Jaffrey, New Hampshire
Meeting up with my group we head up to the trail head and while passing the hiker cabin area I run into a store regular. He was up here for the weekend to trek with his scout troop. I enjoy it when I find fellow outdoors people out having fu with the gear we’ve sold them. Following the Spruce Link Trail we head northwest through a forest of evergreen and white birch. The steepness of the trail is broken up with widely spaced timber steps. I’m happy to find the ancient hollow oak is still standing guard along the trail. Once hit by lightning, this monarch of the forest has a hollow in it large enough to house a person. The Spruce Link Trail ends at Falcon Spring, a large cairn with a pipe protruding from it. Mountain water pours from the pipe and heads down the mountain in a stone lined trough. Here the trail splits and we continue north along the Cascade Link Trail. The loose stone and rock path gives way to granite ledge and wet moss. The brook swollen from snow melts cascades over large boulders to our left. Its echo fills the mountainside as the clear blue sky penetrates the leafless yellow birch and evergreen. Boots get wet at the brook crossing, for the stepping stones are submerged from the enlarged waterway. It doesn’t seem to mater as each hiker stops mid-stream to enjoy the small waterfalls seen from this vantage point. The canopy opens up to offer a glimpse of the valley floor. Continuing our climb the birch disappear and stunted fir offer more views of the countryside. After one last scramble up a steep rock out crop, the path merges with the Pumpelly Trail. The footpath follows a ridgeline which we traverse in a southwesterly direction. At tree line ice and a dusting of snow cover some areas of the path. The course takes the group over several hillocks. Summiting each offers an incredible view to all compass directions before descending once more into stunted evergreens. Finally we break through the last of the woods. Blasted by strong winds we make our last dash for the summit. The temperature has dropped to about 30° with a strong southwesterly wind that almost knocks some of the people of their feet. After a brief stand at the top, the hikers head for shelter amount the boulders. During our climb to the top of the Grand Monadnock we ran into only four other hikers, but the descent was a different mater. The White Dot Trail offers one of the most direct routes to the summit and back down. It’s also known to be one of the most crowded trails on the mountain, today would be no different. Not only did groups of hikers follow us off the summit but others continued to arrive causing a traffic jam. Once below tree line the trail gets muddy as water flows like a brook. An orange glow of the setting sun filters through the woodland as we make it to the base station and the end of a great day. Live the Experience!
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It felt good to be heading to New Hampshire
for a day climb of Mount Monadnock. At 3,165 feet above
sea level Mount Monadnock also known as the Grand
Monadnock is the highest point of land for about 30 miles.
It has been said that Mount Monadnock is the third most
climbed mountain in the world with Mt. Fuji in Japan and
Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa being winning the top two spots.
With that said I try to hike trails that are not only
scenic but have few people. For the past couple of years
I’ve chosen to leave the main trails to the summit
and take the Cascade Link Trail to tree line. Although it
adds a couple of miles to the trek, this trail follows a
cascading brook with small waterfalls through a white
birch and evergreen forest to the ridgeline and best of
all, few people.