Dublin Trail - Mount Monadnock

 It was supposed to be a gorgeous day today, and rainy yesterday. Guess what happened? It was gorgeous yesterday and I woke up to rain today. I wanted so badly to get out after a week off with family, that I headed out anyway. My plan had been the Dublin Trail on Mount Monadnock, but I had a plan B in mind should the rain continue on my drive over. The sun came out and it was gorgeous, so I decided to do Dublin Trail. What an adventure it ended up being. I was up and out early as I know this is a popular trail, being touted as one of the "easier" trails up Monadnock, and not being accessible in Winter.. so anyone, like me who may be working on redlining needs to do it in non-Winter conditions. There is a decent sized lot, and I was the 5th car there. As I was gearing up, there were just a few, but very annoying mosquitoes flying around so I decided to put on the spray. I'm glad I did (although I don't know how useful it is once you start to sweat and wipe the brow!). The trail starts at a kiosk at the back of the parking lot and follows very briefly through the woods to the road, crosses the road and continues. The first half mile or so is very mild, standard rocks and roots, but little to no elevation gain. As the trail continues, it gradually increases in steepness. The trail was wet today from the overnight rains. As the trail continued to head up, the terrain moved from traditional rocks and roots, to more of a slab/rock ledge. It was mossy in places, and the wet conditions made some of these very slippery. There were some real scramble type areas, and some were tricky for those of us who are vertically challenged. I never really found my groove on this hike, so it was very tough and slow going for me. It was beautiful, but I was riding the struggle bus. The trail breaks tree line and seemingly endlessly continues up the ledges, however now behind you are gorgeous views. Today however, those views included some incoming rains. The forecast had called for rain later in the day, I thought I'd have enough time, but I could see the rain coming in fast. I considered turning around now, but with less than half a mile to go I pushed on. I was not summiting today, I was just going as far as the Jim's Junction intersection with Marlboro Trail. I wanted to enjoy it much more than I was. Not only was I suffering with the climbs, I was anxious about the rain arriving and having to descend all those steep scrambles in the wet. I finally arrived at the intersection, took a couple quick pictures and immediately turned around. The rains were very close by now. I hadn't see many people on my way up, and I was amazed at the amount of people I passed on my descent who were heading up. A large group of young folk, who appeared to be a cross country group, quite a few groups of families with very young children (one of which the father was wearing flip flops!) and a gentleman carrying a baby on his front without any other supplies.. it always amazes me what people think is suitable hiking attire (or lack of supplies). By now the heavens had opened and it was raining. The trail filled with water and mud very quickly. The slabs were slippery.. yet the people kept coming! The rain was good and bad. I was attempting to move as quickly as I could (which in retrospect was not in the least bit fast) and I was just really focused on getting down each scramble as safely as possible. This involved a lot of butt sliding.. it lessened my anxiety. Had it been dry I think I would have spent more time contemplating each steep section, instead I just kept moving. I managed to get down without any incidents and I hope the same could be said for everyone else I passed heading up. Of course within the last mile or so, the rain stopped and the sun came out. I even saw a post on Facebook with a gorgeous rainbow taken from the summit. This mountain is undeniably beautiful, but it has tested me on each of my visits. I still have at least 6 more planned hikes to complete all the trails and I'll admit I'm nervous! I am always stunned at the amount of people who hike this mountain.. it's a hard one! Although the sense of accomplishment at completing another trail is always worth it. 

