We hiked Monadnock twice in the past few weeks. The two hikes should have been fairly similar. We started both around lunch time. Our hike on Sept 30th started after morning chores. This past weekend was after finishing Isaac’s Halloween costume. Both were gray days with some fall foliage. Both days Isaac complained about having to do any hike at all, but then finally agreed to doing the shortest hike up from the Halfway House trailhead, a hike we know well.
The difference? This past weekend, we arrived at the Halfway House trailhead to find a sign “Lot Full. Reservations Only”. I hadn’t thought to make a reservation. The next trailhead I could think of was the Gap Mountain trailhead. Most people use the Gap Mountain trailhead to hike, well, Gap Mountain. However, Gap is just a small bump on the Metacommet-Monadnock trail on its way from the Metacomet Ridge in Connecticut to Monadnock. This sounded like a great excuse to make the hike longer. Open street maps said 4 miles to the summit. It was 1pm and we had only 6 hours to sunset. Tyson wasn’t around to be a voice of reason. Isaac perked up and took over that role. He declared a turn around time of 3pm whether we reached the summit or not. Stick to the straightest route up. And we had better start hiking fast. Isaac led the way at just shy of a run.
An hour and a half, and only 3 and a quarter miles later (according to my watch), we were at the summit. I was a bit winded. Isaac was all smiles. The four mile estimate had been based on “prefer more gradual” routing. We ate a snack, then Isaac led the way charging back down the mountain. We arrived back at the car at 4PM sharp. Three hours to do 6.5 miles. Isaac requested we do another Mom and Isaac hike next weekend. You’ll have to forgive the paucity of photos. I had enough trouble keeping up without getting the camera out.
All Photos
-
- Isaac tying a recalcitrant shoe lace -- Comments (0)
-
- Maple leaves -- Comments (0)
-
- Isaac on a funny tree -- Comments (0)
-
- Isaac waiting for Mom -- Comments (0)
-
- Isaac enjoying the view -- Comments (0)
More ...
-
- Ash berries -- Comments (0)
-
- Ash berries -- Comments (0)
-
- Summit photo -- Comments (0)
-
- Raven and views -- Comments (0)
-
- Fall colors starting -- Comments (0)
-
- Looking southeast towards Wachusett -- Comments (0)
-
- Cotton grass -- Comments (0)
-
- Cotton grass -- Comments (0)
-
- Cotton grass -- Comments (0)
-
- Look, the painted arrow is a hand hold -- Comments (0)
-
- Viburnum -- Comments (0)
-
- Viburnum -- Comments (0)
... Collapse
Let us know what you think