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2005-10-06 Mt Major, N.H.

Skier75

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Date(s) Hiked: 2005-10-06

Trails(s) Hiked: Mt. Major via Brook Trail up, Boulder Trail down

Total Distance: 3.9 miles

Difficulty: book says moderate, I say easy to moderate

Conditions: foggy, then sunny, beautiful fall foilage

Special Required Equipment: same as last trip, lunch, water, doggie, doggie leash, camera(brought this time), and food and water for doggie(Suzy)

Trip Report:This makes my second hike by myself, well except for doggie(Suzy). She feels so left out if I don't bring her. :roll: Left home about 8:30am in light fog, arrived at trailhead about 9:15 - 9:30 or so, didn't pay too much attention to the time. It was still a little foggy, but it was starting to burn off. After getting our things together I think we actually got on the trail about 9:45....there-abouts.

When I arrived at the parking lot there were two heavy set men that I thought were workers that were there paving the parking lot. Ended up, they asked if I was going up the Mtn....well yeah...isn't that what you usually do when you go someplace like that??? Seems they were intending to give it a shot, they asked me how long it took to reach the top. Well not thinking about their physical shape, I said about an hour....wasn't that they may not be quite up to par to do it in that amount of time. So, I said to them...."see you at the top"...and off I went. I think it took me about an hour....again, not really sure, I forgot to check the time.

Now, I did this trail earlier in the week with someone I met last week at Blue Job Mtn. and thought I'd do it again alone since she couldn't come this time, besides on the last trip I forgot the camera and wanted to go back to get the pictures I missed out on. This Mtn. overlooks Lake Winnipesaukee. There was this one shot I really wanted...on the first trip, about 3/4 of the way up, we turned around to see the view and what we saw was pretty cool looking. The fog was hanging over the lake, so it looked like when your up in a plane looking down over the clouds. You could see some of the lake in the parts where the fog started to burn off.

Well as I started up the trail, I was thinking okay, I think I can remember which way we went last time.....there are a few different routes up. It starts out with the trail marked in blue and another trail marked in yellow, up a ways. Also at the first juction there are sign posts marked Main trail and another marked Boulder trail. As I reached the juction, I couldn't for some reason remember which way we went....I was thinking that we took the yellow marked trail, so that's the way I went. Whoops, that wasn't the way we went last time...oh well.

Most of the trail, up to this point, looked like just a wide open old road with loose rocks with portions of it gravelly, then it changes. Well this loop that I took this time, is a shallow walk along a stream on one side, with the "middle" part of the trail that looks like a washout. This runs to about a mile or so up near the top, then changes to some ledge outcrop mixed with berry bushes. The berries have already gone by. As I reach this section, I realize where I am....I was thinking, oh this must loop around the backside of the Mtn. to the peak. Just before the outcrop of ledges is another trail that goes over to another mountain peak called Straightback Mtn. I thought I might go check it out after I go up to the top of Mt. Major, but I didn't end up doing that....another time.

On the top of Mt. Major is part of a foundation of some kind??? I'm not sure if it was part of a building or someone just built it??? It stands about 4' high with four sides with an open doorway. Inside in one corner is a makeshift fireplace. On two of the walls are slabs of rock for a seat. Interesting to see such a thing on the top of that mountain.

While I was hanging around the top of the mountain a few other couples came and went. Then two women came up the trail I came up last time I was there. We started chatting and I asked them if they had passed the two men I saw in the parking lot. They thought that one of them was my husband, but I said no.... After we all had been hanging around for about 20 min. or so, they finailly reached the top. One of the guys was shaking....I was a little worried about him, thinking, he must've really strained himself coming up. The top section of that trail is kinda steep and not being in shape, that must've put a strain on him. He asked all of us if there was a easier trail to take back down. We all told him about the trail I came up. We all suggested that would be a good trail to go down, but it was a little longer, he said that's okay, just as long as it wasn't like the one he came up.

The other two women and I started packing up to leave and decided to take the same trail together, the Boulder Trail. The women were concerned about going down the same trail, they had come up. I told them that there was another trail that had somewhat of a steep section, but not as bad as the one they came up and also there was some pretty neat stuff to see on that trail. Along the way down we met some more people coming up that way, they also had a dog. I've seen a lot of dogs on this mountain.

