
September 10, 2021
Emilie Phillips
Isaac had a friend over for a couple days. Isaac’s recent hour long play dates with other friends had tried my patience. So I picked an activity that I knew would keep Isaac occupied and on good behavior — hiking. I gave the two kids a choice: hike to the summit of Monadnock, or explore […]
Read Full Post
Written September 13, 2021

November 29, 2019
Emilie Phillips
Hiking Mount Monadnock with my parents late fall is becoming a tradition. This time Tyson wanted to see Billings Fold — a geological phenomena and potential rock climb. It was cold but not snowy. I expected ice on the trails, so I hunted through the house looking for my micro spikes. It took me five […]
Read Full Post
Written December 4, 2019, updated January 5, 2022

December 31, 2018
Emilie Phillips
New Hampshire had feet of snow in November, but since then, warm rains melted all the snow. Alternating between the rain storms, it’s been cold but dry. New Years Eve started cold and dry, with rain forecast to blow in that night. We left the house shortly after 8AM. The sun was shining when we […]
Read Full Post
Written January 2, 2019, updated August 23, 2020

August 19, 2018
Emilie Phillips
“Is that the top?” Isaac asked looking up through the trees. “No, just a ridge,” I repeated. Shortly, our trail tee-d into the Cliff Walk trail. Tyson stopped there for a bio break. “Isaac, want to climb this rock while we wait?” The bottom of the rock had many fissures and steps making it easy […]
Read Full Post
Written August 22, 2018, updated September 3, 2020

May 13, 2018
Emilie Phillips
For Mother’s Day, I organized a hike up Monadnock for the younger generations before the afternoon Sawyer family cookout. We started from the state park trailhead (map). We took Cascade Link out to Spellman and then looped back on Pumpelly ridge to the summit. Isaac and his cousins, Jake and Ben, enjoyed climbing the rock […]
Read Full Post
Written May 16, 2018, updated October 10, 2020

June 18, 2017
Emilie Phillips
We hadn’t hiked much this spring, so we headed up Mt Monadnock one Sunday during a brief break in the rain. The wind forecast was good, so we brought our kites. We saw our first glimpse of the mountain driving west from Jaffrey. It looked bleak. Thick gray clouds engulfed the shoulders and top of […]
Read Full Post
Written July 31, 2017, updated August 22, 2020

November 27, 2016
Emilie Phillips
Mt Monadnock pokes it’s head above the rest of southern New Hampshire. Today, the peak had snagged a sombrero of clouds. It was a chilly Thanksgiving weekend, and we could see that in the shadow of the clouds, the top third of the mountain was white from snow or ice. This spring we summitted Mt […]
Read Full Post
Written November 27, 2016, updated October 6, 2020

February 21, 2016
Emilie Phillips
It rained this week and melted all the snow, so we went hiking. There was steady wind all day, so we picked an exposed summit for flying kites. Watatic would have been great, but we have hike it many times recently. Instead we drove farther afield to Monte Rosa on the side of Monadnock. As […]
Read Full Post
Written February 21, 2016, updated January 5, 2022