Birchtoft Trail to Red Spot Trail to Pumpelly Trail
Distance: 7 Miles
Duration: 4 hours, 13 minutes (very fast pace)
Elevation Min: 1220ft
Elevation Max: 3165ft
Total Elevation Gain: 1945ft
Maps: We were given a map when we paid the $5 fee to park, but the same map (of excellent quality) is online here.
Parking: Apparently I wasn't the only person that had the idea to hike Mt. Monadnock the Saturday of Columbus Day weekend, so parking was full at the headquarters but they were very helpful in redirecting us to Gilson Pond parking area and giving us route directions from there.
Weather: Sunny, 55-62°F, Windy at the base and summit, not so much during the hike.
*Photography note: My camera took it's last photos during the total lunar eclipse two weeks ago. I tried to turn it on today and it wasn't having it, so I tried a bunch of other new batteries and even cleaning the metal inside the battery compartment with no luck, so all my photos were on my iPhone. I'm still pretty upset about it. This was one of the most breathtaking hikes I've done and It was hard not being able to capture it my way.
All day yesterday I was trying to plan a hike, but showing my family around Amherst and Yankee Candle took a massive chunk out of the day and my nap took the rest of the day away. Around 1:30am I texted my friend asking if he wanted to go climb Mt. Monadnock and he agreed so we set out at 9:30 this morning for New Hampshire! I wasn't the only genius who thought to go hiking on Columbus Day weekend. When we got within a mile of the park we hit bumper to bumper traffic. The main lot was full so they were redirecting cars to miles down the road to the Gilson Pond area, which caused me to have to completely replan the hike I wanted to do. After waiting in a line of cars for probably 40 minutes, we got to park and they were kind enough to give us a map with the route to the summit highlighted! We got out of the car, took a quick potty break, and hopped on the red Birtchtoft Trail!
The trail started off very flat following around Gilson Pond until it comes to a fork. To the right is the pond loop and the left is the Birchtoft Trail which leads to the summit. It slowly began to ascend with some dips, and after .9 miles we came to a mile marker sign which more or less marked the beginning of the big ascent.
The trailhead right behind the porta-potties.
A gorgeous view of Mt. Monadnock from Gilson Pond very early in the hike.
The trail breaks away from the pond and is very clearly marked the entire time.
The first mile of the hike has a lot of gradual ups and downs following little stone walls like these. It's very relaxing and scenic right before the big climb starts!
The first marker of where we were in the trail.
After the mile marker the trail begins to climb. This continues through some very wet sections of the trail until we meet with the Cascade Link trail. After that marker the trail begins to get very steep, and during our hike very crowded as well. We had to slow our pace down significantly due to the high volume of people hiking on the narrow trail. The traffic opened up a little bit after we passed an overlook which we skipped, but the trail was still moving slowly. We broke ahead of the traffic jam a couple of times and flew up the very steep sections, which took it's toll on my knees later, but then we turned around and caught the first glimpses of a view, which was a breathtaking view of the foliage to the East of the mountain.
The trail begins to ascent from the first to second signs, and then even more after the Cascade Link trail meets up with the Red Spot trail.
Some of the ascents on the Red Spot trail. There were a lot of people but the foliage made up for it.
Our first taste of the views of Mt. Monadnock! We were taken away by these but these were nothing compared to what we saw later in the hike.
The trail leading up to this is incredibly steep, rocky, and difficult. The last bit of trail underneath tree cover leads to...
This amazing view. In a way we felt like we were walking on the moon. The great part of this was we could see the summit. The worst part was that it was still over a half mile away.
Some photos of the first big overlook after passing the treeline featuring my friend Ian.
The terminus of the Red Dot Trail where we turn left onto the Pumpelly Trail. Some more ups and downs followed after this but our adrenaline was pumping so much it felt like nothing (until we sat down).
Some gorgeous views of the mountain and the surroundings.
One of the coolest parts about the summit area were these little retention pools everywhere.
Classic cheesy summit photo!
The last bits of summit photos before we started retracing our steps. These views were so amazing. I still can't process it all.
This hike was an out-and-back so we retraced our steps exactly to get back. The hike back was less physically demanding aside from not following down the steep rock faces, but more mentally demanding in that we were beyond exhausted and had to make it 3.5 miles back to the car. It was such a relief to get back to the gorgeous pond, and even more to get back to the car and lay on the grass for a few minutes.
Creative uses for a massive fallen tree!
Some last pictures of the pond and mountain before we got back to the car!
This hike was such a great experience. It was my first time breaking 3000ft (EDIT: apparently it's my second, I forgot that North Mountain in the Catskills broke 3k, but this was still the highest I've hiked to date), and significantly the most "up" I've ever hiked. It was very challenging but my friend pushed me to get up fast and it was so worth it. The views were amazing and the feeling of standing at the actual peak was a really cool feeling. Even with the insane crowds it was such a great day.
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