Beaver Brook Trail to Mt Moosilauke

There are some really good pictures ... so this will be mostly pictures!

It has been a busy week for hiking. Last Sunday on the June 30, I was hoping Matt could hike with me but alas, he had a few other things to do. I knew that Donna and Rich were coming so I didn't want to do something where I'd get wrecked from some extreme hike. We can't have that now can we!

Mt Monadnock was beckoning ... not quite a bone crusher but challenging none-the-less. The trip was great! I took a round about trail named "Parker" something finding my way to the Cliff Walk and up to the top. I was happy to meet a man who makes maps of mountains and of course, I only asked if the connecting trail was up ahead and he proceeded as if we were in Alice in Wonderland to chat my ear off! Pretty soon I was at the top with 40 to 50 others. The trip down White Dot trail was fairly crazy. I got going a bit fast but was able to control a fall by landing my elbow in mud ... somehow it didn't hurt. The total round trip was about 5 miles. A few pictures of the Monadnock trip are below:

So, that was Sunday and on Wednesday, July 3 ... Newlyweds Donna and Rich, joined me on a quick hike up Mt Kearsarge ... the Winslow (north) side. They were running a race that evening so we kept it simple and easy. The trip was about 3 miles round trip:

Krista and I were thinking of doing a hike on Saturday, July 6 (today) but her work schedule did not work out. Matt had to work a game at Foxboro ... and that brings me to the title of this post: Beaver Brook Trail to Mt Moosilauke - yeah, I've no idea how to pronounce that! 

I knew that I wanted to do something high up but wasn't sure how challenging of a hike to undertake. I opened Google Maps and just clicked on a few peaks and found this one. I found a write up here: http://www.hikenewengland.com/Moosilauke020810.html  This hike is 7.6 miles round trip while climbing up to 4,802 feet. The astounding part for me is hiking up 3,000+ feet ... speaking of feet - they hurt right now!

 In case you can't read it, it says: "THIS TRAIL IS EXTREMELY TOUGH"

 The cascading waterfalls seemed to never end! I kept climbing and climbing and sure enough, another waterfall. I would have more pictures but rain started drumming down and I had to get going to the top.

 The pathway was littered with these pretty flowers.

 Near the top, the trees disappeared and the rocky path awaits.

 The summit.

I like the sound of water in a stream or the ocean pounding on the surf. Below is a short clip of the waterfalls at Beaver Brook cascades.