Mt. Monadnock
In order to get ready to hike a 4000 footer, I decided to hike Mt. Monadnock in southern New Hampshire as a warmup. I went with a friend in July 2021. Here is some detail about that trek.
On July 24, 2021, I arrived at the parking lot with Chella (his name is Matt, but it feels weird to call him by his first name) at Mt. Monadnock Headquarters in Jaffrey, NH. I had reserved a parking reservation online prior to that day, as it was recommended due to limited space in the lots.
We started on Parker Trail, which was at the back of parking lot 2. We decided we wanted to avoid the White Cross and White Dot trails because those are the heavily traveled routes, and they would be much more crowded. We were looking for a more solitude hike. From Parker, we met up with Lost Farm Trail to our right, which led us to Cliff Walk. This took us to a nice lookout area called Bald Rock. This was a great place to stop for a quick rest. From there, we continued on Cliff Walk a little bit longer until we hit Smith Connecting Trail. Almost immediately, we were faced with a decision to either stay on Smith or take Amphitheatre path towards the White Arrow. We decided to stay on Smith, which led us to the White Cross/White Dot. That took us right to the peak. There were some areas of climbing rocks where hands were needed. The entire hike was very steep, but nothing that any able-bodied person couldn’t handle.
On the way down, we opted to take the White Dot all the way down. It was the most direct route, and we would be able to make the best time was our reasoning. It was incredibly steep, and very difficult on the knees and legs. This path did not seem like the best way down. We were told the White Arrow probably would have been better going down.
The views were outstanding. Although the peak stands at only 3,165 feet, there are 360 views, and there is nothing in any direction for many miles that is even remotely close to that high, so it really seems like you are on top of the world. In addition to the peak, there were several other spots to get fantastic views, such as Bald Rock. There were some others along Cliff Walk and Smith. I highly recommend following the path we took because of these extra look out spots. We realized coming down White Dot how little you got to see going that way. It goes straight up the mountain and there are no scenic overlooks.
This was a terrific day that got me even more excited to start the 4000 footers.
Monadnock’s peak is only 3,165 feet tall. But don’t let the low altitude fool you. This is a steep mountain. It ascends fast and keeps going straight up. It was humbling. As great a day as it was, it made me realize that I need to take better care of myself and be better prepared for the next challenge. My legs were hurting after this hike. We made it up and down with relative ease, but it was still humbling knowing that I was using muscles that had been relatively dormant for quite some time.
The plan before starting the 4000 footers is to take better care of myself and exercise more. Hopefully by getting my muscles active again, it will help in getting up and down the larger mountains without aching too much. When I take on the first 4000 footer, I will absolutely be better prepared. Monadnock was the perfect mountain to feel a sense of accomplishment, but also understand where my body is at physically.