Given the hot and cold winter we've been having (and I mean this both figuratively and literally), there hasn't been much opportunity in the past few weeks for touring. Having had enough of the pent up city life, Huff and I opted to do a winter hike to the top of Mt. Monadnock in Jaffrey, NH. Monadnock is just over 3000', making it a reasonably large mountain for it's southern location. The added incentive is that it's only an hour and change from Massachusetts, making it an easy day trip.
Given the recent thaw(s) here in New England, most of the snow surrounding the mountain had melted. There was still a bit of ice, especially frozen runoff on a few of the trails, but we were able to ascend a route that didn't require cramp-ons or spikes
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| Icy trail after the recent melt |
The hike took about ~3 hours round trip, including our stop below tree-line for lunch and obligatory hot chocolate. We were fortunate that we got to the summit when we did; during our descent the clouds, and worse, wind rolled ruining the beautiful 24 degree day we had to start. Nonetheless, I was able to snap a few pics of the views.
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| View looking back from around halfway |
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| From the summit looking NNW |
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| Happy we're not at work. |
| Distance: | 3.60 miles |
| Elapsed Time: | 2:55:41 |
| Avg Speed: | 1.2 mph |
| Max Speed: | 7.4 mph |
| Avg Pace: | 48' 49" per mile |
| Min Altitude: | 1,388 ft |
| Max Altitude: | 3,141 ft |
As if to prove I wasn't kidding about this winter, we're currently in the midst of a blizzard expected to drop over two feet of snow on Southern New England. Hopefully this makes for some good touring this weekend and beyond.
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