Mt. Monadnock (3,165 ft) 10-20-18

Distance: 8.63 mi.
Elevation: 1,649 ft (overall) 2,867 ft (total)
Time: 3:08 (Summit) 5:24 (Total)
Trails: Pumpelly Trail

With afternoon plans and taking the longest trail up Mt. Monadnock, I needed to get an earlier than normal start this morning. So just before 7am this morning I headed out up the Pumpelly Trail. The first 1.5-ish miles is mostly a gentle walk through the woods with not much for elevation changes. I headed through here at a quick pace, but the leaves covering the trail made it so I had to still be careful while hiking faster. After the gentle walk in the woods though, the trail reaches the longest steep climb of the day. Once you start climbing, you have the biggest climb of the day.

Stone stairs at the start of the climbing

At the start of this climb is some nice stone stairs that have been added in the last few years since I have been through here. This climb has gotten pretty eroded and the stairs are welcomed. There are still some sections though that are pretty beat up. You can still make it up the climb without needing to go off trail though, so please try to do so to keep the erosion from getting worse.

Reaching the lower level of the clouds

After the long climb, the trail starts to have some exposed sections out of the trees that would normally provide some nice viewpoints. Today though, as I reached those viewpoints I was also just reaching the lower level of the clouds. I had some limited views at the first one, but then ventured off into the clouds until on the descent.

The trail has a lot of nice viewpoints along it, but it also has lots of small ups and downs along it. Many of these small PUDs (pointless ups and downs) can be rocky and require some scrambling up and down them. It makes for some fun segments of trail if you are in the mood for it.

Rocky Scramble

In the clouds

A trail through the clouds

As I got closer to the summit, the lack of trees made the wind more constant and I could start to tell just how windy it was getting. There are quite a few cairns along this trail where you hike out on the exposed rocks, but with visibility around 100-150 feet today as I got higher, it was certainly helpful to have experience with this trail above treeline. In some spots the trail doesn't quite stay straight and just before the summit there are less cairns because normally you would have a nice view of the top just ahead. This morning it was 42 degrees on the summit while I was there, but the wind averaging 27 mph (gusts to 31 mph) the wind chill made it feel like just 29 degrees. Many others at the summit were not staying long or weren't enjoying the conditions.

Limited views at the summit today

After some time at the summit, I headed back down the same way I came up. This was when I started to see other hikers on the Pumpelly Trail since I was the first one at the trail head this morning. As I got further down, the clouds were starting to get higher and I was down below the bottom of the clouds sooner than expected. As I got closer to the last viewpoints the sun also started to come through the clouds near the mountain. I wasn't directly in the sun and the summit was still just in the clouds. By the time I reached the bottom though the clouds were finally above the summit.

Clouds clearing some on the descent

Sun coming through on the descent

The summit still just in the clouds

Fun scramble on the way down

Easy walking at the end of the hike

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go to my gallery on SmugMug

Mt. Monadnock (3,165 ft) 9-29-18

Distance: 5.85 mi.
Elevation: 1,598 ft (overall) 1,892 ft (total)
Time: 1:23 (Bald Rock) 2:26 (Summit) 3:38 (Total)
Trails: Halfway House Trail, Sidefoot Trail, Hedgehog Trail, Smith Connecting Link, Red Spot Trail, Pumpelly Trail, Smith Summit Trail, Smith Bypass, Fairy Spring Trail, White Arrow Trail, Toll Road

