W1/HA-009 Grand Monadnock

I was back in NH to visit family for Christmas, so of course I needed to go out and get some peaks. I only had the car for a few hours, since my sister needed to go to work, so I picked a nearby peak to do. At the trailhead I talked to the ranger, and he said the White Dot Trail was the best way to the summit and that the other trails might require full crampons. I only had microspikes, so I took his advice.

Starting up the trail.

The trail was cold and snowy, but I quickly warmed up and had to take off a layer. The first part of the trail is relatively flat, and I quickly got to the base of the climb. Here I really started to heat up. There was only one other car in the parking lot, and I didn't see anyone else in the woods.

Still heading up.

The snow seemed to get thinner when I reached the open, rocky ledges, but there was still enough snow and ice that I left the spikes on. It also got very windy when I got out of the trees. I caught up to a couple near the summit, and they were wearing full crampons and had ice axes. I wondered why, it didn't seem that bad out there to me.

First view of the summit.

I tagged the high point, then retreated down a short distance to get out of the wind. I found a spot that was a bit calmer, and got set up. I was hoping to get a bunch of European stations, since it was still late morning. I wasn't disappointed. Nearly half of the people who chased me were in Europe, mostly Spain.

Only a little hazy.

I called a few times on 40, but didn't get many responses. I was getting cold in the wind, so I packed up and headed down. The temperature had increased, and the snow was very slushy, which made a few sections more interesting. I made it back to the car in plenty of time, and headed home.

View from my operating position.

Trailhead: Monadnock State Park.
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: I took the White Dot Trail, but there are many many ways to get to the summit and back.
Red Tape: None.