Shelburne Moriah & Mt. Moriah via Shelburne & Stony Brook Trails (White Mountain National Forest)
Hike Type: Traverse
Distance: 13.70 miles
Elevation: 3,773 feet
Time: 10 hours, 54 minutes (7 hours, 58 minutes)
Hiking Challenges: New Hampshire 4000 Footers; 52 With-a-View; Operation Alaska Benchmark Challenge; 52 Hike Challenge 2025
The Hike
It was the big day! My grand finale hike for my 52 With-a-View and my New Hampshire 48! The plan was a traverse from the Shelburne Trail to Stony Brook Trail, hitting Shelburne Moriah and Mt. Moriah on the way. Sarah and Emma were both going to join me, and Gen wanted to come but couldn't make it work sadly. My 2:45am alarm went off and I was on my way to pick up Sarah at 3:05am (it would have been 3:00am, but I couldn't find my house keys... turns out I left them in the deadbolt from the night before... oops!). I picked Sarah up, we had a quick pit stop at Hooksett, and then we continued to make out way up to the Dunkin Donuts in Gorham to meet Emma for some breakfast.
I hoped to get some hot chocolate packet at the Cumberland Farms, but they didn't have any - oh well. We dropped Emma's car at the Stony Brook Trailhead and then the three of us took my car to the Shelburne Trailhead. The beginning of the road was rough with one enormous pothole, but it then turned to dirt and was completely fine for the last mile to the trailhead, which had room for maybe five cars max. We spent more time than usual getting packed up, as Emma had to strap baguettes to her pack, Sarah had to make room for her fondue fixings, and I had to carefully fit a bottle of Veuve Cliquot and some plastic champagne flutes into mine! It was a chilly 30 degrees, but it felt nice and made us feel like ski season was right around the corner!
[7:10am - Start of Hike on Shelburne Trail]
We got started on the trail proper at 7:10am. The Shelburne Trail follows the continuation of the trailhead road (FR 95) and climbs at very easy grades with good and grassy footing. Much of the vegetation was covered in a beautiful, sparkling frost. We could tell that we were past peak foliage, but there was still some color to be enjoyed. Slowly, the sun began to kiss the tops of the trees, which was borderline magical. The trail also doubled as what I can only describe as a moose super highway - with piles of poop every 10 feet at a maximum. My shin splints were still present from yesterday's big loop over the Osceolas, but thankfully they weren't overly restricting.
Shelburne Trail came to a junction with another road - maybe a snowmobile corridoor? There was a sign indication to continue straight on the road. After the sign, the trail was a little more grown-in, but still fine. Soon after, the Shelburne Trail left the road we were following at a signed arrow and began to climb more moderately, but never too steeply. The trailbed was mostly covered in leaves, but thankfully footing was generally good so there weren't any hidden obstacles. We saw our first two people of the day once on this stretch - two hikers in blaze orange happily hiking. They asked if we saw any wildlife, and we told them just a lot of poop! They said the same - no moose today!
The trail began to parallel the East Brook, which was down the bank on the right. Footing was occasionally slanted, but remained not-too-bad. There was a semi-confusing crossing in a really pretty area. The water was running low but the rocks, moss, and leaves were really stunning!
We continued to climb moderately, with a few steeper pushes until the sun was shining on us through the trees. We passed the only old yellow blaze we'd see on the trail, and eventually made it to the second crossing of the east branch of the East Brook, which was more of just a mossy rock hop with the low water levels. The trees were almost fully barren of their leaves, which made for nice autumnal tree views.
The third crossing was further up and naturally even less pronounced than the second, and the fourth was basically just the trail meandering through a wet area near the height-of-land, passing one really neat boulder on the way!
[9:20am - Shelburne Trail/Kenduskeag Trail]
The Shelburne Trail leveled out in this area and meandered to the height-of-land, where the Kenduskeag Trail began and just about 50 feet down trail, the Wild River Wilderness also began. Naturally, we had to walk into the wilderness area for a second just to say we did! We backtracked the 50 feet to the junction and had our first break of the day. I had a slice of soggy pulled pork pizza and some honey roasted pistachios while the three of us yapped about who knows what - it honestly felt like we were in an episode of Adventure Archives, just sitting and chatting - it was lovely! It was fun to hike with both Emma and Sarah, too. It's rare that I hike with more than one person!
