Springtime on Monadnock

This past Saturday called for clear skies and warm weather. Combined with a free Saturday for the two of us, my father and I decided to shoot up to Mt. Monadnock for a casual hike up the hill. We took a different route than I have explored previously, starting up the southerly Parker trail, then heading along the Cliff walk toward the summit. This is a far cry from the busy frontside trails, that were no doubt littered with people that day. On whole, I think we encountered maybe a half dozen folks on the trail. One even commented that he frequently sees no one hiking up Parker, despite it commenting "it's hard to be alone in New Hampshire."  Mostly, it was just us and the reptiles. 

The trail starts out as a nice wind through the woods, with some more open pine groves as the elevation gains. Cliff walk slowly opens up toward the tree line, and the views are as expected, especially on a perfect day like we had. We stopped at Bald Rock for a snack and to enjoy the sunshine before making the final ascent toward Monadnock. As expected given it's proximity to civilization, and the relatively easy ascent, the summit was crowded with folks. Everyone from boy scouts and AMC groups, to college students, to several people I have no doubt were experiencing their first summits were out at the top. We found a lee area to hide from the cool prevailing wind and take a quick break and once again enjoy the great views on this almost cloudless day.

Monadnock from Bald Rock

Did I mention the views were good?

We opted for a quick-er descent down the White Cross trail, which, unlike our time on Parker, was most certainly not isolated. The front side trails are quite rocky, much to the chagrin of my dad, but nevertheless enjoyable. If you're looking for a quick ascent/descent, these are probably your bet. Be sure to stop and look at the quartz veins that somehow formed through the granite. I'm always amazed at the geological phenomena that developed over time in this rock. It's as if someone injected crystal into the granite all over Monadnock - fascinating stuff. At the bottom of the hill, we took a few minutes and poked around the base lodge looking at some Monadnock history and wildlife information, which was quite educational.

A perfect day with no agenda, no timeline, no goals - just a casual stroll up a hill. To top it off, Heather had prepped some delicious pork chops and yams for us to throw on the grill when we returned. Hard to complain with a full belly and tired legs. We'll count this as an early dad's day present for the father and father-to-be. 

Quick Jaunt up Mt. Monadnock

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

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.

View looking back from around halfway

From the summit looking NNW

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.