grouseking
Well-known member
There, now that I got your attention.... 
I have one thing to say...never go on a major hike and eat doughnuts. One is ok, but 2 sets you over the edge. I sadly had two doughnuts before the hike and it as I said in the title, hiking up a steep slope after eating lard filled doughnuts doesn't mix. To be fair, I did have a bagel with cream cheese as well, and it certainly was not the breakfast of champions.
I don't know, maybe the trail was just hard. Maybe I don't have to blame my choice of food for getting my butt kicked on the hike. But despite it all, the trek was truely an awesome one over one of the nicest ridge trails I have ever traversed.
We started off on the Pumpelly Ridge Trail around 9:15am under bright blue skies. The thought of a strong cold front just to our north didn't really enter my mind because it looked so beautiful out. The only hint was the southwest wind that was bringing in the warm air. We walked through the lower woods and you could tell that we were on a ridge even on the flatter terrain. You could see that on either side of us, the hill sloped down and we were almost always on the top part. The first 1.8 miles were nice and easy and beautiful....lots of stone walls to remind us of New England history. Then the trail decided to actually do some real climbing and it reached for the sky very quickly. After a short but very hard climb (I was feeling the doughnuts at about this time) we reached the first open ledges which revealed views back to Dublin Lake where we started and to the east. It was quite hazy and still foggy in some valleys, but it would clear more as the day progressed.
From now on, the trail traversed along open ledges, small cols, and TONS of ups and downs. I haven't been along much of the Garfield Ridge Trail, but it probably has some similiar qualities. So up we went, then down, then up, etc etc over each ridge until the next one, and on and on. We could hear the wind blowing in the trees but couldn't feel it, and temps were rising fast, so I was getting pretty hot. We took a major break at Cascade Link with 1.4 miles to go. After looking at the map and the contour lines, I concluded that it really isn't that steep anymore. Well the topo map lied, and then laughed at me as I cursed all the bumps in the trail. Or maybe that was Brian, who was hiking with me.....Anyways despite feeling like crap, taking a bunch of pics and soaking the scenery in, we made swift time up to the summit of Monadnock..right around noon...about 2 hr 45 min.
Culture Shock: Yeah, talk about culture shock. Up to Cascade Ridge tr, we had seen no one....then we saw many more hiking along the trail but nothing I'm not used to. But as we approached the summit we were engulfed by people. I didn't really mind because I know you don't go to Monadnock for solitude, especially on a day like that. But a few times the crowds got to me so I had to move away. They summit clutter rivaled and proabably surpassed what I have seen on a nice summer day on Washington. At least they all had to hike this one to get to the top . My favorite quote of the day was when I saw a lady standing on the summit. "Is this the top??" It made me chuckle.
We hung out on the summit for about an hour...maybe more. I snapped pics left and right of the views, a guy with a really cool hat, and the summit clutter (the huge conglomeration of people at the top). I make fun of the crowds yet I was there too contributing to the clutter. hmm....
Around 1:15-1:30pm we decided to head on out. A couple fair weather cumulus had formed but it was still a delightful afternoon. The summit had gusty winds over 30 mph which kept me cool, but as we descended and got out of the wind, I started feeling the heat and it zapped away any energy I had left from those lard-filled doughnuts (and the sandwich I had at the top). Everytime we went down, we'd have to go up a steep spot, which got even more difficult then before. Finally, after climbing an especially steep rock, I found a nice open ledge with a view back to Monadnock and just sat there for a few minutes, with Brian pacing back and forth behind me. Too bad I don't have his energy. After regaining consciousness, we kept truckin to the last of the viewpoints, where we took one more extended break. This is where I got my energy back, thankfully. I drank a good 25 oz of water in one sitting and had some Wheat Thins. Those really did the trick. Maybe it was because they were BIG wheat thins with their "Big Crunch", compared to the regular wheat thins with their average crunch. (Can you tell I'm making fun of the Wheat Thins box right now?)
The trip down the steep spot was rough, but at least it was in the woods, so that kept me cool. The clouds also were on the increase very rapidly at this point so we really didn't waste any time headin out. There was just one very short break to tie my shoes and get a swig of water. After the pretty woods walk, we came out to the road at around 3:30pm...a good 6 hr 15 min after we began. The more I think about it, thats a pretty good time for a 9 mile hike with over an hour stop at the summit. On the way back we drove thru some nasty thuderstorms on I 91 near Springfield and Ascutney VT and saw some nasty damage near White River. I'm glad we were off the mountain in plenty of time.
It was a great day. I'm happy to say that those doughnuts aren't bothering me anymore and I replenished myself with a fantastic dinner of clam chowder, and crab stuffed haddock for dinner. And I can't forget the chocolate raspberry moose cake thing. Fantastic.
