June 29, 2014
Start: Hexacuba Shelter
End: Beaver Brook shelter
Mileage: 22.6 (+1.0 when missed trail at road crossing)
I started out from the shelter at 6:20am. made good time in the morning, climbing Mt Cube, Ore Hill, and Mt Mist. Between Ore Hill and Mt Mist, I went the wrong way at the road crossing of NH 25C and added at least a mile to my hike. Right after the road crossing of NH 25A, I had to take off my boots and ford a river. Not too long after that, I passed by Jeffers Brook shelter around 2pm. I decided to press on as planned and hike up Mt Moosilauke.
I’d been told that Moosilauke has the worst approach of any mountains in the Whites. I hope this is true. It was beastly. There were no switch backs; the majority of the trail traveled straight up. It was rocky and ridiculously steep. It took me 3.25 hours to travel 3.9 miles to the peak. From there, I headed to the next shelter a few miles away.
Here I met Gwen, Heidi, and Heidi’s brother. Gwen and Heidi are going into their second year at Dartmouth Med school. Heidi’s brother is visiting from CA; after the hike, the siblings will be going back to CA for the remainder of the summer. They were all really cool people and I really enjoyed chatting with them.
Transcending Mountains 