Morning on Monadnock

  With our failed attempt of a sunrise from Mt.Monadnock last week, due to cloudy skies, we were off for a chance of better skies this weekend. We questioned if we should return to the same mountain for sunrise or if we should venture somewhere else. After looking into other hikes, we chose to return, as we felt the mountain was worthy of being one of our destinations for our quest.

This was our quick glimpse of the sunrise the week prior before the clouds took over the skies.

  With Mt.Monadnock being the second most traveled mountain in the world, even in the dead of winter at just before five in the morning, the parking lot had a few cars in it with other hikers seeking out an early morning hike.

 Our hike started out following a tunnel of light cast from our headlamps focused on the ground ahead, which was clear of  snow and ice that covered the trail only a week ago. The skies looked perfectly clear of any condensed water vapor floating above us to obstruct any views. The stars were clearly visible and the early morning air was bitterly cold with a slight wind.

  Evan had planned for us to tramp along the most traveled route up, which is a short more direct route of just under 2 miles to the summit. White Dot trail starts as a wide, root and rock garden that progresses up a steady incline until open faced granite slabs expose you to the elements at higher elevations where, in these conditions, the challenge starts.

   Although most of the snow and ice melted since our visit a week ago, the few patches that were left happened to be on these steep exposed slabs of granite. The winds started picking up at these elevations, so once we made it just below the summit where the giant cairn lies we hunkered down out of the winds to await the sunrise.

The brightening skyline.

The first glimpse of the sun on February 10th, 2019.

Evan capturing the show. Read Evan's Blog here: Evan Hikes

First rays of sunshine illuminating the rocky ledges.

   We watched from these lower ledges for a few minutes as the sun slowly crept above the horizon, then we trekked the last few hundred feet, passing the hikers that were heading down, until we arrived on the empty summit.

Evan enjoying the sunrise from the summit.

   After a few more photos from the summit, we found our way to the Dublin Trail in order to connect it to White Arrow Trail. Before heading down, we enjoyed a vast view of southern New Hampshire and Vermont, with peaks like Mt.Kearsarge, Stratton Mountain, and Mt.Ascutney visible. With the winds reminding us of the chilling time of year, it was time to descend.

White arrows mark the route down (lower right).

The White Arrow Trail made for a fun rock scramble!

Can you follow the arrows up? 

Follow the arrow...

As soon as we left the exposed rocky higher elevations the trail became more icy until the ice engulfed the trail like a mad river that instantly froze as it gushed down the steep slopes. It made for a treacherous descent, but a fun one.

 
The ice appeared to be a few feet thick, covering every inch of the trail and surrounding area, at this point spikes were necessary and without them we would of had no choice but to head back to where we came from... Luckily we came prepared and with the proper equipment this trail and it's conditions were spectacular!

Looking down the frozen trail.

Looking up one section of the frozen trail.

   The frozen river that was marked as a trail seemed to go on forever. When the slopes leveled off we found the bog bridges were engulfed in the frozen waters they were supposed to bridge across. What irony!

Bog bridges frozen solid.

   The White Arrow trail lead us to a junction after approximately a mile where the Halfway House once stood. From here we located Hello Rock trail which we followed for approximately half a mile winding through rock outcroppings, pines and hardwood forests until we connected to Cliff Walk and Parker trails with a combined trek of 1.2 miles to end, where we had begun at the Monadnock Park Headquarters.

Frozen waters flowing over Poole Reservoir Dam.

Looking across Poole Reservoir

 The GPS route we took: https://www.strava.com/activities/2137096115

A Major Sunrise

 The transition from 2018 into 2019 brought us a string of unfortunate events, both of our cars needed repairs and my wife lost her job, all within a week. With all that behind us, my son and I were back on track for our second sunrise on our quest for a sunrise each month from a different summit.
  Our day started after working a double shift on Friday (7-3, 3-11), So my sleep was approximately 1.5 hrs then out the door by 1:00 am for a 2.5 hr drive to Mt Major in the Belknap range near Lake Winnipesaukee, NH where Evan had planned another fantastic hike for us.