• After a family function in the middle of the day, I wanted to get in a hike of Mt. Monadnock in the afternoon. I chose to start at the Toll Road trail head today so that I could use the old Hedgehog Trail to get up to Bald Rock
• Like normal, I took the Halfway House Trail instead of the Toll Road. I enjoy walking in the woods much more than up a dirt road, and the trail doesn't really have anything that makes it much more difficult in my opinion
• I enjoyed the walk through the nice woods the trail follows and was up to the Old Halfway Site in what seemed like not much time (for the distance at least)
• After a short break at the Old Halfway House Site, I headed up the Sidefoot Trail which is currently missing its sign. I took this trail for a little ways until I hit the old junction of the now abandoned Hedgehog Trail
• There is no longer a sign for the Hedgehog Trail and the start of it is now made to blend in so people that don't know it won't accidentally take it and end up in the wrong spot
• The trail was abandoned a few years ago, partly due to how eroded the bottom section of it had gotten. There isn't much top soil in this area and the trail was a bit of a low spot, so it was going to be difficult to divert water away from it with waterbars or anything similar
• The middle and upper sections of the trail go through some nice areas though with good smooth footing which makes the trail still enjoyable
• From Bald Rock I headed up the Smith Connecting Link. This trail now officially ends at the White Cross Trail, but I planned to follow the rest of the old route all the way over to the Red Spot Trail. I like all of this trail, but near the end it goes over some nice open areas as well
• Next I went up the upper end of the Red Spot Trail and hung a left onto the Pumpelly Trail to get to the summit
• The summit wasn't too busy for a Sunny Saturday, but it was later in the day than most people would hike here
• For my route down I took the Smith Summit Trail since it doesn't seem as steep as the White Arrow and also avoids the crowds
• I bypassed Monte Rosa today as I was already a bit later than planned. I then went down the Fairy Spring Trail
• From the Old Halfway House Site I did take the road back to the truck rather than the trail. It was nearing sunset and again, I was a bit behind my expected schedule

For all the pictures from the hike, just go to my gallery on SmugMug

Halfway House Trail

Halfway House Site view

On the abandoned Hedgehog Trail

The view from Bald Rock

Looking up to the summit

A fuzzy little friend

On an abandoned section of the Smith Connecting Link

Some foliage coming in on the northern side of the mountain

The view south over Bald Rock

Halfway House Site view just before sunset

Google Earth representation of the hike

Mt. Garfield (4,500 ft) 9-8-18

Distance: 10.4 mi.
Elevation: 2,988 ft (overall) 3,169 ft (total)
Time: 2:58 (Garfield) 5:43 (Total)
Trails: Garfield Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail

• Another year with the same core group for Flags on the 48, plus a few more joining us. This years memorial hike started off with a great weather forecast except for being a bit cooler temps. But compared to some of the weather we have experienced in the past few years, we'll take anything good we can get
• The trail stays pretty gradual and free of large rocks almost all the way to the summit, so we made good time all the way to that point. We took turns carrying the flagpole and even had lots of other hikers on the trail offer to carry it for a distance as well. This was very helpful and we appreciated the effort of all those other hikers. The attitude of everyone that learns about this hike is always positive
• As always, our group got a little spread out as we hiked, but we always seemed to bunch back up when we took a break or needed someone else to carry the flagpole for a while
• Once we reached the junction with the Garfield Ridge Trail, we found the group from Henniker Brewing Company taking a break there waiting for us out of the breeze. We knew they would be on the mountain and we would run into them eventually
• After staying at the intersection for a bit, we made the final push to the summit so we could set down our gear and start getting the flag ready
• After everyone was at the summit, we gathered a few rocks so that we could help hold the base of the flagpole in one corner of the old fire tower foundation. We got out the flag gear and rigged up the pole shortly after. We had the flag flying by 11:30
• There was a nice breeze most of the time while on the summit that helped keep the flag moving. That was good as the summit was quite busy today and lots of people were taking pictures
• After 12 o'clock passed, the group from Henniker Brewing Company started passing out some of the 36 cans of 48 Flags beer they brewed and brought for the event. They had about 460 gallons of the beer made and part of the proceeds go to the The FealGood Foundation
• While on the summit, we were able to make out 13 other flags flying from nearby peaks, thanks to Jim's spotting scope
• About the time we were ready to take down the flag, the crowd had mostly continued on with their hikes. After packing up the flag and gear, we headed back down the mountain
• It was a fun casual hike down with lots of stories being told. After getting back to the trail head, we continued the stories over some pizza before checking online to start getting a list of confirmed peaks
• All in all it was another great hike with a great group of people for a great tribute

For all the pictures from the hike, just go to my Mt. Garfield gallery on SmugMug

The full group at the start

Our group at the summit

One of the brook crossings

Near one of the switchbacks

Preparing to raise the flag

Final anchoring of the ropes for the pole

A group from Henniker Brewing Co. brought up some of the 48 Flags beer they brewed in honor of the event

The flag flying proudly

The flag flying proudly

The summit was busy today

South Twin, one of many flags we could make out today

Great views today

Google Earth representation of the hike