Monadnock in the Summer

Mt. Monadnock in the summer

What better way to introduce some friends to hiking up a mountain then to take them to Mt. Monadnock. It’s a relatively short hike with some rock scrambling. Which I guess I failed to tell them. Hahaha, my bad. Somehow I convinced Stephanie to be at my house at 6:30am. I was extremely tired, to say the least. I had been at the New England Country Fest the night before in Foxboro and didn’t get home until the wee hours of the morning. I think this is the only reason she agreed to come along since I wasn’t going to be on my A game. At a little after 7 we met Michelle and Ryan in Plainfield. Luckily Ryan said he would drive the rest of the way. Up we went.

The parking lot wasn’t crowded yet when we got there. I thought it was because it was suppose to be so warm but later when we got back it was packed so I guess others were just getting a late start. We got our backpacks ready and put on the bug spray. I used my Ben’s with DEET and the other three used Green Irene 100% natural bug spray. No one got bites so it appears that Green Irene survived the first test. We may have to put her to the test some more. Off we went, and the sweat started pouring down. Goodness was it hazy, hot, and humid. We went the same way as last time, White Dot to Cascade Link to Red Dot. When we got to Red Dot things started heading up more. This is when I started to hear it from some unnamed individuals. They were not quite ready to be doing some rock scrambling. Although there was some whining they did a good job and were scrambling along without a problem. A little before the top all parties agreed this would be a nicer hike if it was cooler and less hazy (hopefully a fall trip back). When we got to the top we encountered the crowds. I was pretty surprised how many people were up there on such a hot day. The top was rather comfortable though with a breeze. We found a slab to sit on and enjoy some snacks and get some pictures.

After a nice little stay it was time to head down. We went the White Cross. There were a few times the ladies needed to scoot down on their bums because they weren’t feeling confident in their balance. This was rather amusing to me but hey, they got down and didn’t get hurt. We got down and everyone was very happy to take off their shoes. I was really proud of everyone, even though there was some whining, they did a good job and kept a decent pace. Good Work Steph, Michelle, and Ryan!