Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Solo Moosilauke. July 10, 2018

7.4 miles, 2,550 feet

Gorge Brook Trail

Live in Massachusetts? Did you know that it is overly dependent on natural gas?  Go to this Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) article to lean more.  To donate to UCS, click here.

Look for Alex's blogpost of her solo hike of Moosilauke on her blog.

Originally, Alex was planning to do a solo hike of Mount Moosilauke, so on a good weather day she would go up one trail and Mom and I would go up a different one.  On this day, however, the forecast said there was a good chance a storm was going to come around noon.  So, since Gorge Brook trail is the only trail up Mount Moosilauke that doesn't have a large section above tree-line, we all thought it would be best for all of us to go up that trail.  We therefore decided that I would start out 15 minutes after Alex started, and Mom would start out 15 minutes after me.  This way, Alex, Mom, and I would be going partially solo.  This would be my first hike even going partially solo, and I was very excited.  We started out walking together to the newly renovated Moosilauke Ravine Lodge (which is very beautiful). After making last-minute adjustments, we reviewed our plan for the day.  Then Mom and I said goodbye to Alex and she set off.  Fifteen minutes later, I set off.



The trail was relatively flat starting out...




The bridge was a little bit wobbly, and I was very glad it didn't break underneath me...


Selfie!


Yay!  I made it to the halfway point a lot sooner than I thought I would, so I took a short break.




After the trail turned right and away from the stream, it got a lot steeper, so I slowed down a little bit.


More selfies!





The first viewpoint showed me a beautiful sky, full of blue and puffy white clouds.
  


More views!


Water break...



More sky views -- breathtaking!


Yay!  I made it to the above-treeline part of Gorge Brook Trail to a wonderful weather day.  I could see for what seemed like hundreds of miles in every direction.




Looking back...


I got to the summit!  As I made my way to the summit sign, I saw Alex sitting against one of the rock structures. I went over to sit by her once I was done taking pictures.









After we renourished ourselves for about 15 minutes, Mom got to the summit.




After we chatted for a little bit, Alex started down.


The rock structure by which we took a break...


  
Fifteen minutes after Alex started down, I packed up my backpack and started walking down Gorge Brook.




The bridge from the other direction!

  

Yay!  I went into the lodge and waited with Alex for Mom.  When she got down, we all agreed the hike had been beautiful and successful and that everything had worked out well.

Since we are going to camp soon, this will be our last post for about a month.  Have a good summer! 



1 comment:

  1. Congratulations on your semi-solo! Not sure if Trail Journals website notified you, but earlier today, I was surprised and happy to see you and your sister highlighted on their main page on your Camino hike!

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