Sunday, August 17, 2014

Hiking Mount Major for a Panorama View of Lake Winnipesaukee


Lake Winnipesaukee
from Summit of Mount Major



Mount Major is 1,785 feet in elevation and located in central New Hampshire.  It overlooks Alton bay on the southwest shore of Lake Winnipesaukee.

George and I took a loop trail beginning and ending at the parking lot off of route 11. From the back, left-hand corner of the Route 11 parking lot, we took the orange blazed Boulder Loop Trail. Boulder Loop Trail is about 1.6 miles from the parking lot to the summit of Mount Major.

Boulder Loop Trail climbs easily at first then gets steeper with ledges and huge boulders requiring at least one squeeze through. After a final steep climb, we began to see some views of Lake Winipeasaukee.  It took about another 15 minutes to reach the summit and the remains of a stone built hiker hut.  Our total time form parking lot to summit was about 90 easy going minutes.

The granite laden summit overlooks beautiful Lake Winnipeasaukee. The view below to our right is Alton Bay with an across the lake vjew of the town of Wolfboro.  We take in the breath-taking sights of some of the 258 islands on the lake, and its 182 mile shoreline.  The lake is 72 square miles, and about 21 miles long and 9 miles at its widest point, so we just got enough taste of the beauty of this gem of New Hampshire

Our Descent from the summit was on the blue blazed Mt Major Trail.  The Boulder loop orange-blazed trail junctions with the blue blazed trail Mt Major trail at the summit (be aware the Beaver Pond Trail also meets at the summit to check your map.)

Our total trip was about 3 hours which includes a half hour on the summit.  Certainly this is a family hike mountain for all ages.

Statistics
Elevation: 1,785' (544m)
Prominence: 187' (57m)
Location = Central New Hampshire, USA
Area of water surface = 72 square miles
Number of islands = 258
Distance around lake = 182 miles
Height above sea level = 504 feet
Overlooks Lake Winnipesaukee
  
References


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"Everyone must do something.  I believe I will go outdoors with family and friends"



Steve’s latest book, Outdoor Play "Fun 4 4 Seasons" is available as an e-Book at Kindle ($3.99) and hard copy at Amazon.com ($11.95)

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