Mt Moriah, 4k footer #5 of 2019, May 16th

The weather last week was really hit or miss. Our original camping plans went by the wayside, so Eric, Ellie and I kept the hiking momentum going.

Thursday, we headed to Gorham, NH to hike Mt. Moriah. At just under an hour, the was a relatively short drive. We knew that it would be the longest hike (coming in at 9 miles or so)

Moriah, upon first glance, doesn't look like it would be terribly strenuous. It comes in at 4,094 feet which might make one think that it would be short and sweet. It's good to keep in mind, that this mountain starts at a lower elevation than some, so you are climbing about 3500 feet during the hike. That's almost Mt. Madison level- and nobody thinks that is an easy mountain!

You find the trail head at the end of Bangor Road, in someone's yard. Weird.

The trail begins to the left of that large tree

We parked just down the road, under some power lines and made our way back (it just felt wrong to park at the trailhead, although a couple cars had.)

Looks like the sign had a hard winter

It was a pleasant day (sunny and upper 50's at the base!) and the trail was in terrific shape.

This was just lovely

While you certainly make some serious elevation gains in the first couple miles, the trail is generally friendly and you get some nice, pretty flat stretches.

Just before what we assume was Mt Surprise (around mile 2), there were a few very steep, but very manageable rock ledges. None of us, including the dog, had any issue (pretty fun, actually!)
Plus, a great view comes next!

A good view is a nice perk

We really had a solid 3/3.5 miles before the snow got really serious. All the ledges were free of ice, there was some mud (including a few pretty serious puddle/lakes) but nothing that would really freak a person out (unless you expected a flat, dry trail. then you would have freaked out.)

Ellie does not freak out when the monorail begins

The monorail was pretty variable, and the snowpack was still significant. It is going to be a while before conditions are looking like Spring.

This does not look like mid/lateMay!

The three of us really enjoyed the climb. The steep sections were perfectly broken up with flat stretches, which keeps things pretty fun (especially when you have a little dog. in the snow. etc.) The forest was lovely, and there was a HUGE ROCK.

I couldn't even get all of it in the photo

Nearing the Summit, we met a small pack of youth (the only people we saw all day.) They appeared to be reasonably well prepared, except for their summer foot wear. They were sliding around on the fresh snow like crazy (the mountains got several inches early week) and appeared to be struggling. Note to youth: bring traction.

Anyway. Just like that we were there!

Lotta snow

The summit is a little rock dome with incredible 360 degree views. While the high peaks had cloud hats on we got a much better view that we had originally expected, per the gloomy forecast.

After a quick snack, down we went.
We still managed fairly well on the monorail, but might have had one or two encounters with losing a leg.

Sorry Eric!

It was cool enough at the top to keep things more or less intact, but after the recent batch of warmer weather I'm not sure how stable the footing will be. But nobody can really count on good footing for a while yet, I'd say.

However, the final miles were glorious. You couldn't ask for better. we were very happy, and so was Misses Ellington.

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYY

We were kind of sad to see this hike come to an end. This was a super enjoyable trail, great views, and some terrific slabs to scramble up. Not a great pick for your first big hill, but one to put on the must do list.

Happy Hiking Family!

Stats 

Total elevation: 4049 (this is a long hike for a "low" mountain.) 

Strava data: (we take this with a grain of salt) 
-elevation climbed: 3,455
-miles covered: 8.8 (book is 9)
-elapsed time: 5:13 (this includes all stopped time. mostly falling in the snow...) (Book: 6:00)

Difficulty: Difficult because of the length. There are some very steep climbs. BUT, nothing technical, no sketchy rock scrambling, no stream crossings, much to enjoy. Very few exposed sections- but I imagine Mt Surprise would be pretty awful and possibly difficult to navigate in poor conditions. (gotta be safe) It's not a summit that would be enjoyable in awful weather, but you are really below treeline for the vast majority of this hike

Views: Great. Plus, bonus views on Surprise

Bugs: None on trail, some in lot

Dog friendly trail? Yep