Strava Activity

Trail crosses the road and continues

starting to climb

wet and mossy

one of the trickier sections

we've reached the slabs

slabs go up, up, up

here comes the rain

looking over at the Pumpelly ridge

this gorgeous fellow was on the trail

SRKG - Section 8

 I had just talked with my best girlfriends about pictures I had seen of folks hiking out west and how "buttery smooth" the trails always seemed to be.. I know that's not even close to always being the case, and the altitude is something else entirely, but it always looked so lovely with those nice smooth trails.. so different to our trails here in NH. Fast forward to Sunapee-Ragged-Kearsarge Greenway Section 8. I parked at the Wilmot Town Hall and was planning an out and back of Section 8, which is logged at roughly 4.1 miles each way. From the Town Hall, head up N Wilmot Rd a couple tenths and meet up with the Greenway as it exits Pinnacle Road. The trail continues on Beaver Pond Trail just a pinch past Pinnacle Road and marked with the SRKG White Trapezoid blaze. I was instantly met with a very mucky mud pile. It was impossible not to get your feet very wet and muddy and I hoped this wasn't a precursor for the rest of the hike. Thankfully that really bad piece only lasted a few hundred feet, and then the trail turned buttery smooth.. just like how I dreamed about! I was amazed! There were off and on sections of mud for the next couple of miles, but nothing near that beginning section. Beaver Pond Trail is 0.9 miles long and passes through short swaths of previous logging which provided some peek glimpses of nearby Bog Mountain. I had been following along and stopped to apply bug spray as the bugs were pretty bad, when I noticed a side trail with SRKG blazes.. I followed it and it descended very, very briefly to a view over what I'm imagining is Beaver Pond. There was even an old seemingly forgotten bench! I made a mental note on my return to take this side path and see where it went. Continuing on, the trail gently rolled up and down before taking a 90 degree left turn and joining Patterson Farm Trail. This appeared to perhaps be a snowmobile trail in Winter, but amazingly had a swath cut in for the path that looked like it was mowed! It was grassy for a while before coming more of a woods trail. The buttery smooth dreaminess continued however descending briefly before a moderate little climb up then some rolling gentle terrain. I had read on a trail description that there was a long steep descent to Eagle Pond Road. I could feel the descent, but it was very gentle and I wondered where that description had come from. With just about a quarter mile to go, I found it.. just not long, but it was steep, though switchbacks made it easy going and the smooth trail was still in tact. Nothing like what I had been anticipating, however I did think about coming back and how unwelcome that climb would be on tiring legs. For now I was happy to reach Eagle Pond Road, it was a bit more rolling than I had thought.. but the road was hard packed dirt. Easy going terrain. Followed that for about a mile, passing a big camp near the end right on the pond which was a hive of activity, must have been a new week of campers coming in. Just before hitting Route 4, the Greenway turns left onto the Northern Rail Trail and follows that for a short ways. At the point the Greenway leaves the Rail Trail there were a large number of blazes, pretty hard to miss.. but gratefully there as the path is not at all obvious. It climbed steeply up the embankment, and was a bit sketchy with trash and some debris before coming out into a small grassy area with a lovely view over to Mt Kearsarge, cutting through some more greenery and popping out on Route 4. Head down Route 4 just a few hundred feet before carefully crossing and heading up New Canada Road. The trail description of New Canada Rd being uphill, is completely factual! A steep road up, though thankfully more hard packed dirt, so nothing technical at all, just physically tiring! The worst part was this was the buggiest section of the whole day. In fact I stopped and put on my bug net, it was that bad. The climb up is just about a mile. I was going to stop and have a break when I reached my turnaround point at the Ragged Mountain trailhead, but the bugs were so bad, I immediately turned around and headed back down. I retraced my steps exactly. The trail isn't marked well coming off New Canada Rd, crossing Route 4 and taking the connector path to the Rail Trail. Look just after the guardrail, there is a blaze hidden in the greenery. Coming off Eagle Pond Road and back onto Patterson Farm Trail is well marked, but as an added observation point, the trail begins just after the Danbury town line sign. I was right with my earlier observation about that steep little climb being unwelcome. The bugs had also become significantly worse. I had kept my bug net on, but they were biting as well, so even though I was getting really tired, I was motivated to keep moving. This time as I reached that side path near Beaver Pond, I followed it. After the bench it wasn't really marked, but there was a faint trace of path, and it basically brought me back to the trail a few hundred yards down from where it diverged off. In reading the trail description, I think that truly is the path, it has just become obscured over the years with people cutting it off, however I'd recommend following it if you can find it to get the lovely view over Beaver Pond! This "detour" (not really a detour) is barely a tenth of a mile long if that, no additional distance than cutting it off really. I continued to retrace my steps back to the car at the Wilmot Town Hall. If it had not been for the mud and the bugs, it would have been a perfectly dreamy day. Not what I expected at all!

