Monadnock via Old Toll Road & White Arrow 03/07/08

[Mike P.]

Date(s) Hiked: March 7, 2008

Trails(s) Hiked: Old Tool Road & White Arrow

Total Distance: Roughly 4.5 miles RT

Difficulty: moderate overall, a lot of easy but crampon walking required being very careful as one wrong step in the wrong place could have proved very painful.... or worse.

Conditions: mostly snow, some ice & the cascade near where the White Arrows breaks out from the trees was frozen with feet of ice.

Special Required Equipment: crampons required. (Because the alternative is to bushwhack around the ice which many people had done but I won't recommend that due to the impact, just bring the proper gear.)

Trip Report: I had planned to head to the Whites on Saturday but since the early afternoon in Keene looked nice & I wanted to use my crampons this winter. The last two were snowshoe trips. Also, the idea of a 10 mile hike in sleet/rain & snow & then a 200+ mile ride home in the storm sounded dumb at best. From the top, I could see the clouds coming in. By the time I was headed across back to Keene on 124 in a couple of spots, I could see the summit was in & out of the clouds.

I make some silly decisons at times on hiking in the rain/snow, etc. but this was a smart & fun one for a change


Mike P.
mapaggioli4000@aol.com

 

[LongStep]

Date(s) Hiked: March 7, 2008

Trails(s) Hiked: Old Tool Road & White Arrow

Total Distance: Roughly 4.5 miles RT

Difficulty: moderate overall, a lot of easy but crampon walking required being very careful as one wrong step in the wrong place could have proved very painful.... or worse.

Conditions: mostly snow, some ice & the cascade near where the White Arrows breaks out from the trees was frozen with feet of ice.

Special Required Equipment: crampons required. (Because the alternative is to bushwhack around the ice which many people had done but I won't recommend that due to the impact, just bring the proper gear.)

Trip Report: I had planned to head to the Whites on Saturday but since the early afternoon in Keene looked nice & I wanted to use my crampons this winter. The last two were snowshoe trips. Also, the idea of a 10 mile hike in sleet/rain & snow & then a 200+ mile ride home in the storm sounded dumb at best. From the top, I could see the clouds coming in. By the time I was headed across back to Keene on 124 in a couple of spots, I could see the summit was in & out of the clouds.

I make some silly decisons at times on hiking in the rain/snow, etc. but this was a smart & fun one for a change


Mike P.
mapaggioli4000@aol.com

nice to know people hike in southern NH too!!!. I drive on 101 quite often for work and the view of Monadnock is great. How much snow was up there? I haven't been up there since late summer and am thinking of trying it out.

 

[Mike P.]

I'd say one to two feet, a lot less than northern NH & even less than Concord. That was a week ago, I suspect they picked some up this weekend (we had rain in SE CT) but this was not a big storm. I'd say a bit more than the last couple fo years but not too much more.