You Are Here: Metacomet-Monadnock Trail Section 5

We had a big snow/ice storm yesterday, so my concern was staying as far south as possible in the area that received the least amount of snow. I decided to finish Section 5 of the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail. I hit the nail on the head with snow totals, what I grossly underestimated was the conditions from the ice part of the storm. I parked at Rhododendron State Park, which had not been plowed, but was drivable to access. Geared up and headed into the park. The low hanging rhododendron plants were like a wall at times from the leaves being covered in ice. I left the park boundary and started the climb to the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail intersection just below the Little Monadnock summit. I was first tracks this morning, but the trail is well marked and was easy to navigate. The snow did not give any issue either being only a couple inches deep. It was a gorgeous bluebird day and the ice on the branches made everything sparkle. Once at the M-M intersection, I headed right to complete Section 5 that Laura and I had half done a few weeks ago. The trail is well marked, but the low hanging branches, trees down sporadically and the white blazes against the white snow sometimes made them hard to see. Immediately I had issue finding the trail down, but thankfully had a predownloaded track that I was able to use to help me navigate. The next 1.5 miles consists of coming down the slopes of Little Monadnock Mountain plus a couple bumps to reach Old Richmond Road. I knew it was going to be downhill, but had not expected how steep it would be in places. Once I finally found the trail coming off the highpoint, it opened up to a gorgeous view across to Mt Monadnock. Leaving this area, I had trouble finding the trail again, I eventually spotted a blaze at the bottom of a very steep, short descent. I honestly didn't think I'd be able to get down with the snow, definitely not standing anyway. I looked around for a safe spot to slide, probably spent way more time than necessary.. everything just looked super steep. I eventually settled on a spot right at the blaze, and then spent even more time building up the courage to slide down. I kept thinking about amusement park rides and waterslides way bigger and longer than this that people do without even thinking about it! I made it down safely. The trail then continued to descend through the woods. At one point it crossed a powerline swath which is marked with small stakes and a white blaze.. it was very wet/muddy in this area. Although very shallow snow, it was a trudge and started to feel a bit never ending! Eventually I met up with Old Richmond Road, and encountered my first person of the day. This Class VI section was about 3/4 of a mile and was very wet and slushy. I was very glad to make it to Prospect Street, an actual road. The road walk was a mile and goes down a rather steep hill. I had known this having driven it a couple months ago, and knew I did not want to go up that hill! I reached the Troy Depot, and this completed what I needed for Section 5. I did need to get back to my car however, and not wanting to return the way I came, I had looked on the map beforehand and saw that the Cheshire Rail Trail ran south and intersected with Rookwood Road, which led back to Rhododendron State Park. I hoped these were all passable after the storm. They were and it made the walk back much less difficult. I was surprised how well traveled the Rail Trail already was after the storm. It was easy going, but ever so slightly uphill. Rookwood Road initially was residential then became a Class VI road that had already been well traveled by Jeeps. I made it back to the car, tired but feeling accomplished!

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