Moosilauke Ravine Lodge - Rustic Hospitality

Moosilauke Ravine Lodge is located in Warren, NH, just off route 118.  I stayed here last weekend and it was home base for the group of hikers I was with.  We stayed three nights and went on day hikes from there.  It is located at the base of Mt. Moosilauke and is also close to route 93 and route 3 which will get you easily to Franconia and beyond.  Moosilauke Ravine Lodge is run by the Dartmouth Outing club, one of the oldest collegiate outing clubs in the country.  The lodge is open to the public and offers bunkhouse style rooms for very reasonable cost. They serve breakfast and dinner, family style, and offer bag lunches all for a fee.  The meals are cooked on site with locally sourced ingredients.

The lodge was built in the 1930's as a ski lodge for the Dartmouth Ski team.  It is a log cabin style building with a main hall where meals are served.  There are bunk rooms off this and two porches where one can sit back and enjoy the wonderful view.  There are also other bunkhouse's on the property that can house more people as well.  

  

The downstairs in the lodge has bathrooms and showers, which was a nice way to end the day after a long hike.  The outer bunk houses do not have bathrooms, only the main lodge.

Library and woodstove downstairs

For the price I don't think you can go wrong spending a few nights at the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge. The views, rustic charm, food, and proximity to great hiking trails make it a great choice to stay for a night or two.  Here is the link for the lodge, check them out and book a night in the mountains.

http://outdoors.dartmouth.edu/services/ravine_lodge/

Mt. Moosilauke

On day two of this years New Hampshire trip we decided to hike Mt. Moosilauke.  We were staying at the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge so there was no driving involved.  There was a large group going up this day and we started at 8:30am.  About 10 of us headed up the Gorge Brook Trail, a 3.7 mile trail that is the shortest route to the summit.  The route up follows the brook for awhile then works its way up the east peak.  It is an easy to moderate trail with some nice views as you climb up.

Once at the east peak the trail approaches tree line, which is at about 4000ft in New Hampshire.  After flattening out for a brief stretch through trees you come out onto the alpine meadow and see the summit of Mt. Moosilauke.  I think this summit offers some of the best, if not THE best views in all the White Mountains.  

On this day the weather was terrific and we were able to see for a long way.  The peaks of the Green Mountains and even the Adirondacks to the west, Franconia Ridge and the Presidentials to the east, and more fantastic landscapes both north and south.  We were lucky as the weather can be quite unpredictable and many people go up to views of clouds.  After a brief stay on the summit, I made my way back down the same trail.  It was an uneventful descent and I met many hikers on their way up as the Gorge Brook trail is one of the more popular routes up.

This was a very fun hike that went pretty fast.  There are a number of other trails that lead to the top and I look forward to hiking some of them as well.  It is popular though so expect to meet other hikers of all abilities on both the trail and the summit. 

Mt. Osceola and East Osceola

I hiked Mt Osceola and East Osceola this past weekend.  There were five of us that did an out and back from the Tripoli Rd. trailhead.  We totalled about 8.4 miles and had some great views.  Mt. Osceola has an elevation of 4340ft and offers great views to the southeast, East Osceola is 4156ft and has no views.  We had some hikers that were new to the White Mountains and this was a good trail for them to get a taste of the area.  The trail has no really steep sections and climbs steadily from the road.  At least as far as the summit of Mt. Osceola.

We made good time and hiked the 3.6 miles in about 2 hours.  The trail offers some partial views of Mt. Tecumseh as you climb up.  

Once we got to the summit, we had time to rest and eat a little while taking in the mountain views. There were a few other hikers on the summit as well, but it wasn't too crowded. 

We then made our way over to East Osceola, which is about 1.2 miles away.  This part of the trail is more difficult, as it has some pretty steep sections.  One of which is called "the chimney".  We hiked our way down and then back up to the East peak.  There are no views from this summit, it is just marked with a cairn.  There is one outlook on the way up that gives a nice view of Franconia Ridge. Once we reached the summit, we turned around and made out way back.  

Bypass for "the Chimney"

Summit of East Osceola

On the way back a few of us decided to climb up the steep section of the chimney.  It is a very steep but short section of trail.  Both hands were needed to negotiate the climb. 

Looking up the chimney

Climbing

Once we made it back to the first summit it was a long down hill back to the car.  It took us another 1.75 hrs to get back.  

This was a nice hike to start my weekend in New Hampshire.  It had just enough of the ups and downs to get the legs working again and the heart pumping.  The weather was nice, with mostly sun and some clouds.  Temps were in the 70's  and 60's at elevation, with a nice breeze.  Two more 4K footers checked off and a great way to spend a day.