Al Merrill Loop

Moosilauke New Years

A somewhat-annual tradition.

I’ve been hiking to the summit of Mount Moosilauke on (or about) New Year’s Day since at least 1984… and, for many of those years, camping in one of the rustic cabins on the side of the mountain: John Rand cabin on the east side, or Great Bear cabin on the southwest side. To retreat for two or three nights to a remote cabin, totally off the grid, where it may be 10ºF (or even –10ºF) outside while it is warm and snug (60º or 70ºF) inside, surrounded by friends. We spend hours cooking delicious meals, telling old stories, and playing board games while the snow falls outside. Read on…

A quiet, snowy day for a snowshoe.

As I rounded the corner on the broad turn east of Orfordville I could see that the summit of Mount Moosilauke was in the clouds, consistent with the mountain forecast. The NH summit forecast was for clouds, plummeting temperature, and hurricane-force winds, so I’d chosen instead to snowshoe the Al Merrill ski loop on the east side of Mount Moosilauke. It turned out to be an excellent choice – with plenty of untracked powder and not another soul in sight. Read on and be sure to check out the gallery for full-size images and more.