The Route and Records
Distance: 15.4 miles
FKT: 3:16:23 (Ben Nephew); no women’s FKT on record
Total elevation gain: about 6,300 feet
Normal runner time: about four to seven hours
Access: The route starts at High Street in Glencliff, N.H., about 1.2 miles north of the intersection of High Street and Route 25. Details can be found on map #4 of the AMC’s White Mountains Trail Map.
Finding and following this FKT route is fairly simple. It follows the Appalachian Trail (aka Glencliff Trail, Carriage Road, and Beaver Brook Trail) over Mount Moosilauke then turns around and comes back the same way. But don’t let the simplicity of the route fool you: this is a tough run.
The Glencliff Trail trailhead sits at 1,480 feet. The trail climbs to an intersection with the Moosilauke Carriage Road (at 4,460 feet and 3.0 miles). From there, the route follows the Carriage Road to the summit (at 4,802 feet and 3.9 miles). After tagging the summit, the route continues north on the Beaver Brook Trail, descending to Route 112 (1,870 feet and 7.7 miles) in Kinsman Notch.
After reaching Route 112, runners will turn around and do it all in reverse. The total distance for the double traverse is 15.4 miles according to the AMC (everyone’s GPS will be slightly different). The elevation gain is right around 6,300 feet. All of these trails (Glencliff, Carriage Road, and Beaver Brook) are also the Appalachian Trail in this section, so follow the white blazes.
Nephew completed his double traverse in 3:16:23. Much as I admire Nephew, I think it should be illegal to run that fast on this route (more on that below). While there hasn’t been competition, it is hard to believe someone could go much faster.
The Normal Runner
I had two immediate thoughts when I first saw Ben Nephew’s post on the FKT website about his Moosilauke Double Traverse: (1) I never want to do that; and (2) I am almost certainly going to do that.
If you’ve ever hiked the Beaver Brook Trail, you understand my trepidation. It is, without question, one of the steepest, most rugged, most unrunnable trails in the White Mountains. Nephew’s time is insane. So what does the Moosilauke Double Traverse look like for a normal runner? On July 18, 2014, I set out to find out. My total time ended up being 5:09. That included a couple of brief stops to refuel and just to take a breath before turning around at Route 112. (For a sense of where I fall on the speed spectrum—so you can figure out how your experience might compare to mine—have a look at my prior run of the Presidential Traverse.)
I started at the High Street parking lot on a warm, sunny day a little after 8 a.m. It had been dry for a couple days and I waited until the morning fog burned off a bit. No matter what day of the year you go, Beaver Brook Trail is going to be at least somewhat wet and slick, but I was hoping to at least minimize the danger.
I started up the Glencliff Trail, which begins through some grassy fields and then crosses a stream before entering the woods. The first mile to mile and a half is actually fairly runnable for those with good fitness because the trail is open and the footing is good. That said, I jogged some through the fields but was at a fast hike as I entered the woods. I knew I had a lot of climbing ahead of me. After that mile or so, the trail becomes increasingly rocky and steep. It can also be a little slick with all the rocks. For strong mountain runners, much of the trail remains runnable, but there is a lot of rock and uneven footing, not to mention the increasingly difficult grade, so almost everyone is going to slow down considerably as they approach the intersection with the Carriage Road at 3 miles. AMC book time to the Carriage Road is three hours. I hit the Carriage Road at 1:07. Nephew reached that spot in about 47 minutes.
From the Carriage Road intersection to the summit, the trail is very runnable. In fact the first half-mile or so of that section is wide, mostly level ridgeline. I felt a bit lightheaded from the climb up to the Carriage Road so I took a few more walking steps before starting to jog. I jogged until the trail started to climb again and became rockier, which happens about halfway from the intersection to the summit. I hit the summit with a total time of 1:22. AMC book time is 3:35 for the climb to the summit. Nephew hit the summit right around 54 minutes.
A small sample of the technical terrain on the Beaver Brook Trail.
This is a section where I feel like I could have pushed a little faster. With a harder effort I think I could have taken my time to the summit down into the 1:15ish range. But I was mindful of the fact that my biggest climbing challenge hadn’t even started. Normal runners pushing themselves could definitely reach the summit in the one hour to 1:45 range.
After summiting, I immediately took off to the north on the open ridgeline following the Beaver Brook Trail. The first couple miles of the Beaver Brook Trail (counting from the summit) to the Beaver Brook Shelter are, dare I say it, not so bad. After leaving the open ridge, the trail becomes increasingly technical, but it isn’t terribly steep. Some of it is runnable and the rest is fun to scramble. I passed a couple of well-marked intersections and made decent time. Once I hit the turn off for the shelter, things got more . . . interesting.
At the Beaver Brook trailhead, there’s a sign that reads: “This trail is extremely tough. If you lack experience please use another trail. Take special care at the cascades to avoid tragic results.”
Sometimes warnings on trails seem a little over the top. Not in this case. Between the shelter and Route 112 the trail is not runnable. It is very steep and it is good to have your hands free to help with climbing up and down rocks. There are many sets of wooden stairs built into big rocks. The trail follows a series of cascades that are beautiful, but they also keep the trail wet and slick. Even experienced mountain hikers and runners should not take this trail lightly.
Even the Glencliff Trail, the more runnable half of the traverse, can get pretty technical.
