Hiking Gunstock Mountain

Climbed Mountain number three on my Belknap Range Hiking Series, this time it was Gunstock Mountain.

My wife and I traversed up the brook trail. Once we found it, the trail was easy to follow but finding the “trail head” was slightly more of a challenge than we thought it should be.

Thankfully the description on our trail map said it was to the left of the Panorama chair lift. Which it was. It was the other descriptor that made it more difficult: Right next to the fire place.

Fireplace? I never saw a fireplace.

But sure enough as we found the opening of the trail, just to the left of the trail head, buried behind tons of trees and brush was a fireplace. There is a big brown board with trail maps and advertisements just to the left of the Panorama ski lift and the ski trail under that lift. Go there and you’ll easily find your way.

The trail, true to its name, started off along and following a brook.

As we climbed our way farther up, we could hear the sound of the Gunstock zip line and the “woohoo”s people shouted while sliding down them. I won’t be able to tell you that this is the most peaceful hike, but it always gave me a chuckle and smile hearing the happy people zipping down the mountain. They go in 1/2 hour increments, so there is usually a good lull between the quiet and the noise.

It’s right about here that the zip lines are going overhead.

At the top, there are plenty of views over Lake Winnipesaukee

There is also a cabin on top

The Cabin has a porch overlooking the lake with benches, chairs and tables for you to sit and relax on while you take in the sights.

We hydrated up, relaxed and decided to just make our way down one of the ski trails. Which may have been a slight mistake. I can’t say it was any faster. Due to the steep grade of the trail, our forward momentum was very limited and the loose granular rock on the “roads” going down made our progress even slower as we tried our best not to slip and fall.