W1/HA-196 Gap Mountain

After activating Little Monadnock it was time for the last summit of 2019, Gap Mountain. I had seen a notice that the southern trailhead was closed for logging, so I drove around to the north trailhead, on Bullard Road. There is a good size parking lot on the left just before the road makes a sharp turn right.

Grand Monadnock through the trees.

Gap Mountain is just across a pass from Grand Monadnock, and I had views of it through the trees as I climbed up. The trail was well marked, and there were quite a few people out hiking, despite the Patriots game being on. After a relatively flat approach, the trail climbs up the face of the mountain. It was quite icy in places, and I was glad I had traction with me.

Looking north at Grand Monadnock again.

The route is totally in the forest until you reach the somewhat open area on top of the north peak. This area had the best views. It is well signed, to make it harder to descend the wrong side of the mountain once you're on top. The true summit of the mountain was looming just south.

Gap Mountain summit behind me.

My map showed a trail leading up to the peak, but I couldn't find it. So I decided to bushwhack, starting by heading straight towards the peak. I quickly reached a cliff, and had to walk along the top of it a short distance to find a place I could scramble down. It was not as easy as the open granite on higher mountains. After that it was an easy walk through the open forest. I found some human tracks that seemed to be heading up to the top, and followed them.

Summit cairn.

They led to a large cairn at the summit. I continued just past it to a relatively open area where I found a rock to sit on and put up my antenna. Since it was early afternoon, it was too late to get European stations, but there were plenty of North American chasers. I tried 17m again, and got many more contacts than I was expecting. I had to be back home in time for some dinner plans, so I didn't stay too long on top.

Sign on the way down. Despite what it says, that way is the best route to the summit.

Instead of trying to climb up the cliff on my way back, I headed to the left (west) some when I got to the col between the peaks. This was a much better option. I passed a sign saying the faint path I was on was not the trail to the summit, but the blazed trail doesn't get to the high point and going around the cliff is much safer than up and down it. A short distance past the sign I picked up the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail again, and followed it over the North Peak and back down to the car.

This was the best view at the true summit.

Back at the car I headed home, and made it in plenty of time for dinner.

Trailhead: Bullard Road, on the left just before the road turns right. There is a big sign.
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: Take the trail over, staying on the trail (not the road). At the north summit, continue down a short distance, then bushwhack past the "not a trail" sign and up to the summit.
Red Tape: None.