Maps, Elevations & Summary
Route to Summit: From upper lot: Red TrailReturn Route: Blue Trail
Distance: 2.3 miles
Maximum Elevation: 2,392 ft.
Trail Report
I arrived at the mountain at 9:15 a.m. and much to my surprise, the gate across the Carriage Rd. was open! Turned out that it will remain open until mid-November, which meant I was able to drive up the Carriage Road to the upper lot, which had ample parking. The lower lot looks like it may have space for a couple of cars, no more.
The temperature was in the low 40's but the shy was overcast with a pretty staff breeze which made me waste no time in gearing up and starting up the trail. In no time at all, the trail passes an old shed which pointed the way to the trailheads and reminded me that the gate closed at 6 p.m. Another hiker emailed me last night with word that the gate would close for the season by Nov. 15th.
I decided to pass up the first green trail which was supposed to be very steep and I thought the better of it with most of the leaves having freshly fallen on the trails. Just a couple of yards beyond it was the reed trail trailhead so I started up.
The trail itself was moderate in steepness with a lot of standing water and some small brook crossings. The wind definitely was picking up as I made my way up the trail. There was lots of evidence of recent trail work where trail was cleared but there had yet to be any rocks put down which made for some muddy sections. The wet leaves were very slippery indeed so I slowed the pace to be extremely careful that I had good footing.
After a while, the trail made an abrupt turn to the southeast and proceeded into a stand of hemlocks which was very pretty. However, the shade in this area allowed some fine moss to grow on the larger rock slabs and there were a few times that my hiking poles prevented me from face-planting on the trail. After two or three short, steep runs, I was just below the summit. You could hear the wind was quite strong and the temperature had fallen to 40 degrees so I paused for a moment to pull out my rain jacket and woolen cap to try and block some of the wind.
A feet further and I was at the summit and took my token shot of the summit marker.
I met a very nice guy named Bob who had come up the blue trail and was heading back down the white. We spent quite a while talking about some favorite hikes in the Belknaps over a couple of apples and water. He set off and I decided to head up the fire tower itself.
Views were very nice but it was a shame that the cloud ceiling was so low. There was a nice view of Laconia to the northwest.
The best view by far was of the Ossipee Mountains, on the far side of Lake Winnipesaukee. They were catching just a small amount of sunshine through a break in the clouds. I could make out Mt. Shaw, Mt. Roberts and Black Snout mountains which are all on my list of summits I'd like to try.
In the photo, Mount Washington is just to the the left of Black Snout but with the low, ragged ceiling, it was difficult to make it out.
It was starting to get cold, so I geared up once again and headed down the blue trail. This trail was much less slippery, with a huge amount of trail work in the form of stairs made out of granite that made the descent wonderful. In no time at all, I arrived at a major (and well marked) trail junction of the blue Overlook (orange) and Saddle (White) trails. This junction is actually on the saddle point between Belknap and Gunstock mountains with the white trail ascending 250 feet up to the summit of Gunstock.
The ski lifts were running buy I decided to keep going down the blue trail and back to the parking lot, saving Gunstock for another day. The rest of the blue trail was very well maintained with a pretty waterfall and stream crossing just before the trail flattened out prior to the junction with the red. Another fun hike in the Belknaps.
The temperature was in the low 40's but the shy was overcast with a pretty staff breeze which made me waste no time in gearing up and starting up the trail. In no time at all, the trail passes an old shed which pointed the way to the trailheads and reminded me that the gate closed at 6 p.m. Another hiker emailed me last night with word that the gate would close for the season by Nov. 15th.
I decided to pass up the first green trail which was supposed to be very steep and I thought the better of it with most of the leaves having freshly fallen on the trails. Just a couple of yards beyond it was the reed trail trailhead so I started up.
The trail itself was moderate in steepness with a lot of standing water and some small brook crossings. The wind definitely was picking up as I made my way up the trail. There was lots of evidence of recent trail work where trail was cleared but there had yet to be any rocks put down which made for some muddy sections. The wet leaves were very slippery indeed so I slowed the pace to be extremely careful that I had good footing.
After a while, the trail made an abrupt turn to the southeast and proceeded into a stand of hemlocks which was very pretty. However, the shade in this area allowed some fine moss to grow on the larger rock slabs and there were a few times that my hiking poles prevented me from face-planting on the trail. After two or three short, steep runs, I was just below the summit. You could hear the wind was quite strong and the temperature had fallen to 40 degrees so I paused for a moment to pull out my rain jacket and woolen cap to try and block some of the wind.
A feet further and I was at the summit and took my token shot of the summit marker.
I met a very nice guy named Bob who had come up the blue trail and was heading back down the white. We spent quite a while talking about some favorite hikes in the Belknaps over a couple of apples and water. He set off and I decided to head up the fire tower itself.
Views were very nice but it was a shame that the cloud ceiling was so low. There was a nice view of Laconia to the northwest.
In the photo, Mount Washington is just to the the left of Black Snout but with the low, ragged ceiling, it was difficult to make it out.
It was starting to get cold, so I geared up once again and headed down the blue trail. This trail was much less slippery, with a huge amount of trail work in the form of stairs made out of granite that made the descent wonderful. In no time at all, I arrived at a major (and well marked) trail junction of the blue Overlook (orange) and Saddle (White) trails. This junction is actually on the saddle point between Belknap and Gunstock mountains with the white trail ascending 250 feet up to the summit of Gunstock.
The ski lifts were running buy I decided to keep going down the blue trail and back to the parking lot, saving Gunstock for another day. The rest of the blue trail was very well maintained with a pretty waterfall and stream crossing just before the trail flattened out prior to the junction with the red. Another fun hike in the Belknaps.
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