Mts. Morgan and Percival Hike

On Saturday, November 5th, eight of us met up at the Mt. Morgan trailhead at around 10AM.  There was Kevin, Rob, Markus, Kevin, Craig, Joe, Chris and myself...and Kevin's dog Sonny.  We waited alittle bit for a few other guys, who had signed up.  It was a beautiful fall day...totally clear, crisp air and what was going to be a bright, sunny day.  After the usual introductions, we headed off at about 10:15AM.  As usual, we initially took the Morgan trail up.  We headed up at a moderate pace and just enjoyed socializing with each other.  The trail was mostly dry and leaf-covered.  We reached the ladders by 11:30 and most everyone opted to accend via this route (there is an alternate route to the summit bypassing the series of ladders, which are bolted to the rocks...Joe, Kevin and Sonny took this alternate route).  Upon accending the ladders and emerging through a rock "cave", we were rewarded with wonderful views of the Squam Lake Region.  A short scramble later we reached the open ledge on Mt. Morgan.  Here we enjoyed an extended break and snack.

Shortly thereafter (at about noon), we continued along the ridge, which connects Mts. Morgan and Percival.  This is a relatively level route through the woods with a few views to the surrounding area....mostly northward to Franconia Notch and the Sandwich Range.  We stopped at one of these prominent outlooks about halfway over the ridge for another break.  We reached Mt. Percival's summit at around 1PM.  This peak was a little more crowded than Mt. Morgan had been.  Here we finally took time to enjoy our lunches.  The granite summit offered wide open views again of the Squam Lake Region and also over to Mt. Whiteface, Passaconaway and Chocorua.  We took another extended break here before starting our descent at around 1:40PM.  Initially, the descent was very steep and rocky off of the summit of Percival.  This was only for a short distance before reaching the rock "cave".  Sonny became very nervous going down and Kevin and Sonny finally gave up and backtracked over the summit to the side trail.  This cave had a very narrow opening to squeeze through.  Inside there was a fairly large chamber, before squeezing through the other opening at the exit of the "cave".  At the junction with the by-pass trail we waited for Kevin and Sonny, who hadn't shown up.  We figured they must have started down.  When we asked other hikers coming up if they had seen them, they hadn't.  Markus headed back up to the summit to find them.  A little later, Kevin and I headed back up as well...Markus, Kevin and Sonny were nowhere to be found...it turned out later that Kevin and Sonny missed the by-pass trail and were heading east over the ridge.  At this point we continued down, hoping that they would catch up or that we would head over to the other trailheads to pick them up after we returned to the cars.  The trail down was somewhat steep in spots and the leaf-cover made it a little slick.  Towards the bottom, the trail moderated in grade and meandered its way back to the connector trail, know officially as the Morse Trail.  We reached the parking lot again at around 3:50PM.  We were just about to take a car and head out to search for Markus, Kevin and Sonny, when Markus and Sonny came strolling into the parking lot.  Markus and Sonny went up to the Percival trailhead to pick up Kevin.  It seemed that Markus had finally caught up with them on the way over to Squam/Doublehead Mts...they had missed the by-pass trail off of Percival's summit.

Afterwards all of us went over to Hart's Turkey Farm (a place famous for serving up traditional turkey dinners all year round) in Meredith for an early dinner before calling it a day.  Thanks to everyone for making this a great fall hike...it was alot of fun with a wonderful group of guys...as always!

Join me for this 5.3 mile loop over Mts. Morgan (2220') and Percival (2212').  The Morgan and Percival loop is an old favorite and it offers fantastic views of the Squam Lake area.  Along the way up there are optional ladders and caves.  There may be some fall color left to enhance the view even more from the ridge and summits.  Elevation gain is approximately 1575'.  Trailhead:  From I-93, take Exit 24 and follow Rt. 3 South to Holderness.  Get on Rt. 113 and follow it northeast for 5.5 miles.  The parking area will be on the left. There is also parking on the right side of the road at the Rattlesnake trailhead.  What to Bring:  Typical fall hiking gear should be appropriate:  shorts or convertible hiking pants, good sturdy hiking boots with thick socks and a windbreaker/raingear (just in case).  Also bring along lunch, snacks and plenty of water.  Optionally, pack bug repellent and sunscreen and anything else that you may require.  Afterwards:  We should be completed with the hike by 4-5PM.  If there is sufficient interest, we'll cap the day off with dinner/drinks Hart's Turkey Farm afterwards.