Dugan
New member
Participants: Cantdog, Jade (and Carmen the amazing amphibious hiker-dog), TramperAl, BrianW (for 124 to Troy), and Dugan
Except for BrianW, the group met at the Route 32 crossing, at Newton Cemetery. This looked familiar for those of us that hiked the Tully Trail together last fall. We piled all of us and our gear into one car, and headed north with TramperAl navigating our way to 124. We dropped some of the crew, including Carmen, at the crossing of 124, then headed back to Monadnock to park. The crossing of 124 is not obvious. A short way after passing the parking for Monadnock on the right, watch for a wide area with several no parking signs, also on the right. Blazes are visible down the hill on the left.
TramperAl and I made our way back down the road to rejoin the group and begin our hike. A short way into the woods we found BrianW waiting for us. He got up, and we all began the hike up Gap Mountain. On a normal day there are probably nice views from here as well as from other high spots along this section. Today, views were limited by the haze. We all worked up a good sweat going up Gap. BrianW identified some of the visibible sites for us, though I don't remember which were from Gap. We saw Monadnock, but not the peak, church steeples in Fitzwilliam, downtown Troy, and a few other hills. BrianW split from the group on the south side of Gap. He offered us a ride through Troy but we elected to remain true to the blazes and do the roadwalk.
The roadwalk was listed as approximately 3 miles in the guidebook but we all agreed it felt like less. This could be because we took a long relaxing break at a bakery, then sat outside on a picnic table in the shade to enjoy our finds. It was a nice stop, but for me, finding Whittier Milk Store in the Mid-state was better. The pizza was very good. As we headed out of Troy, we missed a blaze. A local family out walking their dog pointed us in the right direction. As you pass an old depot, take the left most paved road. Following that, we were supposed to watch for a left turn after the road turned to dirt. Having been warned by a local and BrianW, we *thought* we were watching carefully. However, we blew right by the turn. When we discovered our mistake and turned around, we found that this "tricky" turn was well marked with a blaze, sign, and a step up the embankment. All that was missing was a neon arrow saying "trail this way".
We're all glad we turned around to hop back on the trail because otherwise we would have missed seeing several large anthills. If you stood quietly in the midst of them you could hear a hissing noise from the several thousands of ants busy doing their housework. TramperAl and I wondered, if you can't hear one ant walking, how many do there have to be in order to hear them? From there, we hit another summit, I think Little Monadnock. The next several miles are lost in a blur except another long break at a stream where TramperAl generously allowed me the use of his water filter to refill my Camelbak.
The next several after that are another blur. These were mainly typical woods trails, some rocks, roots, and ups and downs. We hit another dirt road a couple miles shy of route 32. This was a section I'd done before, and one I highly recommend. The trail parallels a few beaver ponds, then a stream. The stream has very interesting rock formations. Be warned that the waterfall the guidebook refers to in this section is about .5 miles south along the Tully Trail (turn right before the bridge which is shortly before the shelter). They're worth the trip, but we'd seen them before while hiking the Tully.
We walked the last half mile to our cars, up hill all the way. All in all, this was a pleasant day. The trail was well blazed and well maintained throughout. There were a few blow downs, nothing that wasn't easily stepped over. Though the heat and humidity might've slowed us, but the bugs were a goad to keep moving. Not much wildlilfe, we saw some moose tracks and deer tracks, but most mammals other than us had the good sense to seek rest in the heat of the day. We all went through tremendous amounts of liquid. Days like these are why the instructions on the soap read, "lather, rinse, repeat" and also why loofahs exist. It took the combination to scour off several layers of sweat, DEET, and sunblock.
Whether it was the hills or the heat, this 17 mile section was as hard if not harder than the plus-twenties Cantdog and I logged on the Mid-state. I think this is true of the M-M as compared the the Mid-state in general, that it's hillier and rougher. TramperAl has some grand plans for us to ferry across the Connecticut River in teams using a tandem kayak once we get that far.
Except for BrianW, the group met at the Route 32 crossing, at Newton Cemetery. This looked familiar for those of us that hiked the Tully Trail together last fall. We piled all of us and our gear into one car, and headed north with TramperAl navigating our way to 124. We dropped some of the crew, including Carmen, at the crossing of 124, then headed back to Monadnock to park. The crossing of 124 is not obvious. A short way after passing the parking for Monadnock on the right, watch for a wide area with several no parking signs, also on the right. Blazes are visible down the hill on the left.
TramperAl and I made our way back down the road to rejoin the group and begin our hike. A short way into the woods we found BrianW waiting for us. He got up, and we all began the hike up Gap Mountain. On a normal day there are probably nice views from here as well as from other high spots along this section. Today, views were limited by the haze. We all worked up a good sweat going up Gap. BrianW identified some of the visibible sites for us, though I don't remember which were from Gap. We saw Monadnock, but not the peak, church steeples in Fitzwilliam, downtown Troy, and a few other hills. BrianW split from the group on the south side of Gap. He offered us a ride through Troy but we elected to remain true to the blazes and do the roadwalk.
The roadwalk was listed as approximately 3 miles in the guidebook but we all agreed it felt like less. This could be because we took a long relaxing break at a bakery, then sat outside on a picnic table in the shade to enjoy our finds. It was a nice stop, but for me, finding Whittier Milk Store in the Mid-state was better. The pizza was very good. As we headed out of Troy, we missed a blaze. A local family out walking their dog pointed us in the right direction. As you pass an old depot, take the left most paved road. Following that, we were supposed to watch for a left turn after the road turned to dirt. Having been warned by a local and BrianW, we *thought* we were watching carefully. However, we blew right by the turn. When we discovered our mistake and turned around, we found that this "tricky" turn was well marked with a blaze, sign, and a step up the embankment. All that was missing was a neon arrow saying "trail this way".
We're all glad we turned around to hop back on the trail because otherwise we would have missed seeing several large anthills. If you stood quietly in the midst of them you could hear a hissing noise from the several thousands of ants busy doing their housework. TramperAl and I wondered, if you can't hear one ant walking, how many do there have to be in order to hear them? From there, we hit another summit, I think Little Monadnock. The next several miles are lost in a blur except another long break at a stream where TramperAl generously allowed me the use of his water filter to refill my Camelbak.
The next several after that are another blur. These were mainly typical woods trails, some rocks, roots, and ups and downs. We hit another dirt road a couple miles shy of route 32. This was a section I'd done before, and one I highly recommend. The trail parallels a few beaver ponds, then a stream. The stream has very interesting rock formations. Be warned that the waterfall the guidebook refers to in this section is about .5 miles south along the Tully Trail (turn right before the bridge which is shortly before the shelter). They're worth the trip, but we'd seen them before while hiking the Tully.
We walked the last half mile to our cars, up hill all the way. All in all, this was a pleasant day. The trail was well blazed and well maintained throughout. There were a few blow downs, nothing that wasn't easily stepped over. Though the heat and humidity might've slowed us, but the bugs were a goad to keep moving. Not much wildlilfe, we saw some moose tracks and deer tracks, but most mammals other than us had the good sense to seek rest in the heat of the day. We all went through tremendous amounts of liquid. Days like these are why the instructions on the soap read, "lather, rinse, repeat" and also why loofahs exist. It took the combination to scour off several layers of sweat, DEET, and sunblock.
Whether it was the hills or the heat, this 17 mile section was as hard if not harder than the plus-twenties Cantdog and I logged on the Mid-state. I think this is true of the M-M as compared the the Mid-state in general, that it's hillier and rougher. TramperAl has some grand plans for us to ferry across the Connecticut River in teams using a tandem kayak once we get that far.
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