[9:39am - Kenduskeag Trail]
We got started on the Kenduskeag Trail, which had a very different character than the Shelburne Trail - notably it was now a rugged footpath versus an old logging road. We got a little chilled when were sitting, but soon warmed up again! The trail was moderate and soon climbed into denser forest where it remained rugged, spooky, and mossy. It reminded Sarah and I of the Mahoosuc area, but less ridiculous - best of both worlds!
[9:57am - Kenduskeag Trail/First View]
After some hiking, a side path scrambles up to the first of MANY views! We had a wonderful view of Shelburne Moriah with the Carters looming behind. Futher to the left were the Baldfaces, and the Wild River Valley in the forground. Really lovely! Somewhere around here Emma loudly goes "oh NO." Sarah and I paused and calmly asked "WHAT?!" Emma then tells us that she realized she left her keys in my car, meaning we were hiking towards a locked car with no keys... We weren't going to all turn around, and I wasn't going to ask Emma to turn around, so we quickly accepted fate and continued on, with MANY jokes to come over the next many hours!
Back in the woods, the Kenduskeag Trail undulated through the mossy, rugged woods - it was really pretty. The trail continued to narrow to basically a one foot-wide path, as it remained for the bulk of the hike. Soon, a ladder led us to a more open bit of trail that quickly led to another spectacular view (the guidebook labels this as the first of two knolls, the first view was the second). We rounded the corner through scrubby bushes to reveal more views into the Wild River Valley and over to the round hump of Shelburne Moriah, which still looked rudely far away.
We dipped back into the woods before re-emerging out in the open on a nice series of boardwalks, still along the first knoll. We enjoyed views of the surrounding bog/meadows with a few views out through the trees. The moon was still up, providing a little extra pizzazz!
The trail steeply descended from the first knoll before starting a similarly steep climb up to the summit plateau of Shelburne Moriah. This was the first time all day our hearts were really pumping. Somewhere near rounding the shoulder, I stepped on a slick/muddy rock and slide a solid four feet down, landing in a "paint me like one of your french girls" pose (I was fine). Eventually, the Kenduskeag Trail rounded the shoulder to reveal some wonderful views followed by some extensive boardwalks through a pretty grown-in trail.
[10:55am - Kenduskeag Trail/Shelburne Moriah Summit]
A few more steps and we were at the summit cairn of Shelburne Moriah! My 52 With-a-View was officially complete! The view was truly spectacular. Middle Moriah and Mt. Moriah were in the foreground, naturally, and the northern Presidentials, from Washington to Madison, were towering behind. TO the right were the Carters and Carter Dome standing tall. To the left, we could see the Pilot/Pliny Ranges. On thr far right were the New Hampshire Mahoosucs, and to the far left were Baldfaces and Wild River Wilderness.
We took plenty of photos here, some with my homemade sign, and I got a little bit of attention by a group of really kind and friendly hikers. As much as I love attention from the Facebook groups, I struggle to accept it in person! Thankfully, we got to share Emma's snaffu with the keys which took the attention off of me. We shared stores of our hikes and they continued to give congratulations. One of the hikers taught us how to say "Kenduskeag" - and all I remember it was NOT how I was saying it, but I couldn't begin to remember what she said.
We sat and snacked for a solid half hour, enjoying each other's company, our snacks, and of course, the view! Eventually though, it was time to continue on. We had about 2.7 miles to Mt. Moriah from here, and we were looking forward to our fondue and champagne!
