"In the woods too, a man casts off his years, as the snake his slough, and at what period whatsoever of life, is always a child. In the woods, is perpetual youth."
Ralph Waldo Emerson - Nature and Selected Essays
Climbed an amazing mountain the other day, Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire. Cruised up Route 2A out of Boston and in short order found myself at the trailhead at the base of the Mountain. This mountain is a State Park and it costs $5.00 to enter but that is a paltry sum in exchange for a chance to climb this mountain.
The trailhead area is well maintained complete with a small park store where you can buy necessities, a nice parking area, restrooms and a small interpretive center in a shack. Due to time constraints, I decided to tackle the most direct route to the summit which is the "White Dot Trail" at a distance of 2.5 miles one way to the top.
It so happens that Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were both very fond of Monadnock and according to literature at the park, Thoreau climbed Monadnock four times. It is said that Monadnock is the 3rd most climbed mountain in the world behind Taishan in China and Mount Fuji in Japan with over 125,000 hikers reaching its summit every year. Monadnock or "Grand Monadnock" as it is sometimes called, is 3,165 feet in elevation, rising 2,150 feet above the surrounding plain.
The Mountain is located in Jaffrey and Dublin towns in Cheshire County, New Hampshire. It is an amazing thing to drive for an hour and a half from the Boston area through dense trees and then all of a sudden catch a glimpse of the rise and bald, grey summit of Monadnock which is made up of schist and quartzite, a remnant mound of rock left behind after the glaciers carved it out over the millennia and during their retreat.
There is some debate as to what "Monadnock" means - several definitions I have found, both of which originate from the Abnacki Indian Language are "Mountain that Stands Alone" or "Unique and Special Mountain". What ever the definition, both descriptions are true as Monadnock rises 1,000 feet higher than any other peak within 30 miles and it stands all alone.
It was hot on the June day I climbed Monadnock. I started off on the White Dot Trail at a brisk pace thinking to myself that "hey, I'm from the Rocky Mountains and this Mtn. ain't nothing". I soon ran smack dab into the "boulder incline" as I call it where the trail is a literal jumble of boulders in the trees and it does not mess around... it goes nearly straight up for a good respectable distance.
My heart was darn near pounding out of my chest when I topped this boulder stair case and got my first panoramas of the surrounding terrain... for miles and miles! The trail up was an enjoyable one through a very green forest. I learned at the interpretive center that some of the trees I saw were Mountain Ash, Red Spruce, Striped Maple, Beech, Yellow Birch and Red Oak.
As always, my camera was blasting away and I took tons of photos of a forest that was completely foreign to me. Once you bust out of the tree line you have another 300 feet of elevation gain to the summit over bare granite slabs and slick rock. Monadnock is very interesting because it has 3 distinct ecological zones -Forest, Scrub and the treeless zone.
In the visitor's center is stated that every 1,000 feet of elevation gain on a mountain is like driving north several hundred miles which makes the summit area of Monadnock a very interesting place where there are even some alpine type plants. The summit area of this mountain was outstanding. Slick, Bare, Grey rock with vistas out in the distance in every direction.
It is a large summit area that falls away precipitously on all sides with some 50 foot cliffs on the south side. There are some historical names and messages chiseled into the rock on the summit. It is said that on a clear day you can see over 100 miles making it possible to see all 6 New England States from this solitary summit. Apparently, the summit area used to be covered by an old growth forest of very large Red Spruce but early settlers in 1820 set fire to the mountain believing that deadfalls were harboring wolves and the fire got out of hand and burned for weeks, forever denuding Monadnock.
After eating the customary grub on the summit, I decided to descend the mountain via the "White Cross Trail" to change up the scenery. I noticed more interesting foliage, deep woods and some challenging steep rock areas that required all fours to negotiate.
Took some pictures of a few furry critters - squirrels and chipmunks to be exact, and saw an ugly, large Turkey Vulture near the summit. There were a few small trickling streams and one thing I decided was that if you are going to climb Monadnock, you are probably going to get your feet muddy and wet so just get over it because it is worth it.
Make sure that you stay on the trails which in many areas are mere jumbled boulder rivers in the trees marked by white dots or white crosses. There is in fact a whole trail system consisting of the White Dot, White Cross, Red Spot, Cascade Link and Lost Farm to Bald Rock trails totaling over 40 miles of trails on the mountain. Staying on the trail helps to prevent destructive erosion that cannot be reversed in many instances and it also protects delicate and rare plants from being trampled.
Other advice that I gleaned from signs here was the fact that weather on the summit changes without warning and the changes can be drastic so go prepared with whatever you might need to face the elements on any given day. Sunscreen and PLENTY of water are advisable because you WILL sweat attaining the summit of Monadnock and you will need to re-hydrate. Lastly, it was relatively dry when I climbed but my feet did still get wet. I can't imagine being on all that rock when it is raining or covered with ice and snow... would be downright treacherous so be prepared and watch the weather forecast.
All in all, this was an outstanding hike which is quite close to the Boston metro area. It is a hike that changed my perceptions of mountains back east. I will always remember fondly my hike up this very rocky, grey quartzite knob that pierces the horizon out of the green from a distance in southern New Hampshire.
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