Here are the pictures. It was a ridgewalk, so there are a lot of them. Mt Monadnock
grouseking
I have one thing to say...never go on a major hike and eat doughnuts. One is ok, but 2 sets you over the edge. I sadly had two doughnuts before the hike and it as I said in the title, hiking up a steep slope after eating lard filled doughnuts doesn't mix. To be fair, I did have a bagel with cream cheese as well, and it certainly was not the breakfast of champions. I don't know, maybe the trail was just hard. Maybe I don't have to blame my choice of food for getting my butt kicked on the hike. But despite it all, the trek was truely an awesome one over one of the nicest ridge trails I have ever traversed.
We started off on the Pumpelly Ridge Trail around 9:15am under bright blue skies. The thought of a strong cold front just to our north didn't really enter my mind because it looked so beautiful out. The only hint was the southwest wind that was bringing in the warm air. We walked through the lower woods and you could tell that we were on a ridge even on the flatter terrain. You could see that on either side of us, the hill sloped down and we were almost always on the top part. The first 1.8 miles were nice and easy and beautiful....lots of stone walls to remind us of New England history. Then the trail decided to actually do some real climbing and it reached for the sky very quickly. After a short but very hard climb (I was feeling the doughnuts at about this time) we reached the first open ledges which revealed views back to Dublin Lake where we started and to the east. It was quite hazy and still foggy in some valleys, but it would clear more as the day progressed.
From now on, the trail traversed along open ledges, small cols, and TONS of ups and downs. I haven't been along much of the Garfield Ridge Trail, but it probably has some similiar qualities. So up we went, then down, then up, etc etc over each ridge until the next one, and on and on. We could hear the wind blowing in the trees but couldn't feel it, and temps were rising fast, so I was getting pretty hot. We took a major break at Cascade Link with 1.4 miles to go. After looking at the map and the contour lines, I concluded that it really isn't that steep anymore. Well the topo map lied, and then laughed at me as I cursed all the bumps in the trail. Or maybe that was Brian, who was hiking with me.....Anyways despite feeling like crap, taking a bunch of pics and soaking the scenery in, we made swift time up to the summit of Monadnock..right around noon...about 2 hr 45 min.
Culture Shock: Yeah, talk about culture shock. Up to Cascade Ridge tr, we had seen no one....then we saw many more hiking along the trail but nothing I'm not used to. But as we approached the summit we were engulfed by people. I didn't really mind because I know you don't go to Monadnock for solitude, especially on a day like that. But a few times the crowds got to me so I had to move away. They summit clutter rivaled and proabably surpassed what I have seen on a nice summer day on Washington. At least they all had to hike this one to get to the top
. My favorite quote of the day was when I saw a lady standing on the summit. "Is this the top??" It made me chuckle.We hung out on the summit for about an hour...maybe more. I snapped pics left and right of the views, a guy with a really cool hat, and the summit clutter (the huge conglomeration of people at the top). I make fun of the crowds yet I was there too contributing to the clutter. hmm....
Around 1:15-1:30pm we decided to head on out. A couple fair weather cumulus had formed but it was still a delightful afternoon. The summit had gusty winds over 30 mph which kept me cool, but as we descended and got out of the wind, I started feeling the heat and it zapped away any energy I had left from those lard-filled doughnuts (and the sandwich I had at the top). Everytime we went down, we'd have to go up a steep spot, which got even more difficult then before. Finally, after climbing an especially steep rock, I found a nice open ledge with a view back to Monadnock and just sat there for a few minutes, with Brian pacing back and forth behind me.
Too bad I don't have his energy. After regaining consciousness, we kept truckin to the last of the viewpoints, where we took one more extended break. This is where I got my energy back, thankfully. I drank a good 25 oz of water in one sitting and had some Wheat Thins. Those really did the trick. Maybe it was because they were BIG wheat thins with their "Big Crunch", compared to the regular wheat thins with their average crunch. (Can you tell I'm making fun of the Wheat Thins box right now?)The trip down the steep spot was rough, but at least it was in the woods, so that kept me cool. The clouds also were on the increase very rapidly at this point so we really didn't waste any time headin out. There was just one very short break to tie my shoes and get a swig of water. After the pretty woods walk, we came out to the road at around 3:30pm...a good 6 hr 15 min after we began. The more I think about it, thats a pretty good time for a 9 mile hike with over an hour stop at the summit. On the way back we drove thru some nasty thuderstorms on I 91 near Springfield and Ascutney VT and saw some nasty damage near White River. I'm glad we were off the mountain in plenty of time.
It was a great day. I'm happy to say that those doughnuts aren't bothering me anymore and I replenished myself with a fantastic dinner of clam chowder, and crab stuffed haddock for dinner. And I can't forget the chocolate raspberry moose cake thing. Fantastic.
Here are the pictures. It was a ridgewalk, so there are a lot of them. Mt Monadnock
grouseking
