North Pack Monadnock. 2018-01-09 (Wednesday). Via Wapack Trail. This one’s an easy walk in the woods, even in the snow. Bring basic traction and trekking poles, but otherwise, it’s not that challenging for anyone in suitable shape to go for a walk in the woods. Wintertime offers a stark take on the forest; a study in light and dark, and many times, black and white. The forest is distilled to […]
Local hiking
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A local quickie on a beautiful day! 19 December, 2018 It was beautiful out, so a hike was in order. I’m still getting used to shooting photos and video with the GoPro, so it was good on at least two levels. Oh, and the views behaved from the fire tower, so there’s a third level — Washington was visible, as were other prominent peaks in the Whites, and with careful […]
Variety is the spice of life! Mt Monadnock, 3,165 ft. Monadnock State Park, Jaffrey, NH. 2018-11-15. Via White Dot, Cascade Link, Spellman, Pumpelly, and White Cross trails. Approx. 5 miles, 3 1/2 hours. Cloudy, 25 degrees F, approx 10 MPH winds at summit. Approximately 25 mile visibility. Ice in many places, micro spikes a necessity. It’s always good to do the familiar in a different way. One of my faves is to […]
Via the White Dot Trail. Trailhead: 1030. Summit: 1145. Car: 1300. The forecast put the chances of a t-storm at a flip of a coin. I’ve hiked that bad Larry in a tropical storm before, so what’s a little thunder? OK, I’m crazy, but not stupid. Our aim from moment one was to be off the mountain, or at least well down from the summit, by 1300. We did well […]
27 June, 2018. Via the Marion Davis and Wapack trails. The unexpected consequence of finishing the 48 was that I felt more than a bit disjointed. I had a sense that something like this would happen — anyone who’s done something big and long-term like this (maybe a wedding, or school, or an all-consuming project at work) knows that often, you just need to sit on the sofa for a […]
A long walk in the woods. Temple Mountain, Temple, NH. 2018-21-05. (Monday) Via Wapack and Beebe trails. Approx 7 miles. 3 hours. 75 dF, with negligible winds. Mostly sunny. It was a nice day. I’d spent a day hiking Owl’s Head, then ran a half marathon a couple days later. I’m planning on hiking the Twins and the Bonds later this week. So I wanted to be outside without completely […]
Pack and North Pack Monadnock, via the Wapack Trail. Temple, NH. 75 dF, mostly sunny, light breeze. 3.7 miles; approximately 1 hour 45 minutes one-way. Pack and North Pack with a new Pack. Last week’s trip to Eisenhower had a lingering effect. I’d fallen into a spruce trap and tweaked something in my foot. Not being one to slow down for something as trifling as a sports injury, I decided […]
It was a nice day to get outside. Conditions were seasonably warm and sunny, with a light, cooling breeze that felt good. The parking lot showed enough cars for us to know we certainly wouldn’t be alone, but not so crowded as to suggest the trail would be mobbed. We hit the White Dot trailhead at around 10:00, and made our way up. In contrast to recent trips, this is […]
A beautiful day. Mt Monadnock, Jaffrey, NH. 2018-04-26. (Thursday) Via White Dot trail, and White Cross trail. Approx 4 miles. Mix of clouds and sun. Winds at the summit were in the 20-30 MPH range. 3 hours. It was a nice day out. The snows are in major retreat all over — basically, this means the snowy areas are limited to the shady spots on the higher elevations. Microspikes are […]
Grand Monadnock, 2018-04-17 Some of the pictures took themselves. Some needed a little help in post. There’s no substitute for seeing things first hand, but I think these are faithful to what I experienced. Below treeline, there was a lot of slipping and sliding on mushy slush. Above, the situation improved, in terms of being able to walk more naturally on ice; my crampons made easier and faster travel. That’s […]
Mt Monadnock. Jaffrey, NH. Via the White Dot and White Cross trails. Temps in the mid-40s throughout, cloudy. 2 hours up, 2 hours down. Spring is here, and the trails are showing it. The rains that fell the other night made their mark in different ways at different areas of the trail. At the bottom, the trails were soaking wet, muddy throughout. Very wet slush until the steep bit, where […]
Grand Monadnock, Jaffrey, NH 2018-04-07. It’s an easy hike, and it’s a bounded problem. Get in trouble? Point in one direction downhill, walk that way, and within half a day, you’ll hit a road. Maybe that lures people into complacency. I saw a lot of people behaving poorly today. The weather was warm and sunny, but the wind was robust, around 10-20 MPH in places. The trail was mashed potatoes, […]