Mt. Monadnock (3,165 ft) 6-22-19

Distance: 7.01 mi.
Elevation: 1,646 ft (overall) 1,790 ft (total)
Time: 4:58 (Summit) 8:48 (Total) -- With a 5 year old setting the pace
Trails: Old Halfway House Trail, Thoreau Trail, Cliff Walk Trail, Smith Connecting Trail, Amphitheatre Trail, White Arrow Trail, Old Toll Road

Today's hike of Mt. Monadnock would be a bit different than normal for me. Today would be my oldest (5 yrs) daughter's first attempt to hike it all under her own power. After a couple other test hikes earlier this year, I think she is ready to try hiking her first "big" peak. I choose a route that would let her do things she likes. Multiple views on the way up, some of my favorite spots, and plenty of rocks to scramble up and over.

Ready to start the hike

We started off on the Old Halfway House Trail as I'd much rather hike the trail next to the road than walk up the road, plus I figured we would be coming down the road at the end when she was more tired. After our first view at the Old Halfway House site, we went up the Thoreau Trail which at it's end brought us to another view. From there we continued up the Cliff Walk Trail which has scattered views and some scrambly bits before a great view at Bald Rock.

Happily hiking up the trail

View from the Cliff Walk Trail

Climbing a rocky section

From Bald Rock we went up the Smith Connecting Trail and then across part of the Amphitheatre Trail. Both of these trails have some interesting things to look at along them if you are paying attention. Whether it be interesting rocks or trees in odd shapes from dealing with the weather and continuing to grow. Once to the White Arrow Trail we took that up to the summit since it had more climbing up and over child sized rocks. My daughter seemed to always want to go over those rocks rather than around.

Made it to Bald Rock and still happy

A small downpour just missing the mountain

At the summit it was pretty breezy, so my daughter didn't get very far from my side since it was a bit hard for her to walk without getting blown around. After pointing out some of the things you can see from the summit (unfortunately she couldn't make out Boston when I tried to show her that) we found a place for some snacks and drinks away from the most crowded spots. It was busy at the summit, but not as busy as I expected.

Made it to the summit

Trying to stay out of the wind

Summit views

Summit views

For the descent we went down the White Arrow Trail and then the Old Toll Road. I thought being the most direct route this would help with my daughter's tired legs. In hind sight I should have thought about her needing to climb down over all the rocks on this route. Next time I think I would come down the Sidefoot Trail as it has better footing and wouldn't really add much if any distance. Near the bottom of the Old Toll Road I could tell my daughter was getting pretty tired. I offered to carry her backpack at this point and it was the first time I had to help her carry her stuff. I was super impressed with how well she did for the entire hike and how much fun she was having the entire time. She was thrilled to tell everyone about the hike, even while we were still on our way down.

Interesting clouds on the descent

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) 2-4-19

Distance: 7.06 mi.
Elevation: 1,691 ft (overall) 2,601 ft (total)
Time: 2:10 (Bald Rock) 2:49 (Summit) 3:55 (Bald Rock) 5:07 (Total)
Trails: Halfway House Trail, Hello Rock Trail, Cliff Walk Trail, Point Surprise Trail, Sidefoot Trail, Do Drop Trail, Cliff Walk Trail, Smith Connecting Link, White Cross Trail, Smith Summit Trail, Amphitheatre Trail, Smith Connecting Link, Cliff Walk Trail, Parker Trail, Old Toll Road

Today it was time to check another day of the year off the calendar and re hike some trails I haven't been on for a while in the winter. My planned loop for the day certainly wasn't very direct, but did get me onto some trails that are nice to hike and it kept me away from the few other hikers that were out today. I started off on the Old Halfway House Trail and headed up to the Old Halfway House Site. Along this trail there was a thin layer of snow that wasn't too bad. Eventually I did start to run into ice though and at that point I put on my Microspikes, which I kept on for the remainder of the hike except some above treeline.

The Halfway House Trail

From the Old Halfway House site I took the little used Hello Rock Trail. This trail had two sets of tracks ahead of me, but partway up it they veered off trail and didn't come back. The trail is pretty easy to hike as it goes up, down, then back up again while only gaining a few feet of elevation before getting to the Cliff Walk Trail.

Hello Rock Trail

Next I hiked up the Cliff Walk Trail until the Point Surprise Trail, which I then turned down. I descended the Point Surprise Trail quickly and easily back to the Old Halfway House Site. From there, I headed back into the trees going up the Sidefoot Trail briefly until the start of the Do Drop Trail. This trail is a bit steeper and had some ice flows along it, but it is an enjoyable trail that goes through some nice sections of forest.

Point Surprise

Start of the Do Drop Trail

Once back to the Cliff Walk Trail again, I went up it again until the end at Bald Rock. I then continued up the Smith Connecting Link until the White Cross Trail. This trail was another enjoyable hike, but it did have one very large ice flow on it that wasn't there one month earlier. Luckily with spikes it wasn't too hard to hike up it. The White Cross/Dot Trail was straightforward as always with just some ice and water as it comes out of the trees.

Frost on a large rock

The summit from Bald Rock

Ice flow on the Smith Connecting Link

View from the summit

View from the summit

Miles on the summit

After a nice time at the summit with only one other visitor, I headed down the Smith Summit Trail. Above treeline I left my spikes off as the rock was clear of snow and ice except for a couple minor sections. Once back to the trees, I put them back on. Climbing down through here was the only place I ran into other hikers while on a trail. At the junction with the Amphitheatre Trail, I turned left and headed up it. The conditions on the trail were good and there are a number of open spots with some good views.

The Black Precipice

After crossing over the Amphitheatre Trail, I headed back down the Smith Connecting Link to Bald Rock for the second time of the day. I then descended the Cliff Walk Trail to the bottom of it. There was less ice than I expected with just some short spots of it. There was however a large ice flow at the base of the ladder which made the climb down the ladder that much trickier.

At the base of the Cliff Walk Trail I hiked up the Parker Trail until the Old Toll Road. Once there I finished up my hike with a leisurely walk down the road back to my truck. Today's hike was a longer route with a path that most probably wouldn't think of. But it did keep me hiking for more time than normal with more miles and elevation gain. The hike was quite nice in the end while visiting lesser traveled trails and keeping away from any sort of crowd that might have been out today.

Another view from Bald Rock

Ladder and ice flow on the Cliff Walk Trail

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) 1-1-19

Distance: 6.42 mi.
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

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