Morgan-Percival, October 25, 2008

This is a beautiful hike - two summits with great views. If you have never done Morgan and are concerned about the ladder, do not worry as there is a trail that skirts around the ladder.

We will take Mount Morgan Trail to the summit of Mount Morgan (2220' elevation with 1500' gain) - a moderate hike with lake and mountain views. We will loop over to Mount Percival (2212') with slight ledge climbing required on the last 0.1 mile up Mount Percival.

The entire loop is approximately 5 miles. Time: 3-1/2 hours.

NEXT HIKE: October 25, Morgan-Percival
MEETING SPOTS: Exit 14 off of Rt. 93, LL Bean/Hannaford side, Concord at 9:00 a.m.
Mobile station in Wakefield (junction of Rt. 16 and 109) at 9:00 a.m.
Morgan Trailhead at 10:00 a.m
TRAILHEAD: Take I-93 Exit 24 onto Route 3 South about 4.6 miles to Holderness. Turn left onto Route 113 and continue about 5.6 miles to the Morgan trailhead on the left. If you miss the Morgan trailhead parking lot, you will end up at the Percival trailhead on the left 1/8 mile down the road but we are starting instead from the Morgan trailhead not the (Morgan) Percival trailhead.
HIKE LEADER: Claudette Raymond

Ten brave hikers and one dog showed up for the Morgan-Percival loop. The weather was on the cool side and overcast but the rain held off. The trails were covered in colorful leaves making it difficult to find at times.

We hiked up to the summit of Morgan, where some reluctantly climbed up the scary cliff ladder with two rungs missing, and a few avoided the ladder and took the alternate "loop around".

We ate lunch on the Percival summit. There were many hikers with a "sweet tooth" as cookies, cake, pudding and candy were tossed around. As we departed the summit, the fog cleared long enough for us to snap some pics and take in the beautiful views of Squam Lake.

Cruising down Percival, some of us took a quick detour and crawled through the mysterious caves. Everybody pretty much hiked at the same pace and completed this scenic hike in 3-1/2 hours book time.

Members may see more photos in our online photo album.

Comparison of trail signs from this hike with the same signs from the hike we did in February of this year: