South Moat Mountain - New Hampshire - January 1, 2015

Location: South Moat Mountain
Elevation at Summit: 2770 ft
Mileage: 5.4 miles
Type: Out and Back
Difficulty: Moderate (more difficult in winter)
Terrain: very icy, continual incline
Blazes: yellow
Extra gear to bring: microspikes
Companion: Jesse

Happy New Year all! The first hike of 2015 was on the Moat Mountains of picturesque New Hampshire. The summit of this peak gave us beautiful views as the sun set on the first day of the year with a clear view of Mount Washington in the distance. The hike overall was made more difficult due to icy conditions, but many spots of the trail had no snow or ice coverage at all. As compared to a subsequent hike we did in the northern white mountains where we were breaking trail, it was a nice contrast in terrain and scenery to hike through.

The trailhead can be reached off Dugway road and has ample parking space. The access to the road from the Kancamagus Highway is closed in the winter season, but it can be accessed coming though from the town of North Conway.

Trailhead Sign

The beginning of the trail was slightly rerouted to go around some logging activity.

A view through the trees on the way up.

A heart shaped rock <3

#happycouple - two trees intwined

Browned leaves

A wood-pecked tree

Gaining elevation

A bit icy on the slope up

The climb up became more difficult as we gained elevation. There was one section that we'd carefuly hiked around the sheets of ice coating the rocks. Jesse didn't have microspikes on, but he still hiked much faster than me and I don't know how he did it without sliding all over the ice. Eventually the top of South Mountain was reached marked by the largest yellow blaze on the below rock. Woohoo!

Summit 

The summit offered a nice 360 degree view of the surrounding mountains and landscape. It was well worth the effort to climb. In the other seasons you can continue onto Middle Moat and North Moat mountains and do an end to end hike if you have two cars and plan wisely. The trail wasn't broken past South Moat and wouldn't seem a wise decision to continue on further with the icy conditions.

Jesse's hand makes an appearance.

The following photo is my favorite of the sun setting in contrast to the bloom of red against the rocks.

Another favorite photo of a cute face on the mountaintop.

Moose tracks?

On the way back we cross a bridge over a small waterfall.

Uh oh it's getting a bit dark. Luckily we were close to the end here.

The gps tracker seems to add an extra .2 mileage.

Recommended breakfast place to fuel before the hike:
Stairway Cafe

A very filling breakfast of eggs, toast and the most delicious beans I've had.

Recommended Dinner and Brews place to relax after the hike:
Moat Mountain Brewery

Nachos

A delicious thai veggie wrap

Recommended place to shop and browse:
Zeb's General Store

North Conway is a fun town to explore and has many places to shop and eat. Of all the times I've hiked up here I've never driven through this town and had a fun time exploring a new place.

I look forward to all the hikes to come in 2015!