This trail started off ledgy, along the top with more berry bushes. This must be awsome during blueberry season. We started down the steep section that also had some loose gravelly dirt and rocks, telling them that it's only for a short portion, then it levels out for a little bit, then some kinda steep portions. Along this trail are some rock outcroppings that hang over above us, then we reached the section I was telling them that was kinda neat. This has some rocks that form the shape of a V that you walk through and down through more rock outcrops. Some of the rock formation is pretty neat looking. After about a quarter of the way down this trail, it really levels out to just a nice walk through the woods, which they enjoyed quite a bit and were very happy to be talking this trail instead of the other one. I really didn't think the other trail was that bad and I'm a scardey cat.

At the bottom of the trail, near the parking lot are a few bridges to cross, that cross some streams just before we reach the end. We exchange telephone numbers and e-mails so we may be able to get together for some more hikes together. I've been meeting more and more people along my hikes and finding more people to hike with. :beer:
 

thetrailboss

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We did this mountain a year ago...what a great mountain! A true gem! We LOVED the views! :eek:
 

Skier75

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I was told by some people I met up there on my first trip up, that people hike up on the 3rd of July to watch the fireworks. That must be a sight! :beer: Thetrailboss, do you know if overnight camping is allowed up there? No ones seems to know?? Just curious. From Mt. Major you can see a fire tower, that looks to be on top of Gunstock? A sign up there says, 12 miles....could be a nice overnighter up around that area??? I don't know, just asking the question.

I like the closeness to my home for driving purposes, I don't have to spend a fortune and hours driving for just a nice quick juant up the mountain. Albiet, not a very strenous hike, but great views! Can't wait to get hubby up there! Poor guy, he hasn't been able to get there yet with me, he has to work while I take advantage of my unemployment situation for discovering some nice, short hikes.
 

Charlie Schuessler

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When I lived in Wolfeboro, I used to stop in and enjoy this hike after work...go up the east trail and down the west side...nice views of the lake when the sailboats are blowing around in the fall...it's also a nice snowshoe mountain to enjoy during the winter months...it's cool watching the planes go in & out of Alton Bay on the ice...
 

Skier75

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MichaelJ said:
Grumble. It requires signing up to read about it...

Oh, I'm really sorry about that, I didn't realize you had to sign up..... :oops: But did you? Just curious, I thought that was really interesting since I was just up there to have that show up in the newspaper.
 

Mike P.

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Michael,

Keeps these in mind too for day before get away's also.

I'm going to start researching where to go in November when I get out of Concord at 1:30 - 2:00 & I want to climb something short with a view before heading to Gorham. I'd never drive up from CT just to do one of these (like Belknap, Blueberry or Morgan) but in addition to a full day in the Whites on Saturday, these make great side-trips without wiping you out for the next day
 

Skier75

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Skier75 said:
MichaelJ said:
Grumble. It requires signing up to read about it...

Here let me make this easier for anyone that's interested:

Sunday, October 16, 2005
The tale of Mr. Phippen's Hut

By MIKE WHALEY
Assistant Sports Editor
sports@fosters.com


New signage on the Mount Major trails offer directions to both here and there. (Whaley/Staff photo)

(PHOTO HERE) :(


ALTON — Mount Major is a popular area hike and one that I enjoy doing two or three times in the fall, if not more. It's an easy drive, a moderate hike and the views, specifically of Lake Winnipesaukee, are justly rewarding.

There is history, too.

Those who have climbed Major are no doubt familiar with the roofless stone hut, known as Mr. Phippen's Hut. There is a story there.

According to local hiker Dave Roberts of Farmington, who has mapped hiking trails in the Belknap Mountain Range, including Major and Belknap, George Phippen of Alton once owned the top of Major.

In fact, Roberts noted, Mr. Phippen took the trouble of building the stone structure in the fall of 1925 as a place where hikers could seek shelter during harsh weather. Back then it was equipped with a stone bench, a window to the south and a door facing eastward. It also had a roof and contained a small woodstove.

Sometime during that first winter, according to Roberts, the fierce winter winds blew the roof off and down the mountainside. Phippen built a much sturdier roof in the summer of 1926, made of successive layers of spruce poles, corrugated iron and matched boards. This roof he firmly bolted to the masonry, making sure to leave no overhang beyond the walls that might provide some purchase for the winter winds, Roberts said.

The new roof lasted two winters before it, too, was blown down the mountainside, where it resides to this day in relatively good shape. It lies in a spot east-southeast of the summit, about 150 feet below the hut site.

Whaley/Staff photoThe Mount Agamenticus fire tower is no longer open to the public. However, there are fine views from a scenic man-made rise built on an old ski lift stanchion.

