Trip Details
Date: February 21
st, 2020
Total Distance: 9.02 mi (via Garmin fenix 5X)
Total Time: 4 hr 36 min
Total Elevation: 3360 ft gained
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Mt. Moriah holds a special place in my hiking heart as it is the first hiking trip in the decade or so of hiking that I have done where we had to turn around before making it to the summit. Last winter, BishopX and I attempted to get to the summit via the Carter-Moriah Trail from Bangor St. The trail was unbroken, it was cold, we had a time we needed to finish by, and it was our first hike of the winter season. All factors that added up to create a perfect storm and us turning around about 3/4 of the way to the top.
This season we wanted to redeem ourselves. I noticed a lot of people take the Stony Brook Trail way to the summit in the winter and it sounded like an easier trip. Add in the fact that you can take the herd path shortcut in the development through the undeveloped cul-de-sac (want a plot of land in Gorham, NH with tons of acreage and border by the national forest?
Plot 1 and
Plot 2).
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| The parking lot just off route 16 at the entrance to the development. |
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| Thankfully the plow runs a one car width track for a few hundred feet of the undeveloped cul-de-sac. Plenty of room for a few cars if you are in a group, otherwise I would park like this or you risk getting blocked in. |
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| Looking down the plot track and towards the cul-de-sac. |
We were the first ones to use the herd path since the most recent snow, but it was easy trail breaking. The herd path is about a half-mile so you ultimately shave off a mile for the round-trip if you were to take the Stony Brook Trail from the start.
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| Looking down the herd path from the junction with Stony Brook Trail. |
Stony Brook Trail up to the ridge is nothing significant. Gradual elevation gain. Thankfully, one individual in front of us had broken out the trail so we had minimal trail breaking to do.
The ridge is a rather dull and long 1.25 miles of small ups and downs where you think you are maybe at the summit until you reach the top of the spot to only see the summit still a far distance away. The saving grace is the knobs all have nice clearings with 360ยบ views.
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| The Baldfaces |
Eventually we found ourselves at the junction for the summit spur trail. It was exciting to conquer the mountain after last years debacle. Though the weather had forecast windchill values below zero, we found the temperature in the single digits and only a light wind. The blue skies and sun beating on us made it comfortable up on the summit so we could take some photos and grab a bite.
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| The Appalachian Trail from the junction with the Carter-Moriah Trail is untouched in the winter. |
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| We could have taken the Carter-Moriah Trail from Bangor St., today, too. Both were broken out. |
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| The summit spur. |
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| This ice was all over the ridge and I thought it was cool. It looked more like frozen snowy globs instead of the usual rime ice you see. |
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| The Presidentials |
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| The Carters |
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| The Baldfaces |
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| Old Speck is on the left and dead center in the distance is Sugarloaf Mt (Maine's second highest peak and ski resort). |
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| Two old pins just barely sticking out of the snow. |
The trip back off the summit and all the way back to the car was uneventful. It felt like it took awhile, but overall we made good time back to the car.
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| Looking back at the summit from one of the clearings. This is one of the more misleading mountains. |
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| This shows where the herd path enters the treeline. |
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| On the way up the GPS cut out so the mileage is about spot on though the summit height and elevation gain are off. It is weird as a did a calibration just before the start of the hike. |
