Trail: White Cross
Date: November 1, 1998
Attending: Matt. Leblanc, Gabe, Simone, & John Chicoine
Miles: 4.5 miles Time: 3 Hrs.
AMC huts, / shelters / camping site:None
Weather: Clear & Windy, wind chills down to 0 degrees
We did this one after church just to keep the legs in shape for the Whites. It was very cold with spitting snow here and there throughout the hike. The wind was howling, as it often is on this one. We got to the trail at 1:35 after church, The parking lot was full! We geared up and headed up the White Cross. (We don’t like the White Dot much, too well traveled, and polished rock). Mt Monadnock is not an “easy mountain” by any standards. It’s trails can hold their own for levels of difficulty, with most trails in the Whites, (they just arn’t as long). We had lots of good views because the leave were all gone by now. When we got to the summit we hunkered down for a snack, much like the rest of the crowds up there. Then we headed back down the White dot just because. We got back to the car at 4:30, and made our way to the Pizza shop in the center of Winchendon. It was a pleasant hike, but we were all glad we brought the wind and cold gear. Simone tried out her new Kelty Redwing backpack. She likes it!
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Mt. Monadnock
(3165)
Trail: Pumpelly
Date: November 21, 1999
Attending: Simone, & John
Miles: 9 miles Time: 6.5 Hrs.
AMC huts, / shelters / camping site: None
Weather: Clear & unseasonably warm in the high 50’s
What a day. What a hike! We got to the trailhead in Dublin NH. located on East Lake road. It was very difficult to spot; thank God we had the maps from the old AMC trail guide. I actually parked the cairn what looked obvious as a regular spot for parking, and I walked alongside the road for a few hundred feet, looking for the trailhead. We got to the trail late, 11:00, but we were prepared for the possibility of some night hiking, which we end up doing for the last mile of the day from 4:30AM to 5:30AM. We could have done the hike in six hours without breaks, but this hike is no slouch. Once again, Mt. Monadnock will not be classified as an easy bag. Although there are no particularly treacherous, steep, or lengthy elevation gain sections on the trail, it slowly takes its toll, as it scrambles up and down 4 mini summits before it reaches the main summit. We did notice that on this day, there were lots of rocks that wet and slick with slime from some rain we had last night, and the lack of sun. I suspect that the trail gets like this often. We summated at 2:05, and didn’t take more than 5 minutes to linger, we didn’t even sit. 4.5 miles, 3 hours & 10 minutes. We knew that we wouldn’t get off the trail before dark, with the sunset at 4:25. We stopped for a long break to howl at the moon, on the last lookout spot about a 1 & 1/2 miles from the trailhead. Just as we got off the last steep section of the trail, it began to dim, then gray out completely before our eyes, and even with a full moon, we couldn’t continue on for more than a few more moments without the head lamps. The car was a much welcomed sight, we were far more beet than we ever expected from what we though would be our gradual meander up the long slope up the north east side on MT. Monadnock. This trail is nice, but as I think I’ve implied, it can wear you down. I haven’t made up my mind if we’ll do this trail regularly or not, but I am glad we did it this day. See ya at the top.
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