Lost River Road, North Woodstock, NH 03262 ~ 7.16 miles and 7 hrs 23 mins

Third time’s the charm! I am thrilled to report that Mike and I have successfully summited Mt. Moosilauke via Beaver Brook Trail. And yes, for anyone who follows my blog, I said I wasn’t going to do Beaver Brook again after the last “terrifying” attempt, but fast forward almost a year and I was on a mission to conquer that trail. (Mike knew this would be the case and just kept quiet, allowing me to come to this realization on my own — good man!)

We reached the wooden sign that marks the beginning of Beaver Brook at exactly 9AM. We were in great spirits and had our forest coffee in hand. I honestly would not recommend climbing with a cup of coffee in hand. Being my third time up, I felt like an old pro, but even so, this time still had its challenges.

Although we got an early start to ensure we wouldn’t have to climb down in the dark again, and as much as we tried to plan for the weather, we did encounter some rain and clouds. It didn’t rain hard, or for long, but it was enough to make the rocks and leaves wet aka slippery. I am not sure why, but I encountered some nausea along the way, it was possibly the start of a migraine or possibly hunger, but I was about to heave a few times. Thank goodness a protein bar, some water and a quick rest prevented me from doing so. Even if I did get sick, nothing was going to stop us from summiting this time.

Climbing up, it was great to see the same sights as before, the ninja turtle rock, the cascades, the “stair steps,” all of it, but my favorite sighting was the crooked tree. It was where we had left off before and it was where we had agreed on taking a break. It also meant that we were about an hour from reaching the summit (according to people descending.) (It took us ~55 mins from here to reach the sign on the summit.)

From the crooked tree on, the trail maintains a mix of forest floor and rocks. There is a ton of moss, and it is so beautifully green in sections, which I loved. There were some cool rocks covered in multicolored lichen that Mike took a lichen to. He also found a moose tree that he loved.

 It isn’t anywhere as steep as the first mile, but it continues to go up. I almost took a digger not because of wet rocks or leaves, or even an incline. On a relatively flat section, a tree root managed to snag my shoelace. As I was going down, I kept reaching for the tree in front of me, but I was not quite long enough. Just before I was going to hit the ground, the shoelace gave way and propelled me forward just enough to grab the tree and without hitting anything. It was one of those slow-motion-nothing-you-can-do types of falls, so I am very grateful for the tree. (See pic of Mike demonstrating the fall for me on the way back.) Besides this and a couple of mild issues with footing, fortunately neither of us tumbled.

When we finally reached the sign to turn to the summit, we were so excited. Even though the wind was whipping, and the temperature was dropping, we both picked up our pace. We continued and finally just ahead of us we saw the first cairn. We passed a man who said, “you are there.” Those were some of the best words to hear. Eight mins later we were at the official sign: Mt. Moosilauke 4802 ft!

We literally had our heads in the clouds. There was no view at ALL and it was still AMAZING! It was windy and cold so we only stayed long enough (under 10 mins) to take a few pics, explore a little, find rocks, and check out a little Junko, before heading back. We stopped at the shelter on the way down to have a small break, water, a protein bar, and I popped some Advil, as I did have the start of a migraine.

Going down I was incredibly slow. Apparently enough so that a woman felt the need to tell me I needed “to have confidence in my boots.” I wanted to say so many things, but I bit my tongue and just looked at Mike. He knew I wanted to say something and said, “don’t do it.” Although she made me feel so many ways, I believe she was only trying to be encouraging, so no need to “ruin” our days with a snarky retort. Not that I need to explain it, but I go slow for safety reasons. I go slow on the descent because I don’t trust my knees from hyperextending, I don’t trust myself with judging distances, and yeah, I don’t trust any boots on wet rocks and leaves.    

Later we stopped to chat with a younger couple who were hiking with their black lab. I had been curious about how the dogs we had seen throughout the day made it up the steep parts, so I asked them how they did it. The man jokingly lifted his arms as if to show that he carried him on his shoulders, but the woman gave it away, and shared that their dog ran up and around in the woods for those sections.  My hair was wet from hiking in the rain and then the clouds, the woman pointing to my hair asked me, “did you go swimming?” Once again, I stopped myself from saying what first came to mind and I just laughed and said “no, you will soon experience wet hair too,” and left it at that.   

All and all, I am ecstatic to have hiked this mountain three times and summited once. All three times were with my favorite hiking partner, and I think we both learned a lot about ourselves from these experiences and how we handle things as a couple. If I am ever in the area, on a clear day, with nothing better to hike, I will take one of the easy trails up to see the view.  Something tells me that will not be for a long time, if ever.

Adventurers included: Jes & Mike