Mt. Moosilauke Traverse via Beaver Brook & Glencliff Trails (White Mountain National Forest)

Mt. Moosilauke Traverse via Beaver Brook & Glencliff Trails (White Mountain National Forest)

Hike Type: Traverse

Distance: 9.18 miles

Elevation: 3,202 feet

Time: 6 hours, 17 minutes (5 hours, 23 minutes)
Hiking Challenges: Terrifying 25, Operational Alaska Benchmark Challenge

The Hike

Day three of my little hike-a-palooza and day two in the Whites! Sarah and I are both at the end of our 48 journies, and we've basically been procrastinating our finishes. It was going to be either a lovely day or a cloudy day, and we ended up planning a Mt. Moosilauke Traverse via the Appalachian Trail (we both wanted to hike the Beaver Brook Trail, but we simply did not want to have to descend it). It had been almost five years since the first time I hiked Mt. Moosilauke, and it felt special that I was revisiting it before my big finish. I spent the night at the Days Inn in Lincoln and it was a CHILLY 45 degrees when I left the room! I stopped at the Dunkin in Lincoln for breakfast and a summit sandwich, passed more gas than I had in my entire life, and wiggled my way over to the Glencliff Trailhead.

On the way, along NH-118, was an INSANE sunrise viewpoint. I remembered it briefly from when Gen and I hiked Moosilauke the first time. The "sun pillar" was strong, but unfortunately I couldn't dilly-dally, as Sarah and I planned to meet at Glencliff and we were on a time crunch with marching band in the afternoon. It was looking like the "clear" forecast was going to be the winner, which was super exciting! I met Sarah around 6:20am, we hopped my car, and had a wonderful, scenic drive back along NH-118 to the Beaver Brook Trailhead!

We suited up at Beaver Brook just after 7:00am. Unfortunately, the payment electronic kiosk was out of order, so I had to spend $10 instead of the usual $5 (I only had a $10 bill) for the day pass (which is truly fine - the money goes back to the Forest Service). We got our chores done, and then we were off!

[7:15am - Start of Hike on Beaver Brook Trail]

The Beaver Brook Trail began by passing the inflow (or outflow, not actually sure) of Beaver Pond and meanders through these lovely woods, crossing a couple of bridges in the process. There were some early morning colors in the sky above, but the woods remained dark. We passed some ghost pipes and the characteristic bright-orange signage of the Dartmouth Outing Club.

[7:27am - Beaver Brook Trail/Departs Forest Protection Area]

We left the Forest Protection Area and continued to work our way through the woods, now starting to gain elevation on a really well-constructed trail. There were some wonderful waterfalls on the right, some we could see through the trees and others we could carefully walk out and get a great view of. 

The famous wooden stairs started soon after leaving the Forest Protection Area, but I wouldn't describe the trail as "terrifying," yet. The trail climbed similarly to the Wildcat Ridge Trail from NH-16, but with less open exposure. It was very steep, but we were moving so slow due to the technical nature (and waterfall views) that we didn't feel it too badly. There ended up being two sketchier sections. The first was some wooden stairs followed by a medium-tricky scramble (we both made it up completely fine), which led to another fantastic waterfall view.

The second was a longer series of stairs over a wet slab that led to another wonderful view. Once higher up, we began to get little peek-a-views out to the surrounding mountains. We passed a guy who was taking a break here and then he followed us for a bit before eventually leap-frogging us later on.

[8:17am - Beaver Brook Trail/Enters Forest Protection Area]

[8:40am - Beaver Brook Shelter Spur]

We hiked for another ten-ish minutes through beautiful forests, away from the Brook, and entered the Forest Protection Area of the Beaver Brook Shelter. The climbing was rugged, wet, and rocky, but didn't feel like it lasted for too long. The spur was clearly signed, passed a privy, and had a shelter and a few tent platforms. We heard people in the shelter, so we took a snack break on one of the tent platforms and just enjoyed the woods - it was such a beautiful, chilly day! One camper in the shelter came out and asked if either of us had duct tape for his water filter - sadly neither of us did. 

[9:00am - Beaver Brook Trail]

[9:10am - Beaver Brook Trail/Departs Forest Protection Area]

We continued on the much-easier Beaver Brook Trail after our break, which had transitioned from a rugged, rocky climb to a nice easy-moderate one through mossy woods, eventually leading to the junction with the Asquam Ridge Trail. Just before, there was a cool sign by the DOC that read (traveling northbound on Beaver Brook): "THIS TRAIL CAN BE EXTREMELY SLIPPERY WHEN ICY OR WET. BE CAUTIOUS AND CONSIDER AN ALTERNATIVE ROUTE."

[9:16am - Beaver Brook Trail/Asquam Ridge Trail jct.]

The hike basically became an easy walk in the woods after the Asquam Ridge Trail junction. Footing was great, plants were lushious but not intruding, and all was great! We traversed a non-obstructive blowdown patch that provided tree views, passed a few flowers, and eventually came to the unofficial herd path to Mt. Blue. We decided to go for it for funsies!