  After spending the 80's and 90's hiking only 4k'ers of New England numerous times it wasn't until Evan (Evan's Blog) started introducing me to smaller mountains that I realized just how challenging and exhilarating other mountains here in New England are. As a parent it's been a great experience having my son introduce me to these different summits and I've been impressed of his accumulating knowledge of New England's geography.
  We arrived at the trail head in Alton, New Hampshire just after 4:00 am. With the sun not rising until after 7:00 am we had plenty of time to trek up the one and a half miles to the summit.  Evan chose the Mount Major Trail (Blue blaze .7 miles) then a left turn on the Main Trail which is blazed in yellow .8 miles to the summit. Here is a link to our round trip trek: https://www.strava.com/activities/2073206595
  The temperature was 4 degrees Fahrenheit, with a "feels like" temp reported at -10F and the trail conditions started with a few inches of well packed snow that had iced over, so spikes were needed and snowshoes were strapped to our backpacks in case they were needed at the higher elevations.

  We tramped at a constant speed digging the spikes in the ice with every footstep, as the trail was an ice sheet covered in a thin blanket of snow, and the only visibility was in a narrow tunnel of light from our headlamp along with stars above us in a cloudless night sky. The winds were howling above through the tree tops, we knew it was going to be bone chilling cold on the summit, but for now we were heated by our energy usage being expelled to hike up the moderate incline of the mountain.
  We arrived at the short steep head walls just before the summit at just after 5:30 am, so before exposing ourselves to the winds on the open summit, we decided to hunker down for a bit within the shelter of the trees.
  Once the sky started illuminating we knew it was time to get up the final walls of the trail. The steep sections were covered in snow drifts and ice that presented the only challenge of the trek up, but within 10-15 minutes we stood on top of the 1785' summit with presidential elevation winds slapping us in the face until we reached an old stone foundation left behind from a shelter that once stood (Read more about the structure here), this blocked the winds that were coming from the Lake Winnipesaukee side of the mountain (North).

The view from the stone foundation as the stars were disappearing

The old stone foundation with the White Mountains in the distance.

The Southeast horizon was brightening with every minute that went by, with the pinkish hues reflecting off the few clouds that were above the horizon growing, we knew it wasn't long before the celestial heater in the sky shows it's splendor, which was much anticipated at this point...

  With a clear sky, in front and above us, we watched as the stars slowly disappeared from the illuminating sky. The sun was slowly rising from the horizon as the minutes ticked by and the winds were trying to pierce through our layers of clothing.

  

Bella waiting patiently

Behind us the sun rays were illuminating the snow covered White Mountain peaks in a pinkish glow. We took a lot of pictures until the sun was above the horizon.

Lake Winnipesaukee with the snow covered White Mountains in the background

The view North from the foundation

  We started hiking down Boulder Loop trail on the southern slopes. With the sun shining down on us and the mountain behind us blocking the northern winds, I'm sure the temperature crept into positive territory on our way down.

Ice covered shrubs and trees

Evan leading the way down Boulder trail

   The trail meandered through snow covered trees and giant boulders scattered throughout the mountainside. The trail was an easy 1.6 miles back to the parking lot, which was a nice way to warm ourselves after spending the last hour or so stationary in such extreme conditions.
   Another fantastic sunrise with Evan in the books!

My favorite photo from all that I took.

Our GPS Route: https://www.strava.com/activities/2073206595

Feelin the Breezy Breeze

               A challenge is something difficult which requires effort and determination...
   Last year while running up the auto road on Prospect Mt in Weeks State Park, NH I passed an elderly gentleman struggling to walk the mile and a half road to the summit. After making it to the summit I ran down the hiking trail on the backside and looped around to ascend the road for a second lap. Approximately halfway up I noticed the same gentleman sitting on a bench, so I stopped to confirm he was taking a break and not needing assistance, he then asked what I was training for, there was a look of puzzlement in his facial expression when I answered "Life".
  After chatting with him for a few minutes I learned of his days training and competing in marathons and other races over the years and now, several years after being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, he faces greater challenges just to walk and he's doing it up a mountain. This made my able bodied run seem easy compared to his efforts to reach the summit with his handicap.
  We spoke a few more moments exchanging compliments, he raved about my answer to his question of what I'm training for and I expressed my amazement in his determination to keep challenging himself when he had every excuse to give up and let the disease control him and his life, we both agreed that life would be boring if we didn't set physical challenges, no matter how big or small.
   The conversation we had was more beneficial and inspirational to me than the workout itself... Every person's challenge is different.

