You Are Here: 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.

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