Mount Moriah 7-21-2019
Had an amazing climb of Mt. Moriah this morning. Due to the heat, we decided to start early at 3 AM sharp. The Carter Moriah Trailhead is the only trailhead I know of that is in a residential neighborhood. The trailhead is at the end of Bangor Street off of Route 2 in Gorham NH. Even though we started at 3AM it was still a warm 72 degrees and humid. We tried to make the summit of Mt. Surprise which is 2 miles from the trailhead by sunrise which we did. We got to the summit around 4 AM and were able to see an amazing sunrise over the Mt. Washington Valley.
mt. surprise at sunrise
The sky was orange and there was fog on the ground for some stunning views. We continued south to Mt. Moriah after taking some photos. The trail was well marked, muddy in some sections and one of the wooden bridges had sunk into the mud. Overall the trail was dry which is good because there were many smooth rock slabs along the trail that I would imagine being a slippery nightmare in wet weather.
savannah waiting for sun to come out.
amy hitting the summit
We hit the summit of Moriah around 8:30, the weather was clear other than thick clouds hanging over Mt. Washington. The summit is a great place to hang out, it’s a smooth flat rock so one can lay completely flat and enjoy the view for as long as the weather holds. To the east on a clear day they say you can see the ocean, the fog was a bit too thick for us being up there so early but we could easily see clearly into Maine. Grey clouds started rolling in from Carter Dome, it was great to watch because it was coming right at us, but rather than get stuck in the storm we packed up and headed out. I usually prefer to do loops over the out and backs but this one wasn’t bad because we got to re-summit Mt. Surprise and take in the views for a second time. Overall the trail was a bit steep in some sections but I would grade this as an easy hike with amazing views. There are no stream crossings so you need to bring in plenty of water.