  For those of you that have had the pleasure to snowshoe on trails that have already been packed by others after a storm, I don't have to remind you how easy it can make hiking here in the White Mts, which is where Evan planned our first official sunrise on our quest. The bigger challenges in our sights would be logistics, weather and gear.
  Our day starts at midnight (How else could we get a FULL day in). After a quick 3 1/2hr nap I quickly wake Evan and Bella (Our Golden Retriever) and we are out the door driving three hours to the trail head of  Webster- Jackson trail in Crawford Notch, NH. Arriving a little after 3am.

  The temperature at the trail head was in the single digits with a slight breeze. Moisture crystals floating in the air were reflecting the light of our headlamps, which gave the appearance of tinsel.

  After fastening our snowshoes to our boots we were able to start at a pretty fast pace with the snow already packed from other trekkers. The tricky part of hiking in these temperatures is settling into a pace that your physical efforts are keeping you warm enough without excessive sweating that could lead to serious issues when you stop for long periods. With the temperature being in the single digits my efforts were warming me enough to only wear a base layer and no hat most of the way up. At one point I had removed my gloves I was so warm.

  We kept a solid pace until we realized we were almost at the summit before 5am, which was well before the 7am sunrise. We decided to slow down, now that we could feel and hear the howling winds as we approached the 4,000' elevation.

  There were a few blow downs we had to maneuver around and some steep pitches we dug our spikes from our snowshoes into to climb, but for the most part this hike was an easy one. We quickly broke treeline after the final steep pitch only to be slapped by mother nature's 50-60 mile an hour sustained winds coming from the North. The sky was black all around us with only the light from our headlamps to see where we were going. A few sprinkles of stars scattered the sky between the clouds as we quickly hustled to the east of the summit along the Appalachian Trail until we dropped back into the trees to seek some shelter from the wind.

  It was just after 5am and we knew we would have to stay off the summit for at least an hour and a half before the skies would start brightening. I pulled every piece of clothing out of my pack and we layered up and hunkered down for a while.

  With great anticipation we noticed the skies beginning to brighten in the crevasses between dark clouds. We wondered to ourselves if this hike would lead to a cloudy sky, which in my opinion the sun's reflection off clouds are what make the morning skies so colorful and different every day, when there's space for the sun to show...

  While heading back to the summit, with dark clouds surrounding overhead, I didn't think we would get a morning show of the sun. I looked behind me to the east to see the most unusual fiery orange glow from between layers of dark clouds over a range of mountains to the east. It was a unique show that made me forget how cold it was.

 It was disappointing when I tried taking photos with my new GoPro Hero 7 only to have it not work. Luckily my old trusty smartphone was able to capture the amazing skies. It was to damn cold to remove my gloves and try to figure that GoPro out. If this happens again I may be selling it...

  We were able to remain just below the summit while watching the skies in a display of warm sunlight reflecting off different cloud layers. Although they're not great quality, due to my dysfunctional GoPro, I'll let the photos I was able to capture show the magnificent sky.

Looking down to Crawford Notch

  At this point we hustled over the summit. I stopped for a few more photos and when I looked back at Evan he was disappearing down the trail (I think he had enough of the wind).

Looking back over the summit, then watching Evan race out of the wind.

  Now that it was light out and we could see the packed trail and it's surroundings, with my mountain biking background, I couldn't help to recognize the trail would have been a perfect run for my Fatbike! It was well "groomed" with fast flowy curves that we mountain bikers can only dream about, and if you crash you have two feet of powdered snow off trail to cushion your fall!

 A mt bikers dream winter trail!

Evan sleeping on the trail.

Great views on the way down through Crawford Notch.

  On our way down Evan's MSR snowshoe malfunctioned with three of the straps breaking. Luckily with the condition of the trail he was able to remove them and finish the hike. We also took a short break with some great views at Bugle Cliff looking through Crawford Notch.

  Our Quest for a sunrise from a summit every month over the next year has started with a unique one, with some different challenges than the actual climb itself. We didn't see the full sun, but the display that was set before us was truly unique and was worthy to count as our first one.
   Happy trails!

My son's account of our hike: Evanhikes

Our Route: Sunrise 1 https://www.strava.com/activities/2008547415#kudos