Mt. Monadnock, Jaffery, NH

Moving on up

My Zion Leukemia/Lymphoma Team had our last hike of the season this past Saturday at Mt. Monadnock in New Hampshire! It's hard to believe we've been hiking together since May, and next week we leave for Zion! Some of the team will be leaving this week.

Monadnock is a very popular mountain in New Hampshire, and climbed by many, but I wouldn't call it an easy hike. With the wet leaves and flowing streams of water covering all the boulders, we had to be extremely careful. For our ascent we began on the White Dot trail, then crossed over to the Cascade Link trail. We then took the Red Spot trail and finally ended on the Pumpbelly trail. The final quarter of a mile was very steep with large boulders, but the view was magical. Monadnock is known for its open slabs of rock at the summit.

At the summit we did not stay long, as it was very windy and somewhat cold. We had a little snack, snapped some pictures, then began our descent. The descent was crowded with people and somewhat treacherous. It was very steep and very wet and mossy. I took the White Dot trial but I think my companions took the White Cross trail. In any case I was separated from my fellow hikers, and reached the headquarters 45 minutes in advance of everyone else. I waited for a bit and had some hot cocoa. Physically I felt good, but on Sunday and Monday I was very sore, especially in my hamstrings!  Thank goddess for trekking poles!

Joey, Laurie, Me, and Gilda

Suddenly it's Fall!