Elevation: 1,691 ft (overall) 3,163 ft (total)
Time: 1:40 (Monte Rosa) 2:19 (Summit) 2:50 (Bald Rock) 4:06 (Total)
Trails: Halfway House Trail, Cart Path, Mossy Brook Trail, Great Pasture Trail, Smith Summit Trail, White Dot Trail, Smith Connecting Link, Cliff Walk Trail, Hello Rock Trail, Old Toll Road
Since we weren't going north for New Years this year, it seemed like the perfect chance to check January 1st off the calendar for days of the year hiking Mt. Monadnock. Temps for the day would be a bit above freezing down low and a bit below freezing up high and it was supposed to be windy as well. This meant that the recent snow down low was a bit wet and slushy. Higher up the snow stayed frozen, but water from earlier in the season had turned to ice. In some places, there was lots of ice and traction was definitely needed today. Those I saw without it certainly were struggling on the trails.
I started the hike by going up the Halfway House Trail. At its junction with the Cart Path, I happened to see 3 deer that stayed around until after I passed them while heading out the Cart Path to the Mossy Brook Trail. The brook next to the trail was flowing well and had lots of ice built up on the small cascades in it.
Slushy snow on the Halfway House Trail
One of the three deer
An icy cascade near the Mossy Brook Trail
At the next junction I headed up the Great Pasture Trail on my way to Monte Rosa. Down low this trail as a fair amount of water flowing down it and it was also where I started to encounter the ice. As I neared the top, the force of today's wind started to show up. It was breezing on Monte Rosa and gave a bit of an idea what it would be like higher up.
Ice and water on the Great Pasture Trail
View from Monte Rosa with a storm in the distance on the right
From here I took the Smith Summit Trail to the summit. The trail was pretty icy in places and I was glad to be wearing my MicroSpikes. Above treeline this trail can be a bit hard to follow as the markings white painted circles on the rocks rather than cairns. You'll either need to pay attention as you ascend this way, or have some familiarity with the trail ahead of time. Also once above the trees, today's wind could be felt in force. At the summit the temps were just below freezing and the 29 mph average wind (gusts of 38 mph) made it feel like only 10 degrees. It was also blowing hard enough to make walking around a bit more difficult if you weren't ready for the speeds.
Ice on the Smith Summit Trail
View from the summit with clouds to the east
Boston in the distance
Summit view to the northwest
For the descent I started down the White Dot Trail before heading down the Smith Connecting Link to Bald Rock. This route was a bit busy until turning off the main trail, then I saw almost no one. Again there was ice and some slippery snow conditions, but nothing too bad if you had traction. From Bald Rock I headed down the Cliff Walk Trail until I got to the Hello Rock Trail. Through here there was certainly more ice and also some pooled up water that wasn't completely frozen yet either.
Bald Rock
Miles at Bald Rock
I took the Hello Rock Trail back to the Halfway House Site where I then decided I would descend the Toll Road instead of the trail since I was a few minutes later than planned and I needed to meet someone not too long from now. I quickly made my way down the mountain to the parking lot, where it was nice to see the Jaffrey Police were patrolling through keeping tabs on the cars in the lot as well as how many hikers are still up on the mountain as night time starts to come.
Cliff Walk Trail
Hello Rock Trail
Google Earth representation of the hike
For all the pictures from the hike, just go to my gallery on SmugMug
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