Mt. Roberts, NH, 05/06/07

[threecy]

Mt. Roberts, NH

Date Hiked: 05/06/07

Trails(s) Hiked: Shannon Brook Trail, Pond Trail, Mt. Roberts Trail

Total Distance: 8.2 miles

Difficulty: Difficult

Conditions: Mostly dry, a few mud/snow patches near the summit

Special Equipment Required: None

After ascending Mt. Moosilauke via the Beaver Brook Trail the day before, I decided I wanted to take it somewhat easy and do a hike that wouldn't require as much driving and would hopefully have much snow. Desination: Mt. Roberts and Mt. Faraway.

I started at the hiker parking lot near Castle in the Clouds, proceeding up a mostly dry Shannon Brook Trail (basically a dirt road closed to autos), finally reaching the Mt. Roberts trailhead near the stables after about 2 miles. Nothing overly steep.

From there, the Mt. Roberts trail winds around the back of the pasture, and starts its gentle ascent. With the exception of a few moderate pitched parts, this is an easy trail.

As the trail climbed, it changed from a dirt road to more of a bridle path. Things quickly became interesting at this point, as it reached open ledges - with views of the valley, as well as the lake and the Belknaps.

The open ledges continued for quite awhile - a good mile I would say - before the trail dipped into the woods. The first signs of snow and mud were here, though by no means did these patches make the hiking difficult.

The summit was somewhat anti-climatic after the long ledge walk - though there were excellent views of the White Mountains, it just wasn't quite as good as the views of the lake in my opinion. Looking ahead, I saw a dip in the trail between here and Faraway Mountain, as well as some snow. Wanting to be out on the sunny ledges, needing to do laundry, and frankly not wanting to add more miles onto the hike, I decided to down some trail mix without the mix (M&Ms), and head back to the ledges.

I took my time on the descent, partially due to a progressively worse knee (tweaked a week ago, tweaked even more sliding down Beaver Brook Trail on Moosilauke), and partially due to the amazing views of the lake, the mountains, and the Castle in the Clouds complex.


Looking down the Mt. Roberts trail at Castle in the Clouds and in the distance, the Belknap range.