A popular mountain with great views of the White Mountains of NH and the Green Mountains in Vermont, the summit of Mount Moosilauke can be reached by trails from all sides in all seasons. It is normally a windy place at 4802 feet, but the views can be spectacular. The one mile hike from the summit to South Peak is very worthwhile, and it makes a good loop with the Gorge Brook and Carriage Road trails.

Please explore these panoramic images. You can double click to zoom way in and use the left mouse to pan around. You can also use the + and – keys to zoom and the arrow keys to scroll. Please wait for the resolution to download.

The Glencliff Trail from the south is especially nice. This piece of the Appalachian Trail joins the Carriage Road 0.8 miles from the summit. Here is a photo of the Carriage Road near this spot. Because it is composed of many images, the view is in both directions along the trail.

We arrived early in the morning of what was predicted to be a clear, blue sky day. As we climbed we knew the summit was in fog. When we reached the spot in the photo above we started to notice that moisture from the fog had condensed on the wind-stunted trees. We knew the remaining walk to the summit would be very cold and windy. A bit further along we “suited up” with extra layers, wind jackets, hats, and gloves. Arriving at the summit we found most surfaces had wind-blown frost giving the place a winter appearance in mid-October. Perhaps the photo below conveys a sense of how cold and windy it was.

We decided to hike the mile to South Peak. When we arrived the fog was clearing a bit but it came and went. During the brief clear windows I made some panoramic images including the two below. In the first you can see the summit in the fog in the left part of the photo. The second shows a view mostly to the west across the Connecticut River into Vermont. The shadow to the right in the second pan is Peg’s as she took a photo a few seconds after she was recorded for the right side of this image.
Hoping of the best we hiked back to the summit of Moosilauke. Again the fog came and went. When we arrived however it was still pretty foggy and frosty.However, as we waited and watched the fog and the frost dissipated. Here are a series of panoramic images from the summit. Can you find Mount Washington? Lafayette and Lincoln? Loon Mountain and its ski area?





As we hiked down we got a nice view to the west. Beyond the Connecticut River you see Vermont. Closer in is the beautiful Long Pond, a great place to kayak. Behind it is Black Mountain, and the “bump” to its left for Sugarloaf where peregrine falcons nest.
If you want to read more about this hike and see some “normal” images you can click HERE.