Mt. Moriah - 4049' (12/48)

We chose Mt. Moriah located in Gorham, NH for our first hike of this season.  On Saturday, May 18th, Paloma, my parents, and I left Bradford at around 6:45AM for a long ride up Route 16 to Gorham.  The weather was beautiful out - hardly any clouds in the sky and a mild 55-60 degrees.  The ride was rather uneventful, just the typical stop at Dunkin' Donuts to fuel up on coffee and a bathroom break.

Paloma, Dad, & Mom at the Trail

Since we only had one car, we decided to do an out-and-back on the Carter-Moriah trail.  The total trip being nine miles.  We arrived at the trail head at 9:30AM, and after taking our usual pre-hike photos at the trail head  began our hike at 9:40AM.  The trail head is located at the dead-end of a road with a number of houses along it.  There were a few cars in the lot and we began our hike just behind a pair of guys from Somerville, MA....small world.

Views to the Presidentials

The trail started off fairly steep, and really got our blood pumping.  The air was extremely crisp and the sun shining through the trees felt great - what a gorgeous day for a hike.  We held a pretty decent pace for the first mile or so, stopping only a couple of times for some of mom's famous trail-mix.  The first part of the trail was surprisingly void of rocks and roots, which was a welcomed change from the typical ankle-destroying trails that we are used.  After another half-hour or so we began hiking through a primarily pine forest and emerged onto the side of Mt. Surprise, where we were treated to amazing views of the Presidential Range.  The entire side of Mt. Surprise is a series of open rock ledges.  Thankfully this part of the trail was dry, as I would imagine it would be very difficult to hike up in the snow or rain.

Log Bridges

Looking out towards the Presidential Range instantly brought back the memories I had from our hiking trips last summer.  These were some of the best views of the Presidential Range I have ever been treated to.  The absence of clouds made them stick out tremendously against the blue skies.  The tops of nearly all of the mountains still had a decent amount of snow.  After taking in the views, we continued on our way.

After getting back in to the more wooded section of the trail, I saw a tiny patch of snow hiding in between two giant rocks.  I thought it was pretty amazing as I was here sweating in nothing but a t shirt and shorts, yet there was still snow on the ground.  Little did I know that this tiny patch of snow was foreshadowing what was to come.  We passed a few different people hiking along the way, everyone expressing how beautiful the day was.  At some point we had summitted, then began descending from, Mt Surprise   I am guessing that is why it is called Mt. Surprise, because it felt as though the mountain exclaimed, "Surprise! You will have no clue that you just hiked over me."  After a short downhill we began a steep ascent to the summit of Moriah.

SNOW!

The ground turned fairly moist at this point, and very muddy sections required us to take more care with our steps.  Thankfully the trail crew had installed log bridges over the muddiest spots.  As we ascended higher, the temperature began cooling down even more and small patches of snow began to appear.  Those small patches quickly turned into bigger patches, and soon we found ourselves hiking through a snow covered trail for the remainder of the ascent.  It was a cool experience (no pun intended) hiking through the snow, but the warm weather made it quite treacherous as every so often your feet would break through the hardened top of the snow and drop in knee-deep.  I now know why most winter hikers use snowshoes and micro-spikes during the snowy season.

Regardless, it added a new challenge and made the hike that more memorable.  A short while longer and we reached a split in the trail, with a sign pointing towards the summit of Moriah.  A minute later we emerged to the top, meeting with the two guys who we had met at the trail head and another couple.  The time was 1:05PM. The summit of Moriah was awesome.  It was almost as though someone had stuck a huge boulder at the top which acted as a lookout tower.  We had 360 degree views and the beautiful weather allowed us to see for miles in each direction.  We decided to sit and have lunch, looking out towards the Presidential Range the entire time.  What a reward!  It was a bit chilly at the top so we all put on our jackets.

At the Summit

After soaking in the views and some sun at the summit, we began our descent at 1:40PM.  The descent turned out to be a bit more difficult than the ascent, as the snow slowed us down quite a bit - we didn't want to slip!  Luckily we didn't experience any injuries, and made it back to the trail head at 5:20PM, completing our first 4000' of the season.  This was a great hike!  We were all pretty hungry so we decided to stop in North Conway for dinner at the Muddy Moose on the way home.  After dinner we grabbed some dessert at Dairy Queen (my personal favorite), and headed home.

Paloma and I at the summit

I am grateful that Paloma and I decided to stop being lazy and start going to the gym more often, as it certainly paid off on the trails.  Paloma handled the trail with ease and I felt much stronger than last season.  I still woke up quite sore the next morning - but hey, no pain, no gain - right?

I highly recommend this hike to everyone.  The views are fantastic and the terrain is quite varied.  The hike is on the longer side but the views at the top are worth it!

Hike Stats
Trails: Carter-Moriah Trail
Total Time (Including Breaks): 7:40
Distance: 9.0 Miles
Elevation Gain: 3550'