Shelburne Moriah Hike

Saturday morning, the sky is completely blue, the weather is clear, there are no clouds and highs are expected to be in the 70s. Just like summer! After Richard, Vik, Jon and I have breakfast at the GO Center in Waterville Valley, we leave for Gorham to meet up with the other GO members to hike Shelburne Moriah. En route, the mountain views were super beautiful this morning! Wow! Wow! It's so beautiful, a beautiful day ahead of us. All the trailheads we drove by were filled up with cars so we were happy to have chosen a hike to a less visited peak to get away from the crowds. We arrive at the Rattle River Trail parking with some cars already parked. This trail is also a section of the Appalachian Trail. It crosses Rte. 2 to traverse the Mahoosuc Range, reaches Old Speck and then crosses the road at Grafton Notch to lead thru hikers to Mt. Katahdin in Maine.

The first half of the Rattle River Trail was relatively flat. I've always liked hikes that start out flat and give you a chance to begin hiking easily. There was some yellow foliage in the forest canopy above us at the start. We stopped to check out the Rattle River Shelter. After a few more level sections, the trail had a crossing of the Rattle River that can be tricky but with the water so low, there were not any issues.

The upward ascent began in earnest and there were a series of stone steps to help with the relentless upward climb. At one point, I looked up at the climb ahead of me and thought, "If that ain't vertical, I don't know what is." We took a rest break halfway up whereby Tim demonstrated his skills with swallowing a banana! We were all impressed.

Eventually the Rattle River Trail flattened out and after a few boardwalks it finished at the junction with the Kenduskeag Trail. Kenduskeag in Abenaki means, "a pleasant walk." Overall, the trail was indeed pleasant, except for a few brief sections where the trail needs major brushing back. We had a hiker take a group shot of us at the sign. After the picture was taken, Rick lost his footing and his "buns of steel" broke the log when he landed on it. He also bent his middle finger and it went limp. We wonder if this was a sign of other parts of his anatomy. :-) The good news is that his finger was not broken and he was not in any pain. We wish Rick a speedy recovery!

Then after hiking more lengths of wood planks, we reach the ridge. It's quite a start, absolutely gorgeous! The more we advance, the more beautiful are the views. Soon the trees started to thin out, with just small evergreens around, and we started to get nice views of Shelburne Moriah summit off in the distance. One thing I liked about this trail was the out-in-the-open ridge walk, and seeing your eventual destination in front of you. It was difficult to look straight ahead because the scenery is so beautiful all round. Finally, we see the Shelburne Moriah cairn.

The summit was one of the nicest we've been to, for sure. Definitely worth it. Weather on top was quite warm with light winds. Perfect!

The summit offers a 270 degree view and we see so many peaks. The Baldfaces, Carter Moriah Range, Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Madison, the Mahoosucs Range and a lot more. After repeatedly saying the scenery is so beautiful and taking our long lunch break, we had to leave for the return. On the return, we checked out this beautiful swimming hole for future reference.

All of us drove to Mr. Pizza in Gorham for dinner on their outside deck along the Androscoggin River.

A beautiful day and with GO members in great spirits, everything was perfect. A special welcome to Vik who joined us on his first GO hike!

~ Mike Boisvert

An ascent of this less visited peak via Rattle River and Kenduskeag trails offer exceptional fall foliage views from the ledges on the upper part of the ridge and at the summit!

This is a strenuous trip with 11.2 miles roundtrip and 3,200 feet elevation gain. We are planning on taking 8 hours to complete this hike.

We will follow the Rattle River Trail, take a left on the Kenduskeag Trail and head up to the summit of Shelburne-Moriah. We will return the same way we climbed.

We start as a group, hike as a group, and finish as a group. Our pace will be that of the slowest hiker. This trip isn't for you if you are faster than the group and don't want to stay with us, if you want to head off on your own, or if you are slower than the group and expect us to constantly wait for you.  If you're moving too fast for the group, we'll shackle a boulder to your ankles (boulder size will vary depending on how fast you are) and if you're moving slow, we'll strap a bee-hive to your bee-hind.

Dogs are permitted on this hike provided they are experienced "hikers", well-behaved, you bring a leash in case you need to use it, and you have a copy of their most recent rabies vaccination. Be sure to indicate in your RSVP if you will be bringing a dog.

Mountain weather is subject to rapid changes and extreme conditions. Dangerous weather conditions will cancel - we will post an and/or send an email to all confirmed participants a day or two ahead of time. We will assess travel and weather conditions during the hike and make changes to our planned trip as necessary.

Hiking safely is about being prepared so that you can respond to an emergency situation or spend a night in the woods if you have to. Failure to bring the basics puts you and the rest of the group at risk. If you don't know what to wear and/or bring with you or have any questions contact us.

After the Hike: Bring a change of clothes as we will have dinner together at Mr. Pizza in Gorham.

Lodging Option: Bunk beds are available at our house near Waterville Valley, NH for Friday and Saturday night for $20 per night. Coffee/bagels each morning and linen/blankets/towels are provided. We have limited space in the fridge to store your beverages/food so it's best to bring a small cooler. Space is limited so email ASAP to reserve a bunk!