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Hike of Mt. Monadnock

Jaffrey, NH

Sunday November 5th, 2006

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White Dot Trail As the seven of us started out on the lower stretch of the White Dot Trail, the first leg of our 5-hour hike was a cakewalk. Although Mt. Monadnock is known as the second most frequently climbed mountain in the world (after Japan's Mt. Fuji) and is less than 90 minutes from Worcester, this was our club's first ever trip to the mountain.
Spellman Trail As we proceeded from the White Dot Trail to the Cascade Link Trail and onto the Spellman trail (Monadnock's steepest trail), our "cakewalk" quickly became a strenuous climb. Willa, Arjun, Megan and Jason work their way up the rock ledge while Lana and Nora pause to enjoy the view.
Lana and Nora Lana, Willa and Nora

Lana and Nora - not quite twins,
but they're working on it.



Lana, Willa and Nora taking a
break on the Spellman trail.

Two east-facing views from the Spellman Trail, with Thorndyke Pond below us.

View from Spellman Trail View from Spellman Trail
Steepest section of trail Snow patch

Closing in on the top of the Spellman Trail, Nora, Lana, Willa and Megan tackle our steepest climb of the day.



As the Spellman Trail joined the Pumpelly Trail, we were were greeted by patches of snow! For Arjun, it was a new experience.

Nora, Lana and Willa

Nora, Lana, and Willa on the Pumpelly Trail.

Below, another view of Thorndyke Pond, as seen from the Pumpelly Trail.

View from Pumpelly Trail
View of Monadnock summit Jason, Willa, Arjun and Megan cross an ice patch as they head along the Pumpelly Trail toward the summit.
Group on summit At 3,165 feet above sea level, Megan, Jason, Nora, Lana, Greg, Arjun and Willa experience an episode of mountain madness.
Rock facade We began our descent of the mountain along the the Smith Summit Trail to the west. Looking back toward the summit, the trail offered a nice view of the mountain's rocky facade.

Jason, Megan, Arjun, Lana, Willa and Nora chill out at the intersection of the Smith Summit Trail and Amphitheatre Trail. We could have relaxed there in the sun all afternoon if we had the time.
Trail signs
Group resting at trail intersection
Group at Bald Rock in front of summit The Amphitheatre trail led us to Bald Rock, where we had an impressive view of Monadnock's Rocky summit.
View from Bald Rock Looking east from Bald Rock, Thorndyke Pond was again visible beyond the boulders.
Nora inside hollow tree

Completing our hike along the Lost Farm Trail, Nora stops to check out an empty tree.

Finally, from Poole Reservoir we catch our final glimpse of Mt. Monadnock's southeastern slope, illuminated by the late day sun.

View of mountain

View photos on SlickPic

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