Mount Monadnock, Jaffrey, NH

Sunday, August 9, 2009

I took a long weekend and brought the family camping. In addition to my wife and 7, 9, and 13 year old boys, I brought my 15 year old niece. My boys adore her. Since a trip with her grandparents to Utah, she had been itching for a real nature hike.

We camped, for maybe the forth time, at Greenfield State Park, in Greenfield, NH. Despite the large number of campsites, each one is clean, spacious, and distant from each other. It's my favorite campground, anywhere.

I chose to climb Sunday so that we can participate in camp lead nature activities on Saturday. Phil gave a fairly short lecture on Black Bears that I think the kids enjoyed. There also was a nature hike and ponding event, but we didn't attend them. After 8 pm we did a night hike, which was fun. I got some ideas for our cub scout pack sleepover in October.

I had climbed on Monadnock three times prior and been to the summit twice, and each time using the White Cross trail from Monadnock State Park. I toyed with the idea of doing a different trail, but I was overruled by the wife. Play it safe, we have a new hiker with us.

Monadnock State Park is about 25 minutes away from Greenfield and we got a late start. Parking at Monadnock cost us $18, which was a bit of a surprise. They charge per person and 15 years old is an adult, apparently. We used the bathrooms at the trail head and started up.

The climb was mostly uneventful and we were going rather slow. It was overcast but the rain wasn't predicted until much later. My 7 year old, despite having done this hike two years ago, was certain he couldn't make it. I spent some time trying to boost his morale.

There is no water on this trail, which is too bad. The water on Moosilauke and Little Haystack make those hikes memorable. There was mud, and we will likely remember it, but it's not the same. I wonder if other trails do.

At some point above the treeline we entered the clouds. Goodbye scenic views. Here we went VERY slow. I wore my work sneakers again. Everyone got to the top and we could barely see past our outstretched hands. It was cold and the wind was whipping. Some of the other climbers were not prepared for that, but having been on top of Washington and Katahdin, I've seen wind 30 mph faster in weather 20 degrees colder. We didn't linger long.

The summit is bald, not because it's above the tree line, but because fires lit by farmers in 1800 to clear land for pasture got out of control and burned the mountain. Maybe someday the forest will retake the summit. Monadnock is 3165 feet above sea level, but chiseled into the top is the number 3166. Let's dismiss survey error or erosion. Back in 1959 the size of the inch was shortened a tiny bit to make metric conversion easier. I'll refer the units nerds to this article for a better explanation than I can muster.

The hike down was also fairly uneventful. We continued to move slowly. It would sprinkle from time to time, but nothing too concerning. My 9 year old took the lead and complained constantly how slow we were going. He was completely done with the mountain and wanted out.

Back at the trail head I noticed that I had drank very little from my hydration pack. My youngest drank his dry and as such had to stop for frequent pee breaks. We used the bathrooms again and headed back to camp for dinner.

I had to remind the boys to be smart about what path they chose and where they put their feet, but all in all I'd have to say they climbed like champs. I don't know if I'd plan a harder trail for my younger two (or my niece) but this hike was well within their abilities. Maybe we'll do it again next year and choose another trail. There are rumors of caves and abandoned structures. I'll have to read the book to find out more.