Mount Monadnock

Hike: Mount Monadnock
Location: Monadnock State Park
Nearby Town: Jaffrey, NH
Elevation (Max): 3,165'
Elevation Gained: 1,750'
Mileage: 3.5
Difficulty: Moderate to Strenuous
Trailhead: There are no interstates near Mount Monadnock, so directions will be different for everyone depending upon your point of origin. So, to make this as helpful as possible, get yourself to Jaffrey, NH. From there you can probably follow signs, but just to be safe, head west on Rte. 124, turn R on Dublin Rd, turn L on Poole Rd, and drive to the parking lot at the end of the road. The trail heads north from the end of Poole Rd.
Fees: $4 for day use. There is a gate house, but it was not in use when we visited. We paid in the park store next to the parking lot.
Website: http://www.nhstateparks.org/state-parks/alphabetical-order/monadnock-state-park/

Mount Monadnock is supposedly the second most climbed mountain in the world behind Mount Fuji in Japan. This is simply a guess, though it would not be surprising if it turned out to be true because Monadnock, which, by the way, is a geological term for any stand-alone mountain, is a sort of Goldilocks mountain. It's tall, 3,165', but not too tall. It has a challenging feel to it (the final quarter mile of trail at the summit is over exposed bare rock) without being too dangerous or beyond the ability of children. Perhaps most importantly, though, it is within easy driving distance of Springfield (1h 45m), Boston (1h 45m), and Hartford (2h).

Be careful

E and I did this hike with a good friend of ours, let's call her Jump, during our senior week at college. The first thing I did after getting dressed was check the weather for Monadnock, which wasn't entirely reassuring with a line of thunderstorms on track to hit in the afternoon. After packing up our gear, we met in the dining hall for a good, early breakfast, and then we hit the road New Hampshire bound. The drive seemed shorter than we expected, but as we got near the mountain we realized we were all hungry, and few things in life are more pleasant than eating a grinder on top of a mountain. Thus began our search through northern Massachusetts/ southern New Hampshire (I think we went back and forth across the state line a good 4 times) for a sandwich shop. After turning ourselves around multiple times, we finally found a strange little convenience store/sandwich shop at a fork in the road in the middle of the woods. I have no idea how this place stays in business given its location, but they made us some great grinders (though, honestly, is it possible for a grinder to be anything but great on a hike?).

Once we arrived at the park, we pulled past the empty gatehouse, parked the car, and went inside the park store to check in, pay our fees, pick up a trail map, and get a warning from the rangers that thunderstorms would strike around 3pm. After determining exactly what layers would be necessary on this hike, we set off, heading out behind the park store to the north where we soon left the campground and joined up with the Cascade Link Trail.

Most of this trail is made of terraced steps, which, of course, are awkwardly sized and spaced making hiking more difficult. Occasionally we had to stop to let E catch up because she was hiking with a cold--what a trooper. When the trail split, we went left on the White Cross Trail, which goes to the summit. Along the way, the sun occasionally peaked through the clouds, and we found some really nice lookouts to enjoy. Monadnock is one of those mountains that allows you an occasional view ahead, and many times we thought we saw the summit ahead only to discover we were looking at a false summit. After this occurred a couple times, we finally came into a clearing that afforded us a view of the true summit and we were pretty shocked with how far and high we still had to go.

Jump and I heading up the White Cross Trail

Looking east at what we mistakenly assumed was the summit--it's just a shoulder

Luckily, that final approach is mostly above the tree line, so there are plenty of views to be enjoyed. The last quarter mile, as I mentioned before, is a scramble over exposed rock that really gets the thighs burning. To make things a bit more difficult, we occasionally had trouble getting traction on the rocks, but we were amply rewarded for our efforts when we finally reached the summit. The Monadnock State Park website says that from the summit one can see points in all 6 New England states. I can't vouch for that, and the weather was a bit cloudy so our visibility was cut down a bit, but I can tell you the view is a very impressive 360 degree panorama of the lakes and hills of southern New Hampshire, and in the very far distance to the north we could see the shadowy outlines of mountains, which we assume were the southern peaks of the White Mountains.

The view south to Massachusetts from the summit

Those hills look a lot smaller from up here

The view north (if you look closely you can see people on the highest rock)

Walk on, E

Group on the summit complete with Amazing Race pants (fyi, we refer to those black stretchy pants E and Jump are wearing as Amazing Race pants since that is what all the female contestants on that show wear)

The downside of an exposed rock summit, though, is the wind and cold go on the attack. We were forced to eat our delicious grinders in the protection of the lee of a rock. One of the subtler things about hiking that really contributes to its psychological benefits, in my opinion, is the complete lack of noise pollution. Monadnock is one of those hikes where the only sounds are you, wildlife, and the wind. After posing for some pictures, the sky started spitting on us so we decided we ought to begin our descent before a storm crept up.

Our shelter from the chilly wind

The hike down the exposed rock is no easier than the hike up. Instead of burning thighs, the pain is in the knees, and instead of occasionally using hands, butt-sliding becomes a necessary technique. We decided to take a different trail to descend, the White Dot Trail which essentially parallels the White Cross Trail but is a bit more difficult (and longer). Unfortunately, the trail was a little difficult to find above the tree line where blazes are not the most obvious, and we wound up doing a little bit of bushwhacking before we finally found the White Dot. Compared to the White Cross, the White Dot was much more difficult--it is steeper, much rockier, and has much larger steps, some of which require jumps. On our way down, we passed a group from Franklin Pierce College who were attempting to carry their friend down who had sprained an ankle. It was hard enough for us to get ourselves down the tricky footing of the White Dot, and I can barely imagine how difficult it would be to carry someone down. After completing about half of the knee-busting descent to an adequate distance below the tree line, we encountered the worst part of the trip--evil, horribly persistent black flies.

A rocky summit indeed

Looking back toward the summit (those tiny specks on the top are people, and this view should be familiar--it is this blog's header!)

I took the mind over matter approach to dealing with the flies by paying them no attention--no swatting, no scratching. However, there is a limit to how much I can endure and toward the end of the hike, I just about lost my mind and started double timing it to the base where we recalled there being no bugs. We knew that New Hampshire is known for its black flies, so we applied bug spray with DEET before the hike, but apparently black flies have never heard of DEET. By the way, when the White Dot Trail meets up with the Cascade Link Trail, take a right heading south on the Cascade Link back to the parking lot. When we got near the parking lot we saw a ranger heading quickly up the mountain, we assume to help with the injured hiker, and as he passed us we were overcome by the smell of what seemed to be a walking citronella candle. Apparently the rangers understand what it takes to defeat the black flies.

Once back in the park store, we bought some drinks for the ride home, and as we were checking out, my knees began shaking uncontrollably from the beating they just took descending the White Dot Trail. All in all, though, it was a wonderful hike with great people, and as it is one of those classic New England hikes, it felt good to get it under the belt. Below is, as far as I can tell, this exact same hike posted on Backpacker.com.