Posted by on Dec 24, 2010 in Hiking, Outdoor Fun | 0 comments

Mount Monadnock Winter Climb

Mt. Monadnock
3,165Feet, 4 Miles
December24, 2010
Monadnock Orchard by Richard Whitney
Mount Monadnockor Grand Monadnock
Mt.Monadnock is the most prominent mountain peakin southern New England, and is famous in prose, poetry, song and painting dueto the careful attention of the artistic world, beginning with Thoreau andEmerson. Located only 80 miles from Boston, it has long been known as one ofthe most frequently climbed mountains in the world (125,000 visits per year),reputedly second only to Mt. Fuji in Japan (200,000 visits per year). Monadnockis the archetype for erosional remnant mountains called monadnocks in Americangeology (iselbergs) in European geology, who suffer from not having the benefitof Abenaki nomenclature, from which the word monadnock is originallyderived. 
MaryChapman – Scholar and Hiker
My daughter Mary returned from Vanderbilt forChristmas sporting a report card of straight A’s, and further delighted herfather, by agreeing to a Christmas Eve Day hike, bribed with early Christmaspresents of new hiking garb and boots. It was my first trip up this vastlyover-climbed hill, and local pet policies prohibit the bringing of “pets of anydescription”, thereby eliminating my trusted hiking buddies Mrs. Katie andBaby. The New England Hiking Guide recommended the use of the White Dot andWhite Cross Trails, named for their eponymous markings. This is a 4 mile roundtrip, up a series of ledges, some quite steep, and all covered in a thickcoating of ice.
Mary in her new coat heading upMighty Mt. Monadnock
It was quite cold and windy on top (10 degrees,30-40 mph) and was highlighted by an encounter by a 40+ year old guy named Bob,who was chasing his friend Larry up the hill. Bob was wearing short-shorts withbare and very cold legs. He was clearly one of the psycho-climbers from thearea, who explained that he had climbed the hill 5 times over Thanksgiving, andwas hoping to climb it 10 times over Christmas week. This guy needs to get alife, and a pair of long pants.
There is reputedly one guy who has climbed Monadnockevery day for 10 years and counting. Notable”power hiking” records associated with the mountain include that ofGarry Harrington who hiked to the summit sixteen times in a twenty-four hourperiod and Larry Davis, who claimed to have hiked to the summit daily for 2,850consecutive days (7.8 years). There isreputedly one guy, going after this record, who has climbed Monadnock every dayfor 10 years and counting. These guys have taken OCD behavior to new heights(pun intended). While I can understand the motivations, I would pick a better hill.
The bald summit of Mt. Monadnock
Geologyand Morphology
The mountain is largely composed ofhighly metamorphic schist and quartzite from the Devonian Littleton Formation.This same rock extends from Massachusetts into the White Mountains, and isfamiliar to hikers of Mt. Cube in our area. Structurally, the mountain is partof an overturned syncline. Dramatic small to medium-scale metamorphic folds arevisible on many of the rock faces of the mountain, and there are notableerosion pockets of selected MAFIC minerals on the surface of the rock as wellas extensive glacial smoothing and striations.
Pockmarked Quartzite – preferential chemical weathering
The locals repeated burned and cutthe timber (red spruce) on the hill, until finally having enough in 1815 andsetting the entire mountain on fire, ostensibly due to wolves denning in blowndown timber. The inferno burned for weeks, and destroyed all topsoil above 2,000feet. The result has been some terrific views, and slow re-forestation up toabout 2,500 feet.
Mary Chapman on top, looking North
View to the North East from Monadnock
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Posted by on Dec 12, 2010 in Highpointing, Hiking, Outdoor Fun | 0 comments

An Early Winter Climb of Mt. Greylock MA

Mt. Greylock
Adams Massachusetts
14 Miles
3,491 feet
December 11, 2010
Mt. Greylock

The iconic 93-foot high Massachusetts Veterans War Memorial Tower atop Mt. Greylock.

Mt. Greylock – The whole world upside down

Mt. Greylock is a 12 mile long, 4.5 mile wide hunk of Ordovician phyllite (a highly metamorphosed rock) overlain on younger layers of metamorphosed sedimentary rock, especially marble. Mount Greylock is the product of thrust faulting, a tectonic process by which older rock is thrust up and above younger rock during periods of intense mountain building. This is only accomplished deep in the earth, and can be thought of as squeezing toothpaste back into the tube. This strange inversion of massive rocks structures is responsible for much of the mountain formation in this part of the world, as the older rocks are typically much harder and erosion resistant than the younger rocks upon which they rest. The younger, underlying marble bedrock layers have been quarried in the lower foothills of the mountain nearby. During the most recent glacial period (the Pleistocene), 10,000-18,000 years ago, Mount Greylock and the surrounding region were covered by ice sheets up to 1-kilometer thick. Glaciation rounded and wore down the mountain, carving out U-shaped valleys and leaving glacial erratics such as the balanced rock on the west side of Greylock. Mt. Greylock is the southernmost expression of alpine glaciations in the Eastern US.

Named for an Indian, not an English Lord

Prior to the influx of Europeans, the Mohegan people were closely associated with this region (prior to their infatuation with large casinos to the South). The traditional trade route connecting the tribes of the Hudson and Connecticut River valleys follows the Deerfield River up through the Valley and over the pass to the north of Greylock. Today this is the path of Route 2, arguably the worst major highway in the United States.

Greylock has sported a variety of monikers including Grand Hoosuc and Saddleback Mountain, but the name Greylock seems to have stuck, in honor of the Abenaki Indian Chief (and fierce warrior) Grey Lock (1670-1750), who managed to terrorize the area during the Three Years War (1722-1725).

Greylock seen from near the Appalachian Trail – Auto Road intersection

Greylock – The Southern reach of the Northern Forrest

Greylock is the southernmost extension of the boreal forest. It is reported to include over 500 acres of old growth forest, which managed to escape the cutting and burning of the 18th and 19th centuries. There are some very large and old red spruces near the top, but the summit is mercifully free of the thick black spruce that makes travel above 3,000 feet so challenging 150 miles to the north. In fact, the predominant species near the summit is scrub oak. We saw very little evidence of true old growth forest, and I remain skeptical about claims of large areas of old growth in heavily settled areas.

Rick Morse (in new clothes) looking for old growth forest.

The Hike

The crew for this hike included Rick Morse and his two trusted canine companions, Liz and Teddy (aka The Menace), as well as my steady pals, Mrs. Katie and Baby. Rick had apparently gone on a pre-Christmas shopping spree, and was outfitted from head-to-toe with the best winter attire that money could buy, including some very fancy new Italian crampons (these proved unnecessary).

Greylock is covered with hiking trails (including the Appalachian Trail) and the mountain has an auto road to the top. We wandered up the road and AT, enjoying the views from the road, and the quiet of the trail. After a couple of miles, we had the first tracks up from the north, although we did encounter a couple of groups of hikers at the top who had climbed up other routes. The climb and descent were good exercise, with an average snow depth of 4 inches from bottom to top. We are hoping for snow, and the opportunity for some more challenging work in the step and deeps of the Green, White and Blue Mountains to the north in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine respectively.

The Summit Monument

The summit sports a large lighthouse, shining as the beacon of hope for peace, commissioned and erected after the end of the War to end all Wars. It is somehow sad, and naïve; but at the same time clearly a simple message of hope, still relevant almost 70 years later. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

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