(PHOTO HERE) :(

The stone walls of the hut maintained their original integrity, according to Roberts, for the next 65 years or so, until one summer in the mid-1990s when some hiking vandals tore off many of the stone blocks from the wall and left them in hapless piles at the base of the hut. Some folks have tried to replace the blocks, but it would take a monumental effort to restore the hut to anything like its original state.

Roberts noted that the hut still serves in its own small way to protect hikers from the elements during the colder months, like Phippen originally envisioned. But there it sits, a summit landmark known simply as Mr. Phippen's Hut.

Mr. Phippen's nephew, who now owns the summer camp once owned by his uncle, has remarked that his Uncle George, who purchased the mountain top in 1914 for $125, dearly loved the view and the blueberries. He attempted to turn the area over to the state in the early 1920s so others could benefit from it in perpetuity, Roberts noted. Unfortunately, the state set conditions that could not be met (requiring the abutting landowners to also agree to a similar donation, but only one other person was willing to do so), so the project fell through.

During the Great Depression the land reverted to the Town of Alton for taxes. In 1956, the townspeople of Alton voted to pass the land to the state for "public park purposes," according to Roberts. Mr. Phippen died in Alton in the summer of 1948 and is buried in the village cemetery.

So next time you climb Major or if you do it for the first time, you can look at Mr. Phippen's Hut with a whole new perspective and you can also check out the roof, which must have been a sight when it flew off twice back in the 1920s.

The Mount Major parking lot underwent expansion recently and can now hold significantly more cars for those busy fall days when the mountain is quite literally littered with hikers, young and old.

(PHOTO HERE) :(

Whaley/Staff photoThis morning view from the summit of Mount Major in Alton captures fog rising off the waters of Lake Winnipesaukee. In the foreground is Mr. Phippen's Hut.

If you hike the mountain, there are four main trails to take and thanks to some new trail signs, it is easier to hike the least traveled of the lot — the Beaver Pond Trail. That trail leaves the parking lot to the left of the Mount Major Trail. One actually follows the Boulder Trail, but after 10 minutes you arrive at a junction where the Beaver Pond Trail diverges left and the Boulder Trail continues right. The fourth trail is the Brook Trail, which leaves the Mount Major Trail to the right about 10 minutes from the parking lot.

Mount Agamenticus in York, Maine, is a good, short hike that is great for taking kids on.

Depending on what trail or trails you use, the hike will take about one hour round trip. I recently climbed the mountain on a sunny Monday, using the Ring Trail, which rings around the mountain. Near the summit, I followed the Witch Hazel Trail to the summit where, on a clear day, views are available into New Hampshire. An old ski lift stanchion has been made into a viewing stand. The fire tower is no longer open to the public. Many trails are open to hikers, bikers and equestrians alike and a few to ATVs.

The climb takes about 25 minutes. The open summit has plenty of room to spread out. There is an auto road if you care to drive up.

On the descent, I took the Horse Trail to the Ring Trail, which crosses the auto road to the trail head on Mountain Road. Descent takes about 25 minutes. As always, remember to carry out what you carry in.

Mike Whaley is assistant sports editor for Foster's Sunday Citizen. The Trail Ahead local hiking column appears occasionally during the fall hiking season. To contact Whaley, e-mail mwhaley@fosters.com or call 742-4455, ext. 5512


Unfortunately, it looks like the pictures from this article didn't copy, sorry.
 

cbcbd

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Great report and thanks for pasting that excellent article about the hut.

I did this hike this past February on a gorgeous day that lent to awesome views of the frozen Winnipesaukee. All the ice on the steep northern end was quite interesting to go up :D

When we got to the top there were three guys who said "Tough way up, huh?" in a sarcastic sort of tone. I later saw their snowmobiles parked behind Mr Phippen's hut - cheaters ;)
 

NPursuit

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MichaelJ said:
Cool! :)

The trip to Mt. Major is in one of the Daniel Doan books, I think. Either 50 Hikes in the White Mountains or .

That would be correct. I forgot I even had this book, until you mentioned the name.
 

Mike P.

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It should be in older versions of the WMG, they had them in the old brick (Gray cover 24th or 25th edition)
 

Skier75

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I've now been up there three times, I think this is a great short, hike just to get the old blood flowing. Not too much of a drive, approx. 45 min from where I live in Barrington.

I still have yet to check out another trail from the top that goes over to Straightback Mtn. I'm also told that trail leads to a Fire Tower over near Gunstock, which someone said is about 12 miles. Another time.
 
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