Well, if you're anything like I am you live to hike in the winter! That being as it is, late summer and fall is the time to make some attempt at getting into what we refer to as "in shape." Being that it had been years since our last trip up Moosilauke and considering that we have never been on the summit when it was not in the clouds we decided to give it another try.

      The day began very optimistically when I got up at 3:30 am so that we could get a very early start and hopefully enjoy the trails before massive numbers of hikers hit them. That was the plan anyway! But, "the best laid plans" and all that, things developed a bit differently than I had hoped. We did get out of the house before 5:00am which was fantastic. We were on our way!

      One thing that we've been trying to do is to make sure we get lots of pictures with our new digital camera so that we can put them here on the web site. We were about 20 minutes from home as I was thinking about that fact and realized that I DID NOT pack the camera!! I was...um...er...well let's just say I was not too happy! I considered just not taking pictures as I knew we had some from past hikes but decided that it was supposed to be a great day and I knew I would regret not getting the digital camera, so, I turned around, raced home and got it and flew back out. Oh well there goes an hour, but we can still hit the trail fairly early! Ahuh, only time will tell!

      Eventually, after a few minor stops for gas etc. we got to the trail head at the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge. We were please to see there were only about 8 or 9 cars there ahead of us so we quickly got on our packs and got under way. We signed in at the trail head register and got on our way. We quickly took a left hand turn toward the Gorge and Snapper trails that we were heading for. A couple of hundred yards after that sign we came out onto a nice wide trail with only one problem. It was not at all clear which way we should go. Yep, even an old master like me can get confused once in a while. I didn't have the guide book as, "I knew where I was going" or so I thought. I took a minute, looked at the map, turned right, walked about a minute and realized that we should have gone the other way! So we did and it was the right way. What can I say? Dartmouth needs to put a blaze, an arrow, a big neon sign or something at the junction for dummies like me!

      We quickly came to the footbridge over the Baker River and as soon as we crossed we saw the type of sign that we needed a few minutes before! Gorge Brook trail is one of my favorites as it is the type of trail I love that meanders along side the peaceful brook. In not time at all both Louise and I crossed the bridge over Gorge Brook and were on our way.

      The peaks, the 4k's the above the trees experience is fantastic but we both enjoy looking for the wonderful sights along the trail as much as any other part of the hike. So, it was great to get a ways up Gorge Brook Trail and come to an average run of the mill blow down with one interesting exception, the ground was littered with clumps of moose hair! Upon closer inspection of the blow down we could see big clumps hanging from it also. We're not sure if he just got hung up getting over/under it or if he was using it as a scratching post but he certainly left lots of hair behind. Not far up the trail we came upon a tree that our friend the moose had been chomping on quite a bit! All right I confess, at this point with all the sights to see, making time for the summit was an idea that had finally died a quite death!

      Now we came to another type of trail that I absolutely love! You're some where between say 3500 and 4000 feet. The trees are getting smaller and then you have a stretch of trail that's so smooth, level and lined with little trees that you know you're approaching another world! Of course that didn't last long and we began to climb up out of the trees and into the scrub on a rocky trail and also got confirmation that the sun we had started with was left behind us down in the valley yet again.

      As this shot I got of Louise posing next to a large cairn clearly shows, there was nothing clear about this day on above the trees. It was warm and the wind was low so it was actually enjoyable so we finished the climb toward the cloud covered summit. We had a relaxing lunch in the clouds while trying to figure out if the wind was drying out our sweaty clothes or if the fog was making them wetter still.

      After about 45 minutes we started down the Carriage Road toward Snapper Trail and the return to Gorge Brook. There were actually times while walking the ridge toward the south summit that the clouds lifted a wee bit, but not enough to see any real view. Of course being that we have never seen any view we are quite suspicious that one even exists! We worked our way down the Carriage Road which was completely re-worked a few years ago, leaving a wide and rather unusual trail.

      Eventually we made our way down below the barricade that blocks snow mobile traffic from continuing up toward the summit and I got a shot of Louise checking out the sign warning of the barricade ahead. It seemed to take longer than it should have but we finally came upon our left hand turn onto Snapper Trail and headed back to Gorge Brook. You may think the day is nearly over and the adventure is past, but nay, not the way this day had been going!

      As we were making our way down Snapper I suddenly heard an unmentionable expletive from behind me. I turned to hear Louise telling me that she just got stung in the leg by a bee and to see about a dozen bees buzzing around her feet! I told her to keep moving and in a few seconds we were clear of them but her leg was pretty red! We stopped at a small brook and soaked the sting in cold water and all seemed ok so we continued on to the car. When we got there it was as we had expected all along, the day was much sunnier down here than it was up at 4802 feet!

      Now the tale should end there but there is more. We arrived home, had a relaxing Sunday and went back to work on Monday. The only glitch in the story is that as Tuesday and then Wednesday rolled along Louise's leg was not looking good at all! She's never had problems with bee stings in the past but due to how red and swollen it looked I advised her to get it checked. As it turns out, it had some how gotten infected and they put her on some antibiotics. For a bee sting!