The last time I hiked this trail, I went pretty slow. This time, I was determined to go a little faster and be less scared. That lasted all of a few steps. I realized I just didn’t want to push too hard, and I did want to come out in one piece. Many times I found myself using my hands, even sitting down to slide down big steps. I found myself wondering whether Ben Nephew ever has to sit on his butt and slide down big rocks. (After completing my traverse, I asked Nephew about his times. “Beaver Brook is one of the few trails that really scares me!” he admitted. “I slowed down after a couple good slips!” Okay, now I didn’t feel so bad.)
After the steep descent, the trail levels out for a short stretch and then hits Route 112. I made it to Route 112 at 2:29 total running time, so 1:07 from the summit. Nephew hit Route 112 in 1:39, which means he made it down Beaver Brook Trail in 45 minutes from the summit. I think normal runners should expect to spend one to two hours descending this trail. It is hard to estimate the AMC book time here since the book marks the other direction.
After tagging Route 112, I took a quick break, with my timer still running, then turned back. I knew the trip back up Beaver Brook Trail would be tough, but it was even tougher than I expected. My legs were tired and I felt discouraged. My pace slowed to a crawl. I wish I had put away my watch away because I was aware the whole time of how slow I was moving and I allowed it to mess with my head.
I was able to move a little faster as the trail leveled out after passing the shelter, but my legs were pretty shot. I hit the summit for the second time at 4:14, so it had taken me 1:45 to travel the 3.8 miles back up Beaver Brook Trail. Not terribly impressive. Still, book time is 3:25, so I’ll take it. Nephew, by comparison, hit the summit the second time at 2:40, or 1:01 after touching Route 112. I think on a cooler day when I didn’t let it mess with my head so much, I could do this section faster, maybe even 10 to 15 minutes faster. That said, it could also take much longer. Normal runners should expect this part of the climb to be the toughest, taking anywhere from a little over an hour up to three hours.
Once I hit the summit, it was time to have fun. My legs were tired so I was more cautious than I usually am on the descent from the summit down the Carriage Road back to the intersection with the Glencliff Trail. Normally I like to fly down this section. On this day I just hustled. I took the first part of the Glencliff Trail semicautiously. Then, when it got smoother, I picked up the pace, getting back to High Street at 5:09, or 55 minutes after leaving the summit. Nephew completed this section in 36 minutes.
One interesting thing to note is that Nephew had a slightly negative split—1:39 to Route 112 and then 1:37 back. I didn’t, mostly because I let Beaver Brook Trail really mess with my head on the way back—2:29 out and 2:40 back. But I think many runners feeling strong might actually be able to do the trip back significantly faster than the route out. The reason is that you can’t really run down Beaver Brook Trail as you head north, but you really can run fast on the way down Glencliff Trail on the way back.
My goal setting out was six hours, and I beat that significantly by finishing at 5:09. Now, having survived the whole route in one piece, I am confident I could get my time below five hours, especially on a slightly cooler day. Perhaps 4:50ish, maybe 4:45, but I think that would be really pushing it for me. Staying around a book pace for this route would mean finishing between 10:30 and 11 hours. So, I’ll put the normal runner time in the four-hour to seven-hour range. That said, I want to really encourage people to slow down on the Beaver Brook Trail. If you fall hard on that trail, there is a good chance you are not walking out. Be careful!
A few tips
- It’s easy to underestimate Mount Moosilauke. Don’t. This is a big, big mountain. I’ve been up there in the winter with winds so strong I had to hold onto another person to stay up right. I’ve been up there in May on a day where the surrounding valley was 65 and sunny only to be hit by a freak ice pellet storm and near whiteout conditions. So check the weather. Pack extra gear. Stop before the open ridgeline if anything seems questionable.
- Be careful on the Beaver Brook Trail. The sign is not kidding. Tragic results could occur if you aren’t careful. Also, the Beaver Brook Trail is not dog or kid friendly. I’ve taken my dog on it and watched nervously as she climbed out on the cascades. She had a blast; I had a heart attack. This is one of about five trails in the Whites where I leave her home.
- Conserve some strength on the first half. The Glencliff Trail and Carriage Road are easier than Beaver Brook (in both directions), so pace yourself. On the way back down Glencliff, on the other hand, it’s a blast to run fast, especially as you get lower toward the parking area.
- If you want to try to put any speed in on this route, go on a dry day. Better yet, go after many dry days. No matter what, Beaver Brook Trail will be slick, but you can play it a little safer by avoiding wet days here. Remember, if a trail scares Ben Nephew, it should scare you too.
Is it worth it?
Climbing Mount Moosilauke is definitely worth it and there are many fun ways to do it. Is the double traverse worth it? That’s a tough call. There are at least two good reasons I can see for doing this route. First, if you are interested in FKTs and wondering just how fast and technically skilled the runners setting them are, this is a great route to try. I wish I could see Nephew or some of the other fast runners on Beaver Brook Trail (both up and down), or even the steeper sections of the Glencliff Trail, just to see what they are capable of and how they do it. Since FKTs don’t really lend themselves well to an audience, running the route was the closest I could get. The second good reason to try this route is if you are training for some really gnarly trail races (think Escarpment or the like). This route has everything, from the highly runnable Carriage Road to the utterly unrunnable Beaver Brook Trail. So, it is a great training run for the truly nasty (aka truly fun) Northeast races.
If you aren’t looking to set records and just want to check out Moosilauke, there are lots of ways to do it, including a fun fast loop from the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge up the Gorge Brook Trail, then down the Carriage Road to the Snapper Trail and back to the Lodge. That’s a fun trip that also seems ripe for a really great FKT. So get out there and set it!
For more on the Appalachian Trail over Moosilauke, you can also check out my report from last year as part of the series on running the AT in New Hampshire.
Elevation profile:
