smitty77
New member
July 18, 2010: Mt. Monadnock, from park HQ in Jaffrey, NH
Trails: White Dot, Cascade Link, Spellman, Pumpelly, White Dot
Hikers: Matt (Smitty77), Rob, Madison
Sometime during my son's birthday party on Saturday my brother Rob asked me if was interested in a hike up Monadnock early Sunday morning with him and his step-daughter-to-be, Madison. Since it has been almost 2 years since I set foot on that mountain I was eager to say yes despite the proposed 5am wake-up time. The proposed route is my all-time favorite - ascent via the steep and scrambly Spellman Trail.
After picking up the back yard from the birthday party I made my way to bed at 11:30 and set my alarm for 5:30, 5:40, and 5:45 (I was not going to be late for this epic adventure!) - dismissing my brother's claims to be at my door by 6am. He lives 40 minutes south of me and has to wrangle a 13 year-old out of bed so I figured 6:30 was optimistic at best and laid my head on the pillow. Mere minutes later, at 5:18 am, my cell phone alarm was going off. No, wait, the phone is ringing! Little bro is on the road and telling me to get my old self out of bed. He picks me up at 6 am on the dot and we make our way another 40 minutes northeast to Monadnock where we arrive to a mostly empty lot. We climbed out of the car, stretched a bit, used the facilities, spritzed on some deet, and had boots on trail by 7:05 under partly cloudy skies, cool but muggy temps, and the occasional breeze.
The bottom section of the White Dot trail is the most boring piece of trail on the mountain (IMO) but we made our way quickly to the Falcon Spring and the Cascade Link Trail. The 0.7 mi of trail between the White Dot and the Spellman is in fine shape, though a little slippery in places from the rain and thundershowers the previous night. There is still evidence everywhere of the 2008 Ice Storm, but all of the blowdowns had been cleared long ago and only spiderwebs blocked our path, which Madison grew tired of clearing and let Rob break trail after a short stop for water. not long after we made our turn onto the Spellman Trail where the climbing quickly begins.
At a small switchback in the trail we noticed a rabbit enjoying the cool morning air. He sat still long enough for us to get a few photos, confident that we weren't about to crawl under the tree branches to pay him a visit.
I love this trail for its relentless climb to the Pumpelly Ridge Trail over a mix of large rocks and slabs.
Madison scampered right up this trail, looking right at home on the steep scrambles even though she's never climbed anything this high before.
Just as the climbing petered out we abruptly found ourselves on the Pumpelly Trail. We took a left and began making our way over the ups and downs to the summit. We stopped a couple of times for water, to enjoy the steady and often gusty breeze, and to admire a cairn (actually several) that Max, Rob, and myself rebuilt nearly 20 years ago. I imagine they've seen some attention by other hands over that time, but they still resemble the stone structures we stacked long ago.
We continued to make our way along the ridge, picking blueberries as we went, hoping the summit would clear a little bit. Well, I was hoping it would clear and Madison was hoping to get up there in time to "touch a cloud".
Judging by the way these low, wispy clouds were playing "tag" with the summit cone it seemed like we would both get our wish.
The wind speed increased a little as we neared the top, at one point knocking Madison off balance as she explored the area. We eventually found a nice place to have a snack in the shelter of some rocks. Once out of the wind, we were content to just lounge around for a half our or so while we snacked and re-hydrated. The views were obstructed by a very thick haze, with only the nearby Pack Monadnocks easily visible. Occasionally one could make out Wachusett in the distance and there was no hope of seeing the Boston skyline. After a sufficient rest we puts the packs back on and made our way down the White Dot trail. As we descended the summit "cone" and left the breeze behind we found the open slabs were a very warm place to be in the sun, and I did not envy the folks we saw making their way up the mountain. Our trip down was uneventful for the most part with everyone staying vertical down the steep and increasingly crowded trail. Madison was content to let me lead the descent so that, in the event that I fell, she would know not to take the same approach down.
We stopped several times for a couple of minutes to rest our muscles and take in some water. We made it back to the parking lot at 11:05am.
Just another perfect day on Grand Monadnock.
Trails: White Dot, Cascade Link, Spellman, Pumpelly, White Dot
Hikers: Matt (Smitty77), Rob, Madison
Sometime during my son's birthday party on Saturday my brother Rob asked me if was interested in a hike up Monadnock early Sunday morning with him and his step-daughter-to-be, Madison. Since it has been almost 2 years since I set foot on that mountain I was eager to say yes despite the proposed 5am wake-up time. The proposed route is my all-time favorite - ascent via the steep and scrambly Spellman Trail.
After picking up the back yard from the birthday party I made my way to bed at 11:30 and set my alarm for 5:30, 5:40, and 5:45 (I was not going to be late for this epic adventure!) - dismissing my brother's claims to be at my door by 6am. He lives 40 minutes south of me and has to wrangle a 13 year-old out of bed so I figured 6:30 was optimistic at best and laid my head on the pillow. Mere minutes later, at 5:18 am, my cell phone alarm was going off. No, wait, the phone is ringing! Little bro is on the road and telling me to get my old self out of bed. He picks me up at 6 am on the dot and we make our way another 40 minutes northeast to Monadnock where we arrive to a mostly empty lot. We climbed out of the car, stretched a bit, used the facilities, spritzed on some deet, and had boots on trail by 7:05 under partly cloudy skies, cool but muggy temps, and the occasional breeze.
The bottom section of the White Dot trail is the most boring piece of trail on the mountain (IMO) but we made our way quickly to the Falcon Spring and the Cascade Link Trail. The 0.7 mi of trail between the White Dot and the Spellman is in fine shape, though a little slippery in places from the rain and thundershowers the previous night. There is still evidence everywhere of the 2008 Ice Storm, but all of the blowdowns had been cleared long ago and only spiderwebs blocked our path, which Madison grew tired of clearing and let Rob break trail after a short stop for water. not long after we made our turn onto the Spellman Trail where the climbing quickly begins.
At a small switchback in the trail we noticed a rabbit enjoying the cool morning air. He sat still long enough for us to get a few photos, confident that we weren't about to crawl under the tree branches to pay him a visit.
I love this trail for its relentless climb to the Pumpelly Ridge Trail over a mix of large rocks and slabs.
Madison scampered right up this trail, looking right at home on the steep scrambles even though she's never climbed anything this high before.
Just as the climbing petered out we abruptly found ourselves on the Pumpelly Trail. We took a left and began making our way over the ups and downs to the summit. We stopped a couple of times for water, to enjoy the steady and often gusty breeze, and to admire a cairn (actually several) that Max, Rob, and myself rebuilt nearly 20 years ago. I imagine they've seen some attention by other hands over that time, but they still resemble the stone structures we stacked long ago.
We continued to make our way along the ridge, picking blueberries as we went, hoping the summit would clear a little bit. Well, I was hoping it would clear and Madison was hoping to get up there in time to "touch a cloud".
Judging by the way these low, wispy clouds were playing "tag" with the summit cone it seemed like we would both get our wish.
The wind speed increased a little as we neared the top, at one point knocking Madison off balance as she explored the area. We eventually found a nice place to have a snack in the shelter of some rocks. Once out of the wind, we were content to just lounge around for a half our or so while we snacked and re-hydrated. The views were obstructed by a very thick haze, with only the nearby Pack Monadnocks easily visible. Occasionally one could make out Wachusett in the distance and there was no hope of seeing the Boston skyline. After a sufficient rest we puts the packs back on and made our way down the White Dot trail. As we descended the summit "cone" and left the breeze behind we found the open slabs were a very warm place to be in the sun, and I did not envy the folks we saw making their way up the mountain. Our trip down was uneventful for the most part with everyone staying vertical down the steep and increasingly crowded trail. Madison was content to let me lead the descent so that, in the event that I fell, she would know not to take the same approach down.
We stopped several times for a couple of minutes to rest our muscles and take in some water. We made it back to the parking lot at 11:05am.Just another perfect day on Grand Monadnock.
