Melanie & Fancy at Pilgrim Pines
June 2, 2017
Deb and I had breakfast at the dining hall and Fancy Free, my AT friend, arrived shortly after. She was coming along as I scouted the summit route up Monadnock. Deb headed out and we headed off to Monadnock State Park HQ to go up the White Dot Trail. As I remembered, the White Dot was quite challenging. It has a very steep middle section with sloping granite rock ledges to climb up and over. We proceeded rather slowly taking time to check out the views along the way (and to catch our breath). It was a warm and sunny day and we made it to the top in 2 hours – longer than I’d anticipated. Plenty of people were up at the summit and it was breezy and cool. From the top, Monadnock has spectacular 360 degree views all around. Fancy and I think we saw Greylock in the distance and closer by, Pack Monadnock. We dutifully took some photos and off we went down via the White Cross; I wanted to see if it was a better route down for the group. The White Cross was less steep and had fewer big ledges to clamber down, so it’s a good choice. We also briefly scouted the Parker Trail to where it intersects with the Cliff Walk. Fancy had to leave when we got back to camp, so I gave her a hug and sent her on her way! All in all a great day.
Fancy at big cairn
June 3, 2017
Today’s scouting trip took me up to Monte Rosa on Monadnock and also to Gap Mountain to check out that trail. I chose the Marlboro Trail approach to Monte Rosa, switching to the Marian Trail and Great Pasture Trail to get up to Monte Rosa. It rained a bit as I got up toward the junction of the Marlboro and Marian Trails, but only a light drizzle, so not bad. By that time, the trail is already rocky and ledge-y. The Marian Trail slabs around the mountain on its western side, a quieter, less traveled section. It heads down and up along the side of the mountain, some scrambling was involved to get to the Great Pasture Trail. This trail goes steeply up through trees until opening out onto the rock ledges leading to Monte Rosa. Nice views from this vantage point of the valleys and of Mt. Monadnock summit. I came down the same way and raced over to Gap Mountain to scout that trail, which is only a bit over a mile. It is mostly in forest, opening up near the end on clear ledges where a view is afforded of Monadnock to the north. I headed back to Pilgrim Pines and had dinner in the dining room.
Cliff Walk marking on rock
June 4, 2017
I still had the Cliff Walk on the agenda today. Participants would be arriving in the afternoon, so I wanted to get the hike done in the morning. So, I left a bit earlier and went over to the Toll House Road parking lot to try that approach. I ended going past the turn off for the Parker Trail and opted to head up the Do Drop Trail instead of back-tracking. It was a steep approach to the ridge where the Cliff Walk was and a bit hard to follow in parts as it was not blazed along the way. Once I joined the Cliff Walk, the route took me up and down rocky ledges with scrambles passing great view points along the way. Additionally, the Cliff Walk has several interesting features such as Thoreau’s Seat, Wolf’s Den, and a Graphite Mine site. It ends at Bald Rock with great views of Monadnock. I returned doing the full length of the Cliff Walk, down the ladder and back to the Toll Road via the Parker Trail. Can’t believe I missed the sign on the way up! I must have had my head down just as I passed it! I was excited to get back to Pilgrim Pines to meet everyone. Unfortunately, the weather got wet Sunday afternoon and the forecast was a bit gloomy through Tuesday. The first person I bumped into was Ed from Canada! Ed would be joined by 3 siblings – all of whom had a deep family history with Monadnock, which added much interest to our trip. The hiking group totaled 14: Julie, Nat and Sarah from Maine; Barbara from New Hampshire; Dawn and Joan from New York; Ann from Maryland; Lauren and Tom from Tennessee; Mary Lou from Florida; Enid and Kateryna from Massachusetts (Kateryna is originally from Ukraine); Ed from Ontario; and the amazing Win from Georgia. It’s a diverse and dynamic group with amazing adventurers, scientists, counselors and health professionals, and just plain good folks! It was a great welcome at dinner for the entire group: hikers and watercolor artists (the other Road Scholar trip that week). What a nice combination of people. Chuck was terrific and it was fun to meet the group. The food at Pilgrim Pines was amazing and plentiful. I was sure I’d gain pounds even though I would be hiking every day! Following dinner, the hiking group convened in the Fireside Room for a general orientation. Each day, I would have a co-leader and staff to help with the group. At orientation, I discussed the fact that we might have to jockey the hike schedule around based on the weather and hoped everyone would be flexible. It rained all night!