Don't forget to look for us in The Boston Globe, The Concord Monitor, The Union Leader, The Chicago Tribune, Maine Sunday Telegram, and Lancaster Sunday News this weekend! Also, tune in to "The Takeaway" this Friday morning at 7:20 EDT to hear our live interview!***
Mt. Morgan Trail and Mt. Percival Trail. 5.4 mile loop.
Alex, Sage and I tackled two trails from our Terrifying 25 list last Thursday: Mt. Morgan Trail and Mt. Percival Trail. We'd heard a lot about this classic loop hike and were excited to see what the fuss was about.
The day was drizzly and overcast when we arrived at the trailhead.
As you can see, we brought our dog on this hike -- however, I recommend you think twice before bringing yours. We didn't have too many issues with Max since he's a small breed and I can easily carry him over obstacles. A larger dog might have a lot of problems, though. You'll soon understand why.
The lower section of Mt. Morgan Trail is easy enough...
(Loved this tree!)
...and then, we got to the ladders.
That top ladder goes only halfway up the rock. At the top, there's a damp slab you have to climb, and then you enter that cave to the right. Here's a close-up...
Up we went. The first two ladders weren't too bad, though they did shake with every step (I'm not convinced those bolts are secure). The tricky part was getting to that third ladder from the second one. You have to swing your leg up and over that boulder to the right, then pull yourself up. It's a long way down if you slip and fall...
Here's a picture of the cave's opening from the inside.
We emerged from the cave, climbed a few ledges...
...and stood on the top of Mt. Morgan.
After eating some chocolate, we moved on to Percival. The walk between the peaks was rocky and pleasant.
Summit!
The views are supposed to be great on Percival, but all we had was Cloud.
After our mandatory chocolate, we descended Mt. Percival Trail via the boulder cave route.
The entrance to the cave on Mt. Percival Trail (on the descent) is between that crack in the rocks on the bottom left of the following picture:
Here's a better look...
Here are the girls coming through the entrance (I'm standing inside the cave) --
Finished with the caves, ladders, and ledges!
Max was ready for normal trail.
The rest of the descent was routine.
This was a fun hike, but I wouldn't recommend it for dogs. Max did well enough, since we carried him over all the tricky bits, but I don't think I could have managed with a larger breed.
Our next hike will be on Mother's Day. Speaking of Mother's Day, don't forget to look for us in The Boston Globe, The Concord Monitor, The Union Leader, The Chicago Tribune, Maine Sunday Telegram, and Lancaster Sunday News this weekend! Also, tune in to "The Takeaway" this Friday morning at 7:20 EDT to hear our live interview!
7 comments:
I was honestly amazed with how well this blog was done, beautiful layout, professional writing, great job!
from High speed photography
Always Unlucky, thank you! I'm glad you enjoy the blog. Hope you also enjoy Up: A Mother and Daughter's Peakbagging Adventure! ;)
I picked up a copy of the book at our local bookstore a few weeks ago. It's great! My wife and I both loved it.
Got a question, though, about the Morgan/Percival loop: Is there any reason to prefer going one way around the loop vs the other? I.e., climb Morgan first, or Percival?
J.
Hi Anonymous,
Thanks for the compliments! I'm glad you enjoyed UP.
If you want to do the ladders and caves, then I'd suggest going up Morgan and down Percival. We didn't have much trouble descending the boulder cave route (Percival), but I cannot imagine trying to descend the ladder section on Morgan. Far too risky (for us, anyway).
Thanks for the reply. This sounds like a neat hike. I'm going to try to get over there some time with my daughter.
Your list of the Terrifying 25 is great. We've climbed a bunch of them already but the list has lots of good ideas that we haven't tried.
Reading this blog is fun and inspiring.
J.
I love the Morgan and Percival loop hike, but it's been a few years. Thanks for posting your trip report and pictures. It takes me back!
Thanks for your comment, Jeremy! I agree, Morgan/Percival is a lot of fun. I'll have to repeat this loop some day (without the dog).
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