[11:32am - Kenduskeag Trail]
Back on the Kenduskeag Trail, we said goodbye to our new friends and started out beautiful descent, which started along ledges and descend to a long series of right woods, boardwalks, bogs, and views. Some of the drops were steep, and one of them was so perfectly horrible that I... You know the act of swiping a credit card? That happened to me, but instead of a credit card it was a spruce branch (with needles) and the credit card reader was my eye. It HURT. Did not feel good! I took a second to really bask in the pain, but then just kept moving along, because we were over five miles into the hike - there was nothing to do about it here! Sarah, who is incredibly caring, kept checking in, and it felt quite badly, but again there was nothing to do about it! Slowly, my right eye's vision got less blurry and the pain began to subside, so that's good!
Thankfully, the hiking was wonderful! There were plenty of tight car-wash stretches, but Emma continued to point out that we were getting free exfoliation. Some of the bod/mud pits were impressively deep - we got poles almost all the way down! Thankfully nobody fell in. The route was mostly easy to follow, with either a clear footpath, boardwalks, cairns, or faded, painted arrows on the ground. From the lowest open spot, we had a great view back to Shelburne Moriah and forward to Middle Moriah and Mt. Moriah.
From the final view, we continued to descend into the woods with a few rambling ups, eventually hitting the junction with the Rattle River Trail just past the col between Shelburne and Middle Moriahs in a very pretty area (with more boardwalks - a theme of this hike!).
[12:30pm - Kenduskeag Trail/Rattle River Trail]
From the Rattle River Trail junction, the Kenduskeag Trail was blazed in white, as it was now part of the Appalachian Trail. Interestingly enough, the first white blaze said "Beth ->" - we wondered, who is Beth? Maybe she's waiting to welcome us at the summit? Also at this point of the hike, I was winning in fart baseball by a truly increidbly lead.
The Kenduskeag Trail climbed briefly and contoured around Middle Moriah Mountain, which was my favorite stretch of wooded trail. Extensive, flat boardwalks in beautiful, mossy woods. Truly wonderful! We all had such a lovely time. We saw one (1) moose print in this section, too!
Eventually, the Kenduskeag Trail descended to the col between Middle Moriah and Mt. Moriah and began to climb up - the final push! We caught one RUDE view of Mt. Moriah's summit cone (more like a loaf) through a blowdown area, but we took the following steep climb slowly and found it to be manageable, with some tree views back to Shelburne Moriah, which looked equally small and far away from this vantage point.
We hiked just a bit further down the trail and there it was - the Carter-Moriah Trail! One final push before I finish my New Hampshire 48! I was equal parts excited, anxious, and sentimental, but also a little cranky that I could hear so many voices... oh well!
[1:31pm - Carter-Moriah Trail]
The Carter-Moriah Trail had a two-tiered scramble up to the summit "loaf." I went first and passed a duo who asked "is she carrying baguettes?" to which I happily said "hell yeah!" Once on the loaf's plateau, we noticed a side path to a ledge that had a truly wonderful view Middle and Shelburne Moriahs alongside the Mahoosucs and beyond.
[1:35pm - Mt. Moriah Summit Spur]
We hopped back onto the Carter-Moriah Trail and then followed the Mt. Moriah Summit spur, which was short and ledgy and led to the top! The top had wonderful standing views in all directions, but also people in all directions. There were two USGS discs, at least one bolt, two gray jays, and MANY people. I whispered to Emma "I hate it when people sit directly on the summit" and Sarah loudly said "oh, so we're feeding the Gray Jays?" With that, we smiled, gave the top a "boop," and turned around to backtrack to that ledge from before.
[1:39pm - Off-Trail View]
To preserve our overall joyful demeanors and to have some more space for our big celebration! Once we got on the ledge, we took packs off and got right to work! Before anything happened, a gray jay flew up, looked directly at me, and I swear called me a name (via "chirp") before flying away! Step one was to get the fondue cooking, which Sarah masterfully did in her JetBoil (she started by preparing a concoction of white wine, lemon juice, and garlic, bringing it to a simmer, and then slowly adding one pound (!) of shredded swiss and gruyerre cheese - it was AMAZING). Once that was going, it was time to pop the champagne! Miraculously, the champagne was NOT over-shaken from the hike. We had zero spillage! People said "you got to spray it!" - absolutely not. If I had prosecco maybe, but this bottle was too expensive to waste a drop! Once the fondue was hot and the champagne was poured, we sliced up the apples and ripped up (literally) the bread, and started our feast! Naturally some food items fell on the rocks, but we practice leave no trace, so eating "rock cheese," "rock bread," and "rock apples" became a running bit throughout.
This break was delightfully long. We shared lots of giggles, teehees, stories, and mindless yaps. Occasionally, the gray jays would swoop down and attempt to join the party, but Sarah was on "wave the trekking pole at them" duty, which did keep them away. We love those birds, but they're too used to humans feeding them! One did swoop up and land on Emma's head for a second, which was one of the funnier moments of the day! We took a bunch of silly photos, naturally got photos with the sign I made, and looked at our options for getting back to my car... It looked like there WERE Ubers available from Stony Brook through Gorham, so we had some hope. We flirted with going down Carter-Moriah to get closer to Gorham, but it was suposed to be a rougher descent, and for Sarah's reattached ankle we opted to go forward as planned (plus we would learn it was MUCH prettier!).
At 2:50 we said it was time to start packing things up. I still noticed a sensation in my eye, but the pain was mostly gone (thank goodness). We DEVOURED basically everything - the only items remaining were one baguette and one apple (and the champagne bottle that I will be saving). Our packs were lighter, our hip belts were tighter, and we decided to pop up to the summit one more time before starting the great return (to a locked car).
[3:06pm - Mt. Moriah Summit]
The summit was packed with a new group of people sitting right on the summit disc. The view was wonderful, especially towards the Carters and Northern Presidentials, but there was simply not enough room to really enjoy it. We did get our summit selfie with my sign, but not before I dropped my phone and watched it slide into oblivion (oblivion was actually just an ~8ish foot cliff that was a ~10 foot bushwhack around the trail, it looked like a MUCH more dramatic fall than it was).
[3:12pm - Carter-Moriah Trail]
From the summit we spur, we backtracked on the Carter-Moriah Trail, down the double scramble, and then we were off! Thankfully, we had two long-ish stories to share between the three of us, so time felt to go quickly! The trek started by going up and down on Mt. Moriah's ridge for a while with more boardwalks and slabs (and views!). The car shuttle was on the mind, but I wasn't letting myself think about it too much. The hiking in this upper stretch was truly delightful - we even saw a glider!
Eventually, the trail did begin to descend at more moderate grades, alternating between wooded stretches and slabs. The views though - just amazing! The Carters and Northern Presis were still the most prominent, but the Wild River Valley was standing strong with the Baldfaces out in the distance. There was one ridge off Moriah in particular that looked super slabby and fun to climb - I was sad to see there's no trails there.
Again, the trail became steeper on the slabby descent. We were lucky to do this on a dry day, as the slabs had great traction, but I'm not sure if I would want to descend this way on a wet day. The views felt endless in the best way, with one final view being back up the shoulder we just descended.
[4:15pm - Carter-Moriah Trail/Moriah Brook Trail]
[4:16pm - Stony Brook Trail]
After that final view, we dipped into the woods and hiked just for a couple minutes before hitting the junction with the Moriah Brook Trail, and just a few yards later the Stony Brook Trail! We did a short standing break here to get our means about it before starting our final descent! The short stretch from Moriah Brook to Stony Brook was very pretty with more boardwalks - kind of like the stretch around Middle Moriah. We joked about hitting North Carter just for funsies, but we all quickly called each other's bluffs.
The Stony Brook Trail started by traversing the flat col and then steeply descending with rough, rocky footing, which was a little more difficult with the fallen leaves. Overall, it wasn't a brutal descent, though. The upper stretches were a bit steep, but the steepest sections didn't last for long. There were also some eroded sections, but similarly, they didn't last for too long. We spent this time talking about college and playing "where are they now?" There were nice autumnal tree views back to Moriah, which was beginning to glow in a beautiful afternoon light.
The trail description basically breaks the Stony Brook Trail into four chunks: (1) Carter Moriah to a "small brook under a mossy ledge," (2) the "small brook under a mossy ledge" to "crossing a branch of the Stony Brook," (3) "crossing a branch of the stony brook" to "turning left on an old logging road," and (4) "turning left onto an old logging road" to the trailhead. We passed a neat mossy, leaf-covered rock that would probably double as a nice cascade when there's water about (chunk #1 = complete!) and continued hiking down the footpath that had much friendlier footing.
Chunk #2 felt longer on the brain. We played leap frog with some of the folks that were at the summit on our second visit and we stopped for a minute so I could photograph a very friendly red squirrel - it was actually so cute!
We felt the temperature drop significantly as we neared the Stony Brook, which started Chunk #3. The Stony Brook was not flowing very fast, naturally, but it looked beautiful as it was littered with leaves. After crossing, the trail was absolutely lovely but it did become a bit rocky again. Thankfully, the rocky stretch didn't last for long.
The final chunk was indicated by a blue arrow pointing to a turn and another crossing (easy peasy). Two more people from the previous hiking party passed us around this area, I guess the faster friends left them behind (to be clear, they were hiking solo, about 10 minutes apart). I get it when Sarah and I split up near the end, but we're both well-equipped and strong hikers (I only blast off becuase my legs get tired of fighting gravity). These folks were in semi-designer athleisure clothing - I wouldn't have left them alone... ANYWAY...
I did start to speed up in the last chunk - I was ready to be all done (and moreso ready to figure out a solution to this car issue). Also also, it was starting to get dark out, and I simply did not want to get caught in the dark, even if I was well-prepared. We were now hiking on the right of the Stony Brook, and there were private residences to the left, one that had bright lights illuminating the Stony Brook (I want that house). Eventually to my absolute delight, we hit the Forest Protection Area sign at 5:59pm, crossed a bridge over a flume-like stream at 6:01pm, hit the final footbridge at 6:03pm, and were back at the Stony Brook Trailhead at 6:04pm... with Emma's locked car! On the plus side, I had now OFFICIALLY completed the 52 With-a-View and the New Hampshire 48 4,000-Footers! I would also like to add that I won fart baseball with 13 points... they each had zero. I have no idea how I didn't soil myself.
[6:05pm - End of Hike]
Now is when the fun really began! Sarah was on Uber duty, I was on Lyft duty, and Emma was on "anything else" duty. Both rideshare apps proved unhelpful (not overly surprised), but Emma did get in contact with a few trail shuttle service folks. We eventually got into contact with one who was available, but he lived in Littleton and would charge $95 cash, to which we politely declined (a few texted back with jokes about people forgetting their keys, which was very funny). Eventually, Sarah, being the brave and powerful woman she is, talked to the group that was passing us sequentially on the descent, and they offered her a ride to the trail! She grabbed my keys and was off! Emma and I watched her location INTENSELY - they turned about to be lovely people. They even offered to drive her all the way to the car, but Sarah didn't want them to have to deal with the rough pavement. They did give her their number so she could text when she got to the car safe, which was super kind. She got the car, and drove back to us, and after almost 1.5 hours of down time, we were rescued! By now, it was pitch black out and chilly. The stars looked incredible, though.
[7:30pm - Sarah Returns with Car]
DINNER TIME. We wanted to go to Big Day Brewing right in Gorham, but the wait would have been ~25 minutes, and we were already delayed by 90 minutes. We ended up saying our goodbyes to Emma and Sarah and I had our sights set on the Woodstock Inn and Brewery, which was a great choice for three reasons: 1) it was an hour from Gorham, which meant an hour closer to home, 2) the food is GOOD there, and 3) the bartender was super nice and gave us a free can of coffee when he learned we were driving back to Boston after dinner. We sat upstairs and there was live music downstairs, which was the perfect distance away for Sarah and I to still enjoy the music without being over stimulated.
