Mount Monadnock

I recently took a trip to Jaffrey N.H to climb mount Monadnock for about the ninth time in my life and the first in about 3 years. It's a relatively quick and easy mountain to climb, only 2 miles up to the summit, although it's also just challenging enough to make it worthwhile to climb for the average person. It's claimed to be the most climbed mountains in the one in America and possible the world. Mount Fuji in Japan also claims to be the most climb mountain in the world. So if you go you might run into a lot of people.

Some of the reason that Mt. Monadnock is such a popular place to go hiking is almost anyone can hike it. The day I went hiking there were a number of families on the trail. On my way down the mountain I saw someone carrying what looked to be a two year old child up the summit. I don't know if this wise but there were many young children doing the climb and having a good time doing it. My journey started on a Sunday Morning around 9:30, at the West Concord Bakery, that's when I met my Hiking partner Janice. We had our Coffee and Muffins and planned our trip. We decided to just go into the Park and take the fastest route up to the Mountain. After a few cups of Coffee we decide it was time to start the drive to Jaffery N.H. It's a quick easy drive; about an hour taking Route 2 west to the Route 140 north exit to US Route 202 North. The Park charges $3 a person. You can park for free on the side of some roads and follow the path to the top of the mountain. Anyway, we arrived at the park around 11:00 are, got our gear on. I made sure that I had plenty of water to drink because it was a pretty warm and sticky day. We also put on sun screen and used the bathrooms before starting up the slope. There are two trails to choose from when you start out from the park, the. White Dot and the White Cross trails They both are about two miles to the top but I would choose the white cross because it is a more scenic and a lot less rocky then the white dot. So off we were, hiking our way up and moving at a pretty fast pace. We only encountered a few other climbers on the way I think the heat persuaded a number of people from hiking that day. I enjoyed the heat and the nice feeling of sweat that permeates your whole body. I think it really adds to the workout that you are getting and gives you a level of satisfaction and accomplishment that you don't necessarily get when you go up on a cool fall day.

As we climbed higher and the sweat started to pour out of us, we decided to take a little break about half way up. We found a nice shaded place right on the path. I took of my back pack to take out some water and to let my back cool off from the built up heat of carry the pack. Janice on the other hand just had a fanny pack around her waist. That is a lot less cumbersome and I have to admit easier then lugging a big backpack. After about ten minutes we were back at it. The second half of the climb up went pretty quickly. The ascent didn't seem that tough with only a few steep sections till we reached the summit. It only took us a little over an hour going at a moderate pace. The top was pretty full of other climbers but we found a good spot were we could lean back against a rock ledge, eat some lunch and enjoy a nice clear view. We could see everything from miles around.

What a nice calm feeling you get when you can look down and everything looks so lush and everything seems so serene. We spent about forty-five minutes on the summit and then decided to head down. Since we went up the white cross and a lot of people were going down that way, we decided to take the white dot trail down instead. As soon as we started down I realized how much I disliked this rocky trail. It's not to fun to climb down because you just go from rock to rock and you have to be careful not to slip. Thank god it only takes about forty minutes to get to the bottom. I don't think that I'll ever climb that trail again.

Over all we had a great time. It was nice to just get out there and climb and this is a good mountain for almost anyone who likes a nice small easy climb.

Here's a good link to check out http://www.qcc.mass.edu/brink/Trav-rec/mt_monad/mmsuggest.html

Comments

[Elizabeth]

Thanks for writing about your hike!
It is so very good to hear that there is a trail for folks who are not hard core hikers - a trail for everyman! I will check out the website as I can!
And aren't you glad that you just took off and hiked? What an invigorating way to spend the day!

[Laraine]

This is fun to read. It feels like a book review, but is a mountain review instead. It's inspiring. I thought, "I remember that," and "I should do that again, too." Thanks for details like including directions.

[elizabeth cobblah]

I discovered not long ago that hiking down really strains the knees so i got some trekking poles that really ease the burden from the knees coming down and they make walking a little more aerobic. Mount Monadnock...ahhhh....!