Monadnock--The Marlboro Trail

On Saturday, we got a late start but managed to get to Mt. Monadnock's Marlboro Trail head in New Hampshire at about 2:00 PM.  The day had been pretty variable--beautfully clear in the morning, then increasing clouds. It was supposed to clear again, but it looked a bit threatening as we started the hike.

This was my first time on the Marlboro Trail in perhaps four years. A couple of years of various physical issues interfered drastically with the weekly hikes I used to make. But Saturday was going to be the first time for the year, and maybe we'd be able to do some fairly frequent hikes later on.

I should have re-read my own description of the trail. The foot of the trail was steeper than I had recalled it. Not terribly steep, mind you, but certainly it went up a lot more than I thought it would. And depsite the hiking I've been doing on Mt. Wachusett, I was still struggling here.  (My friends Richard and Beverly had commiserated with me a couple of hours early about how much slower we had gotten in the past few years.)

The weather cleared as we continued up the trail, which on the lower slopes had a number of soggy and muddy areas. There were a few small sets of stairs here and there that Jim had managed to install. Generally, the trail was in good shape. Cairns were common even at the lower elevations, although the painted square trail blaze wasn't the capital M I expected until we got up to the first rocky clearing. 

We stopped to rest there--the other two seemed to be more tired than me at that point, although I was breathing hard when I caught up to them there.  We looked around a bit and enjoyed the views. Gary wanted to see Mt. Wachusett, but we couldn't quite pick it out from this spot. (On the way down, we saw that it was just at the shoulder of the mountain to the south.)

We continued up, taking a few minutes at the junction with the Marian Trail, just a little more than half way to the top.  We were all starting to get pretty beat by this point, but oped to continue up a little farther.

After leaving the deciduous trees behind, we were in all evergreen forest. A steep part was ahead of us, and lots of evergreens. The other two were looking like they had had enough, even though they said they'd go all the way if I did. Check the time: An hour and a half to this point,with at least half an hour to go--and probably more like 45 minutes. And then back down.  We decided not to push it, so we caught our breath, and a few photos, and turned around.  Half an hour later we were in the car and heading home, with a commitment to climb Mt. Wachusett again midweek, and to come back to Monadnock on the next weekend to head for the top.

The view to the northwest from the Marlboro Trail.

See the information about the trails on Mt. Monadnock.

Wachusett the fast way

Twenty-two minutes to the summit from the parking lot at the visitor center, up the Pine Hill Trail.  This is the fastest route up Mt. Wachusett.  But with no pack, I'm showing my age.  Not too many years ago I could get up in about 15 minutes--with a pack.  Every year, now, I see my times increasing, my breathing going faster. 

Well, let's worry about age a little later.  The Pine Hill Trail is the Interstate Highway of Mt. Wachusett.  Probably more people take this route to the summit than any other. It's shown its age over the years, too, as it was getting wider (aren't we all?) and more worn and eroded.  But for a few years now it's been going through a facelift. Trail crews have been narrowing the trail in most places, and putting in stone stairs, one or two at a time. Now, perhaps half the trail is paved with native stone.  The steps, while essential, are to me a mixed bag.  I really prefer a natural trail with all its warts. But this trail was getting so badly damaged that something had to be done, and the fix has been effective so far. Still a lot to do, though.

From the start of the trail to the summit via the Pine Hill Trail is about 1100 yards (1 km). The trail is steep for Wachusett, but it's all walking, not climbing. The early going right now is still pretty muddy in spots, but once you reach the junction with the Bicentennial Trail you hit the stairs it it's mostly dry and clean almost to the Down Summit Road.  Above that, there are no stairs, so it's moist dirt, but not especially wet, in between the rocks.

A hazy, humid day, so the view wasn't particularly interesting. We turned around and got back to the bottom in 12 minutes.  That was pretty close to the 10 minutes I used to do it in. Felt good!

Go to the Hiking Trails on Mt. Monadnock site today!

Moore State Park

Following an Easter brunch, we took a short drive into Paxton to Moore State Park.  Beautiful in May and early June with hillsides and stream banks covered with rhododendrons and azaleas, right now it is just coming back to life. Our hike yesterday was relatively short (the park doesn't have any especially long or challenging hikes, anyway). We left the parking lot and turned up the Davis Road Trail. With all the recent rains, this trail was quite soggy, even as it ascended the hill. Just below the summit, we turned to the left and followed the Laurel Loop Trail to the top of the hill. I was hoping for some good views, but even though the hilltop was open, there were still enough trees surrounding it that we really couldn't see much into the distance.

We continued along the trail downhill, but didn't complete the loop, instead we took a different trail that paralleled Eames Pond. This trail isn't on the map found on the park's web site, although it was on the map found at the parking area. The trail was quite interesting through here, generally following the contours of the ground, but with enough ups and downs and turns to be "entertaining."  Of course, we passed through areas of laurel and had various glimpses of the pond not too far below us.

During the hike, rain threatened us. We felt sprinkles, but it never turned into enough rain to get us wet.  Today is perhaps the fifth day in a row with threatening or rainy weather.  Maybe even longer. While we've seen some sun, it hasn't been especially forthcoming.  More storms are predicted for tomorrow and later in the week.  But we don't mind too much. This has been better than the tornadoes hitting some areas of the country!

Happy Hiking, and don't forget to visit Hiking Trails on Mt. Monadnock.