Pack Monadnock. Peterborough, NH. 2023-12-24 (Sunday.)
Via the Auto Road. About an hour total. Temps were in the low 40s/high 30s throughout. Sodden. A light sprinkle on the way down. Kinda British, actually. No real views.
It’s been awhile, to say the least. Today was more about punching the ticket — standing up and being counted. My most recent class has been over for a few days, but work… I mean, I can’t turn down some OT. But that means my off days are spent resting. A bit slothful, but hey, that’s reality right now.
And yet, today rose and after I got past the ritual of calling my parents, and so on, I had a bit of time to get to some kind of mountain. Pack really counts as more of a strenuous hill, but I’ll take it. I set out as I usually do. Full pack, because you don’t know what’s going to happen. I went up the auto road, because I wasn’t expecting much. The day was totally sodden, with entirely limited views. I didn’t go up to Galehead (as I’d wanted) only because I knew the day would be mostly wasted on that effort. As limited as the views are from that peak, at the same time, I’d have been in the Whites, and would want the day to be meaningful. Today I was booking mileage. Expectations kept to that level.
It wasn’t a bad outing. Not the least, but I felt a burn I hadn’t felt in awhile. It’s nice. The views were really clipped by low level clouds — I couldn’t see the observatory at MIT-Haystack, which is saying something. I saw a nice little tree that had been ornamented by someone probably local, which was nice.
Expectations should be what they are. And today, that’s what it was. Class starts again in a few short weeks. On the one hand, I’m thrilled for the new learning. On the other hand, I dearly miss my beloved mountains. But they’ve been standing for thousands of years. They can wait a few semesters.
As always, stay safe out there.
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