Strava Activity

parking at Wilmot Town Hall

Turning off N Wilmot Rd

start of the really bad mud on Beaver Pond Trail

thankfully becoming buttery smooth

bench near Beaver Pond

more mud with help this time

end of Beaver Pond Trail

onto Patterson Farm Trail

appeared to be a cellar hole along Patterson Farm Trail

some sections looked like they had been mowed!

onto Eagle Pond Road

onto Northern Rail Trail

Northern Rail Trail

connector to Route 4

along the connector path to Route 4

cross and up New Canada Rd

my turnaround point

the connector path is just after the guardrail

off Eagle Pond Rd onto Patterson Farm Trail

Gap Mountain

 It was finally a really glorious weekend. No rain, no humidity.. Laura and I headed south to explore Gap Mountain. It's been on my radar for a while, and I read a recent report that the blueberries were ripe, so off we went. This week we planned a car spot.. it would make the hike much shorter, but also gave us the opportunity to really take our time and enjoy the area without the thought of having to double back! We spotted a car in the lot off Bullard Road in Jaffrey, which they call the North Parking Lot. This lot is down a dirt road, which was a little bit rough, I think primarily due to all the recent rains we've had, and I know is not maintained in Winter which adds additional mileage should you do it at that time of year. We then drove to the South Parking Lot off Upper Gap Mountain Road, another dirt road but in much better condition. We were surprised to see both lots almost full when we arrived, I hadn't though this a super popular area! Also surprising was a very clean porta potty at each lot! The trail starts at a kiosk behind the porta potty on a very gentle trail for about 0.3 miles before crossing a bridge to begin the ascent. We took a short detour before starting to climb Gap Mountain, onto the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail (heading left). We initially missed the turn as it's not well marked coming in from the parking lot. If you cross the bridge, you've gone too far. Once we realized we backtracked and saw signage coming from this direction. This also doubles as the Wantastiquet-Monadnock Trail which I am section hiking for my redlining spreadsheet. The start of this section was very messy with debris and the trail was a little hard to follow. There were just enough blazes to guide us through. Once we got through the debris, it became easier to navigate. Just as we got comfortable the trail started to ascend Fern Hill, which lived up to its name with a massive amount of ferns, pretty much disguising the trail. In retrospect it was very beautiful, but it was frustrating at the time as we weren't sure where to go in a couple places. We reached almost the summit of Fern Hill and I took a picture for the next time I come in from the opposite direction, so I'll know my turnaround point and headed back down. This time we crossed the bridge and continued towards Gap Mountain. The trail wandered through the woods starting to climb gently. It was muddy in some places, but overall was in good condition. Really well maintained. As the climb becomes steeper, there were some natural stairs built into the slope. Just as the climb was hitting it's peak and before a rockier section, there is an unmarked but obvious path going off to the right, as the main trail turns left. This is a spur to the Gap Mountain South peak. It's referenced in the guide book, so we did it. You descend slightly then climb moderately for a couple tenths to the summit marked with a large cairn. I had read there were no views at the summit, but just as we were starting the spur we passed a couple who were returning, he was a local and told us to continue past the summit cairn to a clifftop viewpoint. The path is obvious for this viewpoint and descends slightly. The clifftop viewpoint is small but mighty with wide open views across to the Wapack Range. We sat for a while and enjoyed a snack here. We doubled back down the spur to the main trail and climbed up the steeper, rockier section before reaching the blueberry bushes! This section was fun as you could barely see the trail at times but pushed through the bushes, stopping to snack before reaching the summit of Gap Mountain North peak. This was an open area with lots more blueberry bushes and a really gorgeous view across to Mt Monadnock and the South peak we had just been on. We continued towards the North parking lot. The trail descended rather moderately at times, and was rocky and a bit damper than the southern side. After a while the trail started to seem a bit neverending, but we eventually met up with the intersection of the Donovan Trail. We turned right staying on Metacomet-Monadnock Trail which now was a lovely flat section following a rock wall. The trail continued down, crossing an old road that the map labels Gap Mountain Road, which you could take back as it turns into Bullard Road where the parking lot is. We stayed on the trail, which started to climb gently again before reaching the connecting path to the parking lot. We had seen people throughout the day, but it was never crowded. The trails are in fantastic shape and really well maintained. A real hidden gem!

Strava Activity

South Parking kiosk

onto Metacomet-Monadnock from the connector trail

heading up Fern Hill

turnaround point on Fern Hill

Fern Hill

dreamy trails heading up Gap Mountain

spur to the South peak on the right

Gap Mountain South summit

viewpoint beyond the summit

heading to North peak

looing back at South from North

Gap Mountain North

Monadnock from Gap Mountain North

view spur described in the guide led to this