HikerAmiga
New member
Pack Monadnock (Miller State Park) Via Marion Davis Trail and Wapack Trail
Started off the hike with a 1.5 hour trip towards Peterborough, NH via Route 101 West from Manchester, NH accompanied by Sunday Morning Jazz, best companion ever!!
I opted to do this hike as opposed to a Waumbek invitation as in doing this one, I could snooze for longer as lately, getting my Zzzzz’s is a priority!!
It was a beautiful day, sunny and coolish in the 40’s but not when you're moving so I just wore a light fleece vest as cover and this was more than toasty! When I got to the trailhead (1.5 hours from Boston) it was just before 11am and though I had intended to ascend the Wapack Trail to summit Pack Monadnock (2,290’), on a whim I decided to try an adjacent trail, the Marion Davis Trail which was exactly the same distance as the Wapack, 1.4 miles, except it appeared to wind around a bit more. I'd also read that it was much less traveled so I thought I'd try this one instead. I was soooo wrong to choose it and regretted it for a long while as a group of about 10 youngsters and some adults with 3 dogs came right up behind me. They were so loud and most of the time seemed to be yelling at the dogs, for some reason? Typically, I don't mind hiking/walking along with other folks, but darn, today either I was still PMS'ing since my Greeley Ponds hike, or I don't know what because these people were really getting on my nerves with all their commotion!
The grade on this trail was easy, gradual, winding with lots of ups and downs. This trail is definitely on a slope and at times, it was pretty narrow, maybe 2-3 feet wide at most. It was very rocky, pretty dry except for a few slightly muddy areas. There were lots of leaves on the ground but non-slippery. I summited after about 1.25 hours. This peak has an auto road so I found a parking lot atop, a fire tower and a cell phone tower, out houses and picnic areas dispersed with some grills!! this is a rather large area that clearly can accommodate lots of people. There were views in pretty much all directions if you walked around and sought them including some amazing views towards Mt Monadnock! When I arrived to the summit I estimate there were probably 30 people up there but 40 minutes later, I could no longer hear voices and thought I was completely alone up there. Had lunch, took pics and relaxed and reveled in my newfound solitude!! I could actually hear my thoughts up there and I had lots to think about.
Well, I decided not to continue onto the other peak, "North" Pack Monadnock as by my calculations, it was another 2.3 miles and I'd reach it around 3ish and then probably wouldn't get back to my car until around 6:30pm which meant that I'd be hiking in the dark for 1.5 hours or so. I felt uncomfortable about this as I was alone and not knowing the trails at all, well the likelihood of losing the trail in the dark or other accident was too probable for my tastes. Besides, not doing the other peak gives me an excuse to head back sometime!
Because I ascended via the Marion Davis trail, it was only fitting that I try the Wapack Trail to descend and so I did. Found this trail very interesting as the terrain here varied much more so than on the Davis trail: very rooty while in the trees in places while in other places, very rocky. Wetter, muddier and lots of ice patches!! Mid way down, there were large slabs of rocks, drier and much steeper than the Davis Trail. Pretty trail, I thought and descending it was pleasant except that I had to watch for the ice patches. This is the tricky time of the year where you have that sheen of snow/ice that is treacherous and traction devices are overkill! Though I was pretty much alone all the way down, I was surprised that nearly everyone passing me on the way to the summit had dogs! This must be a popular place for dog owners and dogs, for that matter, and despite the posted signs, they were almost always unleashed. Again, typically, I am unphased by dogs or their owners, as my most “favorite” people have dogs ( and you know who you are ), but today I was a bit ticked off to see a few seemingly charge at me only to have their nervous owners apologize and tell me that they don't bite!
All in all a nice hike to this Monadnock region!
Thanks to AMStony who sparked my curiousity a few months back when he hiked these trails and wrote a TR!
I'll post some pics later…
Best,
Started off the hike with a 1.5 hour trip towards Peterborough, NH via Route 101 West from Manchester, NH accompanied by Sunday Morning Jazz, best companion ever!!
I opted to do this hike as opposed to a Waumbek invitation as in doing this one, I could snooze for longer as lately, getting my Zzzzz’s is a priority!!
It was a beautiful day, sunny and coolish in the 40’s but not when you're moving so I just wore a light fleece vest as cover and this was more than toasty! When I got to the trailhead (1.5 hours from Boston) it was just before 11am and though I had intended to ascend the Wapack Trail to summit Pack Monadnock (2,290’), on a whim I decided to try an adjacent trail, the Marion Davis Trail which was exactly the same distance as the Wapack, 1.4 miles, except it appeared to wind around a bit more. I'd also read that it was much less traveled so I thought I'd try this one instead. I was soooo wrong to choose it and regretted it for a long while as a group of about 10 youngsters and some adults with 3 dogs came right up behind me. They were so loud and most of the time seemed to be yelling at the dogs, for some reason? Typically, I don't mind hiking/walking along with other folks, but darn, today either I was still PMS'ing since my Greeley Ponds hike, or I don't know what because these people were really getting on my nerves with all their commotion!
The grade on this trail was easy, gradual, winding with lots of ups and downs. This trail is definitely on a slope and at times, it was pretty narrow, maybe 2-3 feet wide at most. It was very rocky, pretty dry except for a few slightly muddy areas. There were lots of leaves on the ground but non-slippery. I summited after about 1.25 hours. This peak has an auto road so I found a parking lot atop, a fire tower and a cell phone tower, out houses and picnic areas dispersed with some grills!! this is a rather large area that clearly can accommodate lots of people. There were views in pretty much all directions if you walked around and sought them including some amazing views towards Mt Monadnock! When I arrived to the summit I estimate there were probably 30 people up there but 40 minutes later, I could no longer hear voices and thought I was completely alone up there. Had lunch, took pics and relaxed and reveled in my newfound solitude!! I could actually hear my thoughts up there and I had lots to think about.
Well, I decided not to continue onto the other peak, "North" Pack Monadnock as by my calculations, it was another 2.3 miles and I'd reach it around 3ish and then probably wouldn't get back to my car until around 6:30pm which meant that I'd be hiking in the dark for 1.5 hours or so. I felt uncomfortable about this as I was alone and not knowing the trails at all, well the likelihood of losing the trail in the dark or other accident was too probable for my tastes. Besides, not doing the other peak gives me an excuse to head back sometime!
Because I ascended via the Marion Davis trail, it was only fitting that I try the Wapack Trail to descend and so I did. Found this trail very interesting as the terrain here varied much more so than on the Davis trail: very rooty while in the trees in places while in other places, very rocky. Wetter, muddier and lots of ice patches!! Mid way down, there were large slabs of rocks, drier and much steeper than the Davis Trail. Pretty trail, I thought and descending it was pleasant except that I had to watch for the ice patches. This is the tricky time of the year where you have that sheen of snow/ice that is treacherous and traction devices are overkill! Though I was pretty much alone all the way down, I was surprised that nearly everyone passing me on the way to the summit had dogs! This must be a popular place for dog owners and dogs, for that matter, and despite the posted signs, they were almost always unleashed. Again, typically, I am unphased by dogs or their owners, as my most “favorite” people have dogs ( and you know who you are
), but today I was a bit ticked off to see a few seemingly charge at me only to have their nervous owners apologize and tell me that they don't bite! All in all a nice hike to this Monadnock region!
Thanks to AMStony who sparked my curiousity a few months back when he hiked these trails and wrote a TR!
I'll post some pics later…
Best,
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