Elevation: 1,780 ft (overall) 1,825 ft (total)
Time: 1:58 (Summit) 3:24 (Total)
Trails: Marlboro Trail
Looking to check another day off the calendar on Mt. Monadnock, I decided to hike the Marlboro Trail so I could revisit the entire length of it and re-log the sections with my GPS. This ended up not working out quite as well as intended though as my GPS had a hard time to start with calculating elevation and distance traveled. It had the route correct, but the elevation was wrong and the tiles keeping track of the totals quickly became inaccurate. That's fine though as it just gives me yet another reason to come back to this trail.
It was cloudy and humid to start, but the trail is pretty gradual in the beginning. About 1/4 of a mile up the trail I spotted a large beehive or hornet nest. It was just off the trail, so I looked to see if it was still active. After seeing some activity, I left the area since I recently had 3 stings that swelled up for almost a week before going away. The trail soon gets a bit steeper, but does so in sections for the most part. You'll find an incline that has a short flat section after it.
Soon though, the real climb starts. The first steep climb on the trail is also the longest. You'll quickly gain elevation over some rocky terrain with nice stone work in places to help out. There appear to be paths through here around sections, but please stay on the trail and use the route that is well marked out. It's really not that tough, you are climbing a mountain after all. At the top of this climb you'll come to a small rocky opening with a bit of a view. Keep going just a bit further and the trails opens up to a much better viewpoint. From here up to the junction with the Marian Trail it's an enjoyable hike over mostly open rock with some sections in the trees.
Start of the steep climb
View from Marlboro and Marian Trail junction
After the junction, you'll be mostly back into the trees, but through some small open areas as well. The trail varies between steep sections and shorter gradual sections. Footing will also start to include more roots and large rocks as well. It can be a good test of your legs at times, but still be enjoyable too. Eventually you'll start to come out of the trees a bit with one last scramble to get above treeline. From here, it's a relatively short distance to the summit without much elevation gain. You'll just have some large and potentially steep sections of rock to get up and around at times.
Above treeline
Today, the clouds were pretty low in the sky and just a bit overhead on the summit. A few clouds at times appeared to be coming in right at summit height until they went over or around the mountain. While not the best day for great views from the top, it was still nice with some interesting cloud formations. It was also pretty quiet with very few hikers out yet. I almost had the summit to myself while I was up there.
View south from the summit
Clouds coming towards the summit
Clearing skies on the descent
The climb down went by pretty quickly and easily today. The clouds were starting to clear up as I ducked back into the trees, but didn't fully clear up until I was done with the hike. I saw only one pair of hikers while I was descending. These were the only other hikers I saw on this trail today. It was quiet enough near the bottom that I could hear lots of small noises off in the woods. For one of those noises, I stopped to look and see if I could see what caused it. While I didn't see the cause, I was able to spot a Barred Owl in a different direction. I wasn't able to get the best pictures of it with the low light and short camera lens, but it was nice to see it none the less. A short time later, I was back at the truck making a plan to go for a quick swim in front of my uncle's camp as a way to clean off and cool down before doing my other activities for the day.
Barred Owl
Active hive along the trail
For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE
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