Was this November? 23’rd? Where’s the SNOW!

Mt. Moosilauke

Trail: Gorge Brook

Date: 11/23/2003

Attending:Pete & Gary Gilchrest, Gabe, Noah, Simone & John Chicoine

Miles:7.5-mile loop Time: 3 hours to summit. 5.5 hour total

AMC huts, / shelters / camping site: Moosilauke Ravine Lodge

Weather: 50’s, Sunny

Oh brother where art thou?

Don’t get me wrong, we loved this hike and the views and temps were fabulous, but ,,,, Where’s the SNOW? Usually we have several feet on the summit by this time of the season. But this time there was no hint of snow anywhere in the Whites on the roads and we didn’t reach any snow on the trail until the last 1/2 mile. Even on the summit the snow was only a few inches deep with lots of open earth. We had lots of time to do the hike, so we moderated our pace quite a bit to accommodate for the fact that most of us haven’t been hiking for a few months or more. We all liked the relaxed pace. The temps were so unseasonably warm that we just couldn’t bring ourselves to leave the summit in less than an hour of enjoying the views. At one point during the hike Gary hiked without a shirt, (This was for the top 1/4 of the trek up!) I don’t have a picture of this but it will not be an image I will forget. Considering just a few years ago Gary considered himself a “non-winter” hiker. Even on the summit it was quite comfortable in just a short sleeved shirt and a vest or sweater. Speaking of sweaters, Nice sweater Gary; Very fashionable.

A face we don’t see at the top often.

I was especially glad to have Noah on this peak with us. He doesn’t hike much with us, but if there is a mountain that could be considered “the best of the Whites”, Moosilauke is the one. It’s within the top 10 highest peaks and the vast open (above treeline) summit is one of the nicest peaks to visit. Although Noah’s bagged 6 or 7 peaks by now, this peak is my favorite and I believe epitomizes the White Mountain experience. Good to have you along, even if I ended up carrying up your pack because you secretly decided (against my specific request) to pack 6 pounds of camera gear and lenses.

  1. Moosilauke1 Matt Leblank, Gabe, J&S (Winter 1998)
  2. Moosilauke2 Shawn, Ralph, Gabe, J&S (Winter 2000)
  3. Moosilauke3 Shawn, Ralph, Gary, Gabe, J&S (Winter 2002)
  4. Moosilauke4 Gary & Pete, Gabe, Noah, J&S (Winter 2003)
  5. Moosilauke5 J&S (Spring 2009)
  6. Moosilauke6 Chris, Joel, Shawn, J &S, (Fall 2011)
  7. Moosilauke7 J&S (Fall 2017)