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View Full Version : Ancient history atop Moosilauke



rafe
10-06-2017, 11:10
I'm not 100% sure but I think the photo above is from somewhere near the top of Moosilauke. It was from one of my very first hikes in the White Mountains, in the 1970s. That's as much as I remember.

Also curious about that structure that we're standing next to. Any old timers have any idea what it is or was, or if it's still there?

AFAIK there is no such structure on the current AT on Moosilauke. It could some other trail on Moosilauke.

AllDownhillFromHere
10-06-2017, 11:38
There used to be a hotel on the summit. Last time I was there there was a big rocky area with some old stone walls, possibly the foundation of what you have in your pic.

rafe
10-06-2017, 11:49
There used to be a hotel on the summit. Last time I was there there was a big rocky area with some old stone walls, possibly the foundation of what you have in your pic.

It looks like this is near, but not at the summit. I'm noticing also there are trail signs and most likely a trail junction in the frame.

Several of these mountains had roads and nice facilities on top. Lafayette is another.

Puddlefish
10-06-2017, 14:34
That guy on the right has some impressive hair.

Deacon
10-06-2017, 14:41
Here’s an article detailing the history of the hotel at the summit.

http://hikethewhites.com/moosilauke.html


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rafe
10-06-2017, 16:20
Here’s an article detailing the history of the hotel at the summit.

http://hikethewhites.com/moosilauke.html


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
It says the hotel was burned in 1942... So this is something else.

Another Kevin
10-06-2017, 17:19
That is not anything to do with the hotel.

There was a summit cabin/emergency shelter maintained by the DOC up there, torn down in 1978. It was basically a tin box on a concrete foundation, tied into the rock with cables and eye bolts against the incredible White Mountain winds. The concrete foundation is still there:

http://hikethewhites.com/photos/mssr.jpg
(source: http://hikethewhites.com/moosilauke.html)

(They tried to break it up with a portable jackhammer, but failed.)

I was up there in the freak snowstorm in June of 1976 and found it locked (they had already closed it down for the summer). I wound up huddled under a tarp with the corners weighed down with rocks on the lee side of the building, and plooshing down the carriage road and the Snapper trail through fresh powder once the wind died enough to travel. I hadn't brought any sort of traction and didn't want to chance Gorge Brook - it's steeper.

rafe
10-06-2017, 17:46
This is Google's satellite view of the summit. You can see the foundation of the hotel right at the summit, and this smaller thing, whatever it is, a couple hundred feet down. I don't think you can see it from the AT.

Another Kevin
10-06-2017, 18:46
Yeah, it was a little way down Gorge Brook toward the Ravine Lodge. I think Gorge Brook Trail has been relocated since then. I know the Snapper ski trail was.