The rest of the drive home was... not the best. Sarah did a good job keeping me company and stimulated, but boy was I TIRED. We stopped at the Common Man in Plymouth for snacks and drinks, and then another stop in Hooksett just to stretch our legs. We eventually got to Sarah's apartment around midnight, and then I had a final push back to Boston for a 12:30am landing!
Even with the car snaffu, the credit card eyeball situation, and the LATE return, this was honestly a perfect day to celebrate my big finishes. I wish Gen could have been there, but I'm happy both Emma and Sarah were able to join. It was the perfect balance of serious and silly, and I loved every bit of it!
Now time to hit the 1,000 other hiking challenges I have my sights set on...
Step-by-Step
- Drop car at Stony Brook Trailhead.
- Drive to Shelburne Trailhead (north).
- Start hike on Shelburne Trail.
- At jct., turn right onto Kenduskeag Trail.
- Summit Shelburne Moriah.
- Continue on Kenduskeag Trail.
- At jct., turn right onto Carter-Moriah Trail.
- Scramble up and soon turn left to summit Mt. Moriah.
- Retrace steps back down scramble, turn right on Carter-Moriah Trail.
- At jct., turn right onto Stony Brook Trail.
- Follow Stony Brook Trail to car.
Facebook Post in "NH 52 With a View"
Shelburne Moriah for #52! Technically #61 - I wanted to hit all the new/delisted peaks before "officially" (in my mind) finishing. I made this hike a traverse with Mt. Moriah, which was my #48, too! It was an absolutely perfect day of hiking, celebration, and silliness! The Shelburne Trail seemed like a moose super highway (we did not see any) and even though it felt little-traveled, it was very easy to follow. Kenduskeag Trail to Shelburne Moriah was a delight with views and many boardwalks, even if it was a little scratchy at times. The view from Shelburne Moriah was spectacular and we shared the summit with some awesome hikers. The rest of Kenduskeag was similar - beautiful, interesting, and scratchy (I took a branch to the eye which was unpleasant). The stretch of Carter-Moriah Trail along Middle Moriah was an absolute delight, with more extensive boardwalks through mossy woods. The scramble up to Mt. Moriah was fun and although the summit area was packed, we landed on an off-trail ledge to enjoy a great view back to Shelburne Moriah and to celebrate the big finish with champagne and fondue! The rest of Carter-Moriah Trail down to Stony Brook was stunning with views (wouldn't want to do it while wet), and Stony Brook was a great way to descend. We had one snaffu at the end, when we found ourselves trapped with the wrong set of car keys, but thankfully some kind hikers shuttled my friend over back to the ME border to get the other car! We had our final celebration at the Woodstock Inn & Brewery on the way back home. Such a perfect day!
Facebook Post in "Hike the 4000 Footers of NH!" and "The 4000-Footer Club - Hiking and Climbing in NH"
Mt. Moriah for #48! I paired this hike with Shelburne Moriah, which was my final peak to finish the 52 With-a-View! It was an absolutely perfect day of hiking, celebration, and silliness! We took the Shelburne Trail, which was basically a moose super highway (without any moose) and even though it felt little-traveled, it was very easy to follow. Kenduskeag Trail to Shelburne Moriah was a delight with views and many boardwalks, even if it was a little scratchy at times. The view from Shelburne Moriah was spectacular and we shared the summit with some awesome hikers. The rest of Kenduskeag was similar - beautiful, interesting, and scratchy (I took a branch to the eye which was unpleasant). The stretch of Carter-Moriah Trail along Middle Moriah was an absolute delight, with more extensive boardwalks through mossy woods. The scramble up to Mt. Moriah was fun and although the summit area was packed, we landed on an off-trail ledge to enjoy a great view back to Shelburne Moriah and to celebrate the big finish with champagne and fondue! The rest of Carter-Moriah Trail down to Stony Brook was stunning with views (wouldn't want to do it while wet), and Stony Brook was a great way to descend. We had one snaffu at the end, when we found ourselves trapped with the wrong set of car keys, but thankfully some kind hikers shuttled my friend over back to the ME border to get the other car! We had our final celebration at the Woodstock Inn & Brewery on the way back home. Such a perfect day!
