Mt. Moosilauke via Benton Trail

There's no better place than the crown of the Moose on a cool, breezy day with 100-mile visibility. The Benton Trail is a pleasant and lightly-used approach from the NW. Near the top I made a bushwhack diversion to an obscure viewspot on the headwall of Tunnel Ravine.

 The Benton Trail is accessed by a 1.5 mile walk up the Tunnel Brook Trail, which follows Tunnel Brook Rd. (FR 700) past a washed-out stretch and then along this pleasant section that is used for logging in winter.

Signs at the junction.

 

The crossing of Tunnel Brook was pretty easy, but can be difficult in high water.

One of the several really pleasant sections of the Benton Trail, which is admirably maintained by adopter Per "Longmark" Frost.

 

An excellent outlook, including this view north to the Kinsmans, is reached 1.3 mi. and 1,050 ft. up from Tunnel Brook Trail.

Well up on the ridge, the trail skirts a fir wave.

A beautiful boreal forest walk on a shoulder at 4100 ft.

A short side path leads to a restricted western outlook at 4400 ft. From here I could see that the visibility was exceptional for midsummer, with the Green Mountains clearly visible and several Adirondack High Peaks seen through Lincoln Gap. Ledgy Black Mountain is seen in the foreground. I believe this side path was the upper terminus of the long-abandoned Tunnel Ravine Trail, once maintained by the Dartmouth Outing Club. I know of two avid bushwhackers who have tried to follow the old trail without success, wallowing in a maelstrom of dense scrub and blowdown.

 

Farther on, a fairly gnarly bushwhack led me to a small cliff at the top of an old overgrown slide on the headwall of Tunnel Ravine (aka Benton Ravine).

From here I had a good look at the slide triggered by Tropical Storm Irene in 2011. I believe the light green swath seen to the left of the new slide, starting near the crest of the ridge, may mark the track of a slide that fell in the 1870s and was frequently visited by guests staying at the Prospect House on the summit. Over the years there has been a great deal of slide activity on the steep slopes of this ravine.

The Irene slide was a big one.

Zoom on the middle section.

What it looked like two years after it fell.

Alders have taken over part of the old slide I was sitting atop. This most likely fell during a storm in June 1973.

Looking across the ravine headwall.

Back on the trail, it was a great day to be above treeline. The Dartmouth Outing Club has posted helpful signs to prevent folks from descending the wrong trail.

 

 
Heading up the beautiful north ridge.

 

 What a day! Moosilauke's views boast a unique vastness.

Summit view looking SE across "East Peak," the route of the upper Gorge Brook Trail.

Eastward vista to the southern Whites.

Peering down to the town of Lincoln with Mt. Carrigain and the Hancocks beyond. The red-and-white Riverwalk Hotel is prominent and reminds some viewers of the Mount Washington Hotel at Bretton Woods.

Looking NE to Mt. Washington in the distance.

Summit signs.

Heading back down the north ridge after enjoying two hours above treeline.

The Benton/Beaver Brook Trail junction. The heavy traffic goes right on Beaver Brook Trail. I saw no one on the Benton Trail on both the ascent and descent.

Boreal forest delight.

Evening view of Little Tunnel Ravine.