Bald Peak, Mt. Monadnock, & Monte Rosa via Royce Trail (Gap Mountain Reservation/Monadnock State Park)
Hike Type: Lollipop Loop
Distance: 9.61 miles
Elevation: 2,848 feet
Time: 6 hours, 1 minute (5 hours, 30 minutes moving)
Hiking Challenges: Monadnock Redliner 2
The Hike
I had a good night's sleep after finishing the Friends of the Wapack trails yesterday, and today's goal was to continue working on my second trace of the Monadnock trails! I was up at 6:00am and was immediately greeted with a crash on I-95, which wasn't a great start. I had to stop at the Leominster Cumberland Farms for a code yellow (read as: use the bathroom) before driving to the Metacomet-Monadock/Royce Trail trailhead at Gap Mountain Reservation to mix things up (I didn't want to pay the $15 or do the road walk to Royce from the Old Toll parking area). I was the only car at the trailhead and soon got booted up and ready to explore!
[8:12am - Start of Hike on Metacomet-Monadