Mount Monadnock day hike

This hike was basically a warm up for a Grand Canyon backpacking trip I had coming up at the end of April. My friend, Max, had recently caught the hiking bug and he was going to be joining me this hike as well as the backpacking trip. Another friend, Janice, who had done the same backpacking trip with me two years prior would also be joining us for the hike. The fourth member of our hiking team was Paul, a friend of Max's.

This hike started on Lake Road in Dublin, NH, at the trailhead for the Pumpelly Trail, just across the road from the southeastern corner of Dublin Pond. There really wasn't any good place to park as there were still some good sized snow banks along the sides of the road.

Trailhead for Pumpelly Trail - 1,500' Lower ridge - 1.2 miles - 1,800' Middle ridge - 2.2 miles - 2,460' Upper ridge - 3 miles - 2,770' Monadnock summit - 4 miles - 3,165' End of upper ridge - 4.8 miles - 2,770' End of middle ridge - 5.8 miles - 2,460' End of lower ridge - 7.6 miles - 1,800' Trailhead for Pumpelly Trail - 10.3 miles - 1,500' Total elevation change - 1,665' Trail map - 600 x 776 - 228K Trail map - 1,200 x 1,553 - 756K

We had an absolutely beautiful day for this hike with lots of sunshine and deep blue sky. The temperature started off in the low 30s but got up into the mid 40s around midday. We were at the trailhead and started hiking just a little after 9am.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Start of the hike 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Beautiful morning 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Janice

The first part of the hike was very easy as it was a very gradual ascent up to the base of the ridge we would be following to the top to Mount Monadnock. This is actually a very nice way to get to the top of the mountain as there is a nice mix of asecents moderated by sections that do not gain a lot of elevation. It gives you time to stop and look around and enjoy the view. And there was quite the view to enjoy today.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Cairn, snow 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Ascending the ridge 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Dublin Pond 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Max & Paul checking out the view 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Thorndike Pond 600 x 450   1024 x 768 View down the ridge 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Max & Janice 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Trail junction 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Snowy slope 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Mount Monadnock 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Mount Monadnock 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Cairn

The snow started to disappear as we reached the upper ridge and upper ledges and would only be found in some shallow depressions where the wind could not blow it away. It got a lot more windy once we broke out of the trees as well.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Max & Janice 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Mount Monadnock 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Mount Monadnock 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Janice, cairn 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Janice, cairn 600 x 450   1024 x 768 View down the ridge 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Mount Monadnock, trail junction, cairn

We made it to the summit around 12:15 or so and spent a lot of time taking photos before looking for a sheltered spot out of the wind to eat our lunches.

It was very strange because the three other times I had been on top of Monadnock in summer and auturm there was just a mass of people up there. On this day, however, there were very few and that was nice as for the most part we had the entire top of the mountain to ourselves.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Max, Mount Monadnock summit 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Janice, Mount Monadnock summit 600 x 450   1024 x 768 View down the ridge 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Mighty Moose, elevation 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Mighty Moose 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Janice, Max & Bob 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Having some lunch

We were on top for an hour or so and start back down right around 1:15. It took us about 3 hours to go up and about 3 hours to go back down which was a little surprising.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Cairn on the edge 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Paul & Janice 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Cairn 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Huge cairn 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Huge cairn, Max & Janice 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Ridge, Dublin Pond 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Paul 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Paul & Janice 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Janice 600 x 450   1024 x 768 End of the hke 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Group shot, end of the hke

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