Mt. Moosilauke

Friday 8/17, my friend Ashley and I drove up to Mt. Moosilauke (4,802 ft.) for a day hike. Mt. Moosilauke is the most south-western of the NH 4,000 footers. It also is above treeline so it offers beautiful 360 degree views on a clear day. We parked our car at the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge where we would begin our hike. The lodge itself is already at 2,500 feet, making this a popular area to hike from (usually the Gorge Brook trail). We decided on a 9.6 mile loop which consisted of ascending up the Asquam Ridge trail to the Beaver Brook trail and descended down the Gorge Brook trail with a total elevation gain of only 2,450 feet. This hike was very mild grade and we decided to take it easy as well :) 

Here are some pictures... 

The lodge is owned by Dartmouth College.
We stopped inside and they were very friendly! 

Headed to the Asquam Ridge trail

Interesting bridge on the first river crossing 

Ashley crossing the bridge

From here, we followed the Beaver Brook trail to the summit for 1.9 miles

The peak was like a huge meadow!

At the summit, 4,802 feet!

Trail headed back down the Gorge Brook trail,
unfortunately the views weren't too spectacular  that day
because it was hazy and bad weather was developing

Always need a picture with a cairn!

Headed down the trail 

Smiley face to greet us on the way down

Nice easy walk in the woods at the end of the trail

I love this haha although I'm not sure who would go hiking with a llama or alpaca around here 

Made it down just in time, we heard thunder on the descent but didn't
actually see any weather until the drive home. 

If we wanted to, we could have completed this trip much faster, but since we took it easy, it took us about 5:10 RT. Book time is 6 hours. Next time, I would opt for the more challenging Beaver Brook trail instead because I enjoy the steeps. We had a really good day, and I hope we can hike together again soon!