Jonni
Member
Trip #: 2
Date Hiked: 5/18/2008
Trail(s) Hiked: Appalachian Trail (Moose Mountain Trail), Clark Loop Trail, Harris Trail
Distance Hiked: 4.1 Miles
Special Equipment Required: None, although I did try out my new trekking poles on this hike.
Report: Since this was my second hike out for the season I decided that I needed something that was relatively easy to moderate to help me get my hiking legs back underneath me. I also wanted to hike something that was closer to my house than the Whites or the Greens. I looked at Sunapee and Kearsarge, but eventually set on Moose Mountain in Etna, NH. Looking at the map as well as the profile of it that I have seen from other people who have hiked this trail it seemed like it would fit the bill for a good Sunday afternoon hike.
Starting out from the little dirt parking area on the left hand side of the road where the AT crossed the trail followed a very easy up and down style jaunt through the woods for the first 0.4 to 0.5 mile in where it meets the Harris Trail. Continuing on the AT/Moose Mountain Trail it begins to climb a little more steadily up the side of the mountain taking the easiest grade up the side of the hill. Stopping only a few times to catch my breath I was quickly pushed onward by the bugs, despite having applied quite a bit of DEET before starting the hike. I reached the summit of Moose Mountain South Peak (2222') in about an hour and after about 10 minutes of resting and taking some pictures I decided to continue on on the rest of the loop. Continuing on up the AT I found myself at the Clark Pond Loop trail intersection on the old Wolfeboro Road in about 15 to 20 minutes.
The Wolfeboro Road is/was a road that was built in 1772 for Gov. Wentworth who needed a road built from Portsmouth to Dartmouth so that he could attend Dartmouth's first commencement. What remains of the Wolfeboro Road is a well beaten jeep road/hiking trail that descends quickly down the hillside. The trail was very wet in places, but pretty easy to follow. Once at the end I found myself dealing with some difficulty following the trail. The end of the jeep road ends on a well beaten dirt road that looks like it's on someone's private property. The guide books that I have read said follow the dirt road downhill about 50 feet and turn left and follow the Harris trail back to the AT. Well that worked really well except that once you turned left, it was a continuation of a separate branch of the dirt road you were just on, which another 50 feet further split again. With rain drops beginning to fall and the wind picking up I made a quick decision to follow one of the two well beaten tracks to see where they went; the one on the left. Walking down the trail I was then able to find a very faint DOC blaze on a tree reassuring me that I was on the right track. Following the trail further through the woods it became very muddy but more and more well beaten as it went on. Going further still I found that I would have gotten to the same place regardless regardless of which trail I took from the split as they joined back up with each other briefly before the Harris trail continued on straight through the woods while the other beaten trail bared off to the left.
Happy with myself that I had found the right trail I continued on at a very quick pace almost achieving a jog speed. What seemed like minutes later I arrived at marked, 4-way trail intersection for a spur to the newly rebuilt Harris Cabin as well as an alternative route back to Three Mile Road. Detouring the approximate 0.1 mile on the spur I checked out the new cabin. All I could say is wow! Not knowing what the old cabin looked like I really didn't know what to expect. The new cabin is huge and has the coolest Adirondack feel to it. Looks like it could sleep probably about 30 with a huge common area and nice wide open deck.
After spending a few minutes looking over the cabin I back tracked back to the trail and continued on connecting back up with the AT and then back to my car. Overall it was a great hike, despite getting a little nervous as to not knowing which trail to take when I got to the unexpected fork in the road. Great starting out hike for the season as the overall vertical gained was only about 1000' and that was over about 1.8 miles. I also never saw a sole on the trail the entire time. Although if you do decide to do this loop as I did, when you get to the end of the jeep road on the Clark Pond trail, the trail continues about 50 feet down the gravel road. Turn left and stay toward the left as the trail goes off toward the left hand side of the clearing over a downed tree. There are faint DOC blazes which are black and orange stripes, but they can be hard to see. The Harris trail does get very muddy for about 50 to 100 feet in one spot, but for the most part it's a very nice flat trail through the woods.
