underrated peak, it doesn't see that much traffic because it's not on the 4,000 footer list and the Appalachian Trail diverges away from it in the Middle Moriah / Shelburne Moriah Col to the west.  Views from this summit are pretty spectacular, to the north is the Mahoosuc Range, to the south is the Wild River Wilderness, and to the west is the Moriah-Carter range, plus the Presidential Range.  There is a beautiful sub alpine meadow approach to the summit that makes for some great hiking.
- July 3rd, Mount Washington, we wanted to play in the wind on Washington, 55 mph with gusts up to 70mph, wind chill below freezing!  We got up early and beat the crowds up Tuckerman Ravine Trail to the summit and had the observatory deck to ourselves and walked through the wind.  Whitney was getting blown around pretty good, and it took me a few steps to figure out how to walk through without falling, it was a lot of fun, video is below.  On the way down we descended Lion Head Trail and must have seen 150 hikers heading up, most of which had no idea about the conditions above, good luck with that!
- July 16th, Whitney had never hiked the Great Gully Trail, I've done it three times and needed no nudging to hike it a fourth, as I love its remoteness and excessive steepness.  To make things a little more interesting we dropped to the floor of King Ravine from Durand Ridge via the Chemin Des Dames, a 0.4 mile stretch of nastiness!  Whitney took a couple of slips, including spraining her fingers on the Chemin Des Dames, but toughed it out and continued on up the always adventurous Great Gully!
- Other notes, it has been an extremely wet summer, complete opposite of last year's dry weather, almost every day there is a brief shower or two, and a few times a week there is significant rain.  The trails are very slick, muddy and buggy, making for difficult hiking at times, especially descents on steeper and rugged trails.  The bugs have been horrible, black flies are still out, deer flies are now out in full force, and mosquitoes await to attack hikers at trailheads.  Still, if you study the weather patterns you can squeak in nice hikes above treeline before the storms, or afternoon hikes after they pass on through, which can lead to dramatic views as the clouds clear off or come rolling on in!

Hiking up the Shelburne Trail.  The first two miles in along an old logging road / snow mobile Trail

After two miles the Shelburne Trail heads into the woods.  Easy grades and good footing until nearing the Howe / Shelburne Moriah Col, then it becomes muddy until the junction

Hiking along the Kenduskeag Trail.  Some places there are well place bog bridges, other places are in need of some!

Hiking up to Shelburne Moriah's summit.  great views!

Wild River Wilderness

Whitney stops and takes a picture on a sub peak to the east of the summit

Walking along the bog bridges through an alpine meadow

Looking towards Moriah from Shelburne Moriah

Whitney Tip-Toes through a muddy section

Mahoosuc Range

Moriah with the Presidential Range behind it

Signs spotted along the way

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Hiking up Tuckerman Ravine Trail

The remaining snow in the bowl!

Looking across the Pinkham Notch from inside Tuckerman Ravine 

Windy day on the summit!

Video of wind from the observation deck

Clouds clearing off as we descend

Tuckerman Ravine as seen from Lion Head

Looking back up to the summit cone

Lion Head Trail

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Whitney carefully makes her way down Chemin Des Dames

King Ravine, looking at the Great Gully side

Whitney heads through the lemon squeezer on the Chemin Des Dames

Floor of King Ravine

The Great Gully Trail has a jungle feel to it, a little muddy to overgrown

Waterfall section of the Great Gully, the trail crosses this twice

Follow the arrows through the lemon squeezer and up through the scrub!

Looking down into King Ravine from the top of the trail

Picture taken from Thunderstorm Junction, where numerous trails converge.  If new to the area make sure to study your maps so you know where to go, especially if visibility is low.

Hiking down the Spur Trail

Back below treeline passing some mossy brooks along the way

Signs spotted along the way