Bays, coves, forested humps, sparkling waters, impressive mountains, a stone shelter and cornucopia of cairns are all part of the stunning Lakes Region landscape from a relatively small stage.
But that ledgy stage is not reached via an easy hike as many believe it to be. If location is everything, than Mount Major in Alton has got it. The trailhead is on summer’s well-beaten path, scenic Route 11 between Alton Bay and Gilford and its wealth of tourist attractions and natural beauty.
The quiver of trails to the summit are well-marked and well-maintained. Trailhead parking is nicely paved with an informative kiosk within it.
Choose any path and the moderate hike with rock scrambles is readily done in under four miles.
Plus, popular Mount Major is a scant 1,786 feet.
However, the mountain’s got some serious bite, especially for the unprepared hikers the trek attracts, the ones carrying handbags, wearing sneakers, and holding a bottle of water among three people.
Located on the eastern end of the low-lying Belknap Range including Belknap Mountain, Gunstock and Mount Klem, Mount Major has an incredible 360-degree panorama with a wonderful view of Lake Winnipesaukee.
Today, Mount Major is protected under a partnership with the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, Lakes Region Conservation Trust and Belknap Range Conservation Coalition.
That summit is prime real estate. Not only does its open ledges hold copious amounts of blueberries in season, but the mountain’s tip top contains the remnants of a stone hut built in the 1920s. The story goes that George Phippen of Alton bought the mountain top for $125 in 1914. He loved the view and the blueberries, and in 1925 built the hut as a shelter for hikers to escape harsh weather when it blew in.
However, that brutal weather also played havoc with “Mr. Phippin’s Hut” roof. With an exposed summit, strong winds blew the roof off that first winter. The next summer Phippen was roof-building again, this time layering spruce poles, boards and corrugated iron.
This roof lasted two years, blown away in the spring of 1928, and another was never built.
It is through the story of hut roof that hikers should be aware of that exposed summit. Should foul weather blow in, get down.
But first one has to get up. The blue-blazed Mt. Major Trail is the most favored and most direct pathway to the summit, clocking in at 1.5 miles and features steep and exposed sections that can be icy and slick depending on the weather. The yellow-blazed Brook Trail is another option with its pair of brook crossings.
On a sunny midweek morning, my wife Jan and I decided on the orange-marked Boulder Loop Trail, a 1.6 mile pathway up the south side of the mountain, for a 3.2 mile up-and-down hike. For Jan, it was her first time on Mount Major. For me, a return to a mountain I last climbed in the 20th century during a spell I called the Lakes Region home.
The first section was welcomingly wide as the path crossed a couple of appreciated plank bridges on a snowmobile trail before handing off to an old woods road, happy hiking for side-by-side fans. The trail narrowed when it hit an area of boulders with steep pitches. It was possible to scamper up and squeeze between some, but upon further female inspection thin dirt pathways were found that avoided much play on the boulders.
The pathway did ease up through the pines near the summit, afforded excellent views and went by those plentiful blueberry patches.
The summit views are jaw-dropping of the state’s largest lake and beyond. Fittingly, Rattlesnake Island is easily spotted in the north, one of the more than 250 islands on the lake, and the one with the highest summit at 874 feet. The Sandwich Range, Ossipee Mountains and White Mountains stand on the northern horizon too with western mountains of Maine in the northeast.
The western sky holds the Belknap Range and Upper Valley area peaks like Mt. Cube and Smarts Mountain.
Wonderfully, we had the summit to ourselves for a magical 10 minutes or so, sitting on a stone bench in Mr. Phippen’s hut that once had a wood stove for warmth. We peered out at the spot that once had a door upon shimmering waters and rippling mountains enjoying the splendor before the swarms of summer return.