Sign at the Summit of Moose Mountain South Peak:
Limited view to the Northeast:
Sign at the trail junction of AT and Clark Pond Loop:
Harris Cabin:
Date Hiked: 5/18/2008
Trail(s) Hiked: Appalachian Trail (Moose Mountain Trail), Clark Loop Trail, Harris Trail
Distance Hiked: 4.1 Miles
Special Equipment Required: None, although I did try out my new trekking poles on this hike.
Report: Since this was my second hike out for the season I decided that I needed something that was relatively easy to moderate to help me get my hiking legs back underneath me. I also wanted to hike something that was closer to my house than the Whites or the Greens. I looked at Sunapee and Kearsarge, but eventually set on Moose Mountain in Etna, NH. Looking at the map as well as the profile of it that I have seen from other people who have hiked this trail it seemed like it would fit the bill for a good Sunday afternoon hike.
Starting out from the little dirt parking area on the left hand side of the road where the AT crossed the trail followed a very easy up and down style jaunt through the woods for the first 0.4 to 0.5 mile in where it meets the Harris Trail. Continuing on the AT/Moose Mountain Trail it begins to climb a little more steadily up the side of the mountain taking the easiest grade up the side of the hill. Stopping only a few times to catch my breath I was quickly pushed onward by the bugs, despite having applied quite a bit of DEET before starting the hike. I reached the summit of Moose Mountain South Peak (2222') in about an hour and after about 10 minutes of resting and taking some pictures I decided to continue on on the rest of the loop. Continuing on up the AT I found myself at the Clark Pond Loop trail intersection on the old Wolfeboro Road in about 15 to 20 minutes.
The Wolfeboro Road is/was a road that was built in 1772 for Gov. Wentworth who needed a road built from Portsmouth to Dartmouth so that he could attend Dartmouth's first commencement. What remains of the Wolfeboro Road is a well beaten jeep road/hiking trail that descends quickly down the hillside. The trail was very wet in places, but pretty easy to follow. Once at the end I found myself dealing with some difficulty following the trail. The end of the jeep road ends on a well beaten dirt road that looks like it's on someone's private property. The guide books that I have read said follow the dirt road downhill about 50 feet and turn left and follow the Harris trail back to the AT. Well that worked really well except that once you turned left, it was a continuation of a separate branch of the dirt road you were just on, which another 50 feet further split again. With rain drops beginning to fall and the wind picking up I made a quick decision to follow one of the two well beaten tracks to see where they went; the one on the left. Walking down the trail I was then able to find a very faint DOC blaze on a tree reassuring me that I was on the right track. Following the trail further through the woods it became very muddy but more and more well beaten as it went on. Going further still I found that I would have gotten to the same place regardless regardless of which trail I took from the split as they joined back up with each other briefly before the Harris trail continued on straight through the woods while the other beaten trail bared off to the left.
Happy with myself that I had found the right trail I continued on at a very quick pace almost achieving a jog speed. What seemed like minutes later I arrived at marked, 4-way trail intersection for a spur to the newly rebuilt Harris Cabin as well as an alternative route back to Three Mile Road. Detouring the approximate 0.1 mile on the spur I checked out the new cabin. All I could say is wow! Not knowing what the old cabin looked like I really didn't know what to expect. The new cabin is huge and has the coolest Adirondack feel to it. Looks like it could sleep probably about 30 with a huge common area and nice wide open deck.
After spending a few minutes looking over the cabin I back tracked back to the trail and continued on connecting back up with the AT and then back to my car. Overall it was a great hike, despite getting a little nervous as to not knowing which trail to take when I got to the unexpected fork in the road. Great starting out hike for the season as the overall vertical gained was only about 1000' and that was over about 1.8 miles. I also never saw a sole on the trail the entire time. Although if you do decide to do this loop as I did, when you get to the end of the jeep road on the Clark Pond trail, the trail continues about 50 feet down the gravel road. Turn left and stay toward the left as the trail goes off toward the left hand side of the clearing over a downed tree. There are faint DOC blazes which are black and orange stripes, but they can be hard to see. The Harris trail does get very muddy for about 50 to 100 feet in one spot, but for the most part it's a very nice flat trail through the woods.
Sign at the Summit of Moose Mountain South Peak:
Limited view to the Northeast:
Sign at the trail junction of AT and Clark Pond Loop:
Harris Cabin:
Last edited:
