Also on this trip

Trails Used

Old Halfway House Trail, White Arrow Trail, Hello Rock Trail, Cliff Walk, Point Surprise Trail, Thoreau Trail, Do Drop Trail, Side Foot Trail, Noble Trail, Smith Connecting Link, Amphitheatre Trail, Smith Summit Trail, Monte Rosa Trail, Fairy Spring Trail, Smith Bypass, Great Pasture Trail, Mossy Brook Trail, Cart Path, Royce Trail, road walk

Trail Conditions

Notes

Today I went to Monadnock with the goal of redlining as many trails as I possibly could in the vicinity of the Old Halfway House site. Old Halfway House Trail is mostly gradual and easy, but it quickly became clear that most of the others would be very rough and rocky. Hello Rock Trail has several ups and downs, along with the blowdown mentioned above. Point Surprise Trail was a more consistent descent but still fairly gradual. Thoreau Trail was a moderate climb, while Do Drop and Noble are both very steep. These short trails are signed at both ends, but not blazed, and could be difficult for a beginner to follow at times. Cliff Walk, both between some of these trails and up to Bald Rock, is very rough and rocky and sometimes steep with some interesting scrambles. I followed Smith Connecting Link out to the junction with White Cross Trail, and then back to Amphitheatre Trail, and then the latter to its junction with Side Foot Trail (all rough and rocky, but not too steep). Side Foot Trail was also rough and steep in places, and went along a steep sidehill for much of its length - not my favorite. I took it all the way down to the Halfway House site, and then hopped on White Arrow Trail to go right back up. White Arrow Trail was very rocky, steep in places, and had water running down it on some of its pitches, but was wider than Side Foot and avoided the sidehills. I then followed Amphitheatre Trail west, mostly over ledges, and was quite impressed by the grandeur of the Amphitheatre (once I got there and saw it, it was obvious how the trail got its name). Smith Summit Trail down to Monte Rosa continued to be rough and rocky, but usually wasn't so steep. On the final pitch up to Monte Rosa, the trail splits - one route goes straight up while the other goes around to the left. Both seem to be acceptable options. I then descended Monte Rosa Trail back down to White Arrow - it mixed a few nicer sections with several steep, rocky pitches. Having one more climb left in me, I ascended Fairy Spring Trail and Smith Bypass back up to Smith Summit Trail - this was like Monte Rosa Trail, also some nicer sections and some steep, scrambly pitches. At the top of Monte Rosa, there's a weathervane marking the summit, but there's no signage for Great Pasture Trail at all, so I just walked in the direction of the trail according to my Alltrails, and eventually found some cairns (this part was over open rocks). Great Pasture Trail was fairly straightforward to follow the rest of the way, except that several steeper sections through the woods had major trail creep, so some work could be done to better define the trail. Mossy Brook Trail was somewhat less rocky than the higher-elevation trails, and the brook was nice. Cart Path was a breeze, and Royce Trail (a link in the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail) was mostly nice but with a few rockier sections. Finally, I walked along Route 124 back to the trailhead - uphill but not too steep, but there wasn't always much of a shoulder. This hike ended up being between 10 and 11 miles, had about 3,200 vertical feet of elevation gain, and redlined no fewer than 17 trails. That's a record that will probably last a long time for me, since there aren't very many other areas in NH with such a dense network of short trails in one area. I saw probably around a dozen people the whole day. Many reported that the summit was very windy. Tiring but beautiful hike! I'll have to come back to this area sometime.

Parking

Plenty of space at the Old Halfway House/White Arrow trailhead on Route 124. Parking costs $15.

Water Crossings

Everything was easy with stepping stones.

Wildlife

Thanks to the cool, windy weather today, it seems they delayed their arrival.