Seeking to get off the beaten path, my brother Drew and I snowshoed the Moosilauke Carriage Road and Hurricane Trail to the ridge of Hurricane Mountain and a small off-trail view ledge. The Smith brothers enjoyed a fine outing on a bright, windy day.
Appropriately, the breeze was brisk at the scenic Breezy Point trailhead, with deep blue sky over the peaks of Mount Moosilauke.
The Carriage Road was hard-packed and a little uneven but made for pretty easy snowshoeing. We enjoyed the bright sun and peeks at the Moosilauke ridges in the fine open hardwoods that start about 0.7 mile in.
Snowshoe hare tracks. We also saw coyote, Ruffed Grouse, mouse and red squirrel tracks.
A Pileated Woodpecker multiplex.
A double Dartmouth Outing Club blaze announces the upcoming junction.
On to the Hurricane Trail.
Hurricane had only one old, frozen set of deep snowshoe tracks, making for fairly difficult going. This trail gets little use in winter. But it is an attractive woods climb with good grades for snowshoeing, and has a wild and remote feel to it.
Crossing frozen Little Brook, which the trail follows for a while.
A long trail corridor.
After a steady climb we crested the broad Hurricane Mountain ridge at ~3000 ft.
A 0.1 mile bushwhack through deep unconsolidated snow brought us to a small south-facing view ledge I'd visited several times before.
Stinson Mountain, Whitcher Hill and beyond.
Carr Mountain and Chokecherry Hill. Also visible in the distance were Mount Cardigan, Mount Kearsarge and Ragged Mountain.
The distinctive pointy peak of Mount Kineo.
Naturally, the trip down was easier, though the track was still uneven through the heavy mealy snow. This is a nice open glade along the lower part of the trail.
The site of an early 1900s logging camp near Big Brook.
Carr Mountain from the snow-crusted fields at Breezy Point.
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