Mount Morgan Trail - Mount Morgan
TRAIL STATISTICS
Trail Distance: 2.1 miles
Trail Elevation Gain: 1,400 feet
Trail Hiking Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes
Trail Difficulty: Moderate
TOTAL HIKE STATISTICS
Total Hike Distance: 5.1 miles (with Mount Morgan and Mount Percival)
Hike Elevation Gain: 1,600 feet
Hiking Time: 4 hours, 5 minutes
Hike date: 06/13/2020
Description: In order for this trail to count for the Terrifying 25, you need to make sure you take the ladder route when the trail splits just below the summit of Mount Morgan (marked by a sign). The ladder section is what lands this trail on the Terrifying 25 list. You’ll climb up 3 ladders, crawl through a cave, and scramble over some ledges to get to a really nice viewpoint of Squam Lake. Check out our YouTube video here of our hike to Mount Morgan and Mount Percival.
Trails Used: Ascend via the Mount Morgan Trail to the Crawford-Ridgepole Trail to the summit of Mount Morgan. Continue on Crawford-Ridgepole Trail until you reach the summit of Mount Percival. To descend, take the Mount Percival Trail down. To make this a loop and get back to your car, take the Morse Trail back to the Mount Morgan Trail. You can do the loop in the opposite direction, but the best way to do this loop is clockwise by going up Mount Morgan and down Mount Percival, this way you avoid a risky descent down the ladder section. Since the Mount Morgan trailhead parking lot was full, we parked at the Mount Percival trailhead lot. Instead of using the Morse Trail at the end of our hike to form a loop, we walked along Route 113 at the start of our hike to get to the Mount Morgan Trailhead. We could have also used the Morse Trail at the start of our hike from the Mount Percival Trailhead, but we chose the road instead. For more details about the entire hike, check out the full report here!
T25 Trail Summary: The first mile or so of the Mount Morgan Trail climbs very moderately over gentle terrain. As you near the ridge, the trail becomes rockier and makes a steeper ascent. After you’ve gone 1.7 miles from the trailhead, you’ll find yourself at the junction with the Crawford-Ridgepole Trail where the two trails now coincide with one another until the summit of Mount Morgan. After hiking 0.3 miles from the junction, you’ll come to a fork where you have a choice of how to get to the summit. If you go left, you’ll be taking the ladder route to the summit. Note that this portion of the trail lands the Mount Morgan Trail on the Terrifying 25 list! If you go right at the fork, it’ll be a bit of a longer approach to the summit, but safer and less aggressive than the ladder route. After taking the left, your first obstacle will be three ladders. We had to wait our turn while another pair carefully climbed down the ladders and we were very happy that we were ascending rather than descending. The first two ladders are right on top of each other, but you have to reach far to the right to grab onto the third short one! This can be a little difficult if you are shorter! Next you will crawl through a cave which doesn’t feel too claustrophobic, except for when getting out at the end. You may have to take off your pack and stick it out before you climb out yourself. Once you emerge from the cave you will be greeted by some great views! Next, you turn left to scramble the rest of the way up to the summit! If you look down during the first scramble you may see other people crawling through the cave you just came through! The top of the mountain offers great views of Squam Lake. Once you’re done enjoying the views, make sure to follow the trail for another minute until you come to a signed spur path on your left that takes you to the true summit (which is wooded and has limited views). To this point, you’ll have gone 2.1 miles and gained 1,400 feet in elevation.
Now it’s time to head over to the Mount Percival Trail for more amazing views and T25 action!
The fork in the trail that indicates where the ladders are. Take a left here
Looking up the ladders from the bottom
Making our way up the ladders
Looking back down the ladder. It’s a bit high!
This is the third ladders where you need to transition to your right onto it
Crawling through the cave at the top of the ladders
Looking back at the exit of the cave
Scrambling up the boulders and ledges after coming out of the cave
Soon you’ll start getting a glimpse of the view that awaits you at the top
Enjoying the amazing view of Squam Lake with Red Hill (left) and the Belknap Range visible in the distance (middle)
Questions? Comments? Want to share your take on this hike? Get in touch with us using the contact page!
As experienced hikers, we always make sure that we are hiking with The Ten Essentials which include navigation, a headlamp, sun protection, first aid, a knife, shelter, extra food, water and clothes. Overtime, we have discovered some items that we always bring on our hikes and consider them to be our personal, expanded ten essentials.