[9:38am - Mt. Blue Herd Path]

[9:55am - Mt. Blue Summit]

The herd path to Mt. Blue was delightfully loamy (as Sarah put it), with a soft pine footpath surrounded by green undergrowth. There were a couple confusing spots that were like a comical fun-house of pine trees, but there was always a way around (or through it). The trail was also lined with bluebead lilies (according to our apps). The "summit" was marked by a rock cairn - if there was a canister, we didn't see it. The herd path continued for a bit longer, I followed it for maybe another 100 ft until it started to descend, but I didn't catch a canister or any views. It was a fun side quest! Our return was quick and easy, and then we were back on the Beaver Brook Trail!

[10:01am - Beaver Brook Trail]

The Beaver Brook Trail descended to a col after provididng a nice view into the Jobuldunk Ravine, and we could also see Mt. Moosilauke towering ahead. The trail started to climb more moderately as Sarah and I began to reflect on our 4000-Footer journey - talking about favorite hikes, favorite peaks, ones that were awful, etc. The trail had a brief car-washy moment and then gave us a standing view of the Franconia Ridge on top of a rock before arriving at the Benton Trail junction!

[10:29am - Beaver Brook Trail/Benton Trail]

We got cruising once at the Benton Trail junction - the summit was only 0.4 miles away! The trail climbed moderately but soon entered the Alpine Zone and broke treeline.

[10:32am - Beaver Brook Trail/Enters Forest Protection Area]

[10:33am - Beaver Brook Trail/Alpine Zone Sign]

I was borderline emotional when we were officially above the trees - it was insanely beautiful. Sarah started to twirl and sing "the hiiiiills are aliveeeee, on Mt. Moosilaukeeeeee...." The grass, which was starting to brown for autumn, was dancing in the wind. We started to take a million photos, but reminded ourselves that the summit was within sight and the view simply will only get better.

[10:46am - Mt. Moosilauke Summit]

We continued on until we made it! We parked right before the summit proper to enjoy our snacks, take some photos, and just be silly. To our delight, there were only a few other people on the summit. The weather was absolutely perfect - chilly with a breeze, but not too much that we needed anything more than a wind breaker. There were wispy clouds high above, but views were completely clear. It was a DREAM. I found two USGS discs, we explored the area a bit, got our summit selfie, and eventually started packing it up around 11:10am when more people began to arrive (also we were still on a time crunch...).

[11:14am - Carriage Road]

We continued onto the Carriage Road, which was just beautiful. It easily descended past a few blueberry bushes (still with free snacks!) before flattening out. There were lovely views back to Mt. Moosilauke before the trail descended into the treeline with flat, rocky footing. 

[11:41am - South Peak Spur]

[11:47am - South Peak Summit]

We eventually hit the spur to South Peak and obviously opted to go for the final climb of the day. The trail was narrow, steep, rugged, and short! The view from the top was just wonderful, especially looking back at Mt. Moosilauke. I found a plaque off to the side dedicated to Penn Hale, "who loved this mountain and made possible the purchase of scenic trails on it for Dartmouth College." We couldn't stay long, though, since we had to get back for marching band...

[11:58am - Glencliff Trail]

We had a quick descent back to the Carriage Road and then turned onto our final trail of the day (although they've all been a part of the Appalachian Trail, sans the Mt. Blue herd path and the South Peak spur), the Glencliff Trail. The initial descent was steep, but very pretty with tree views to the right. We passed a talus field that we briefly scrambled up to get one last view (it was a little sketchy, not going to lie!) before continuing our descent.

Much lower down, the trail gradually eased up as we continued along and descended into a lush, green forest. We took bathroom breaks in this area (we had been forgetting to pee for the past couple of hours), and continued on, eventually coming to and crossing a few small brooks.

[1:27pm - Glencliff Trail/Hurricane Mountain Trail]

[1:35pm - Glencliff Trail Terminus]

We then made it to a series of meadowy fields with partial views - the final push! We traversed the field, following signs for the Appalachian Trail, and eventually followed a woods road out to High Street, just down the road from the Glencliff Trailhead!

[1:37pm - Glencliff Trailhead/End of Hike]

Once back at the car, we drove back to Beaver Brook, I blasted off (first to McDonalds) to Westford, and Sarah took a dip in the pond before we rendez-vous'd at the high school to teach band - we were both delusional with how sleepy we were. Worth it!

Step-by-Step

- Start hike on Beaver Brook Trail.

- At jct., take spur to Beaver Brook Shelter, return to trail.

- Continue on Beaver Brook Trail.

- At jct., turn right to continue on Beaver Brook Trail.

- At unmarked jct., turn right to hike Mt. Blue.

- At summit, turn around.

- Turn right to continue on Beaver Brook Trail.

- Summit Mt. Moosilauke via Beaver Brook Trail.

- At summit, continue on Carriage Road.

- At jct., follow sign to South Peak spur.

- Summit south peak, turn around.

- At terminus, turn left onto Glencliff Trail.

- Follow Glencliff Trail to other car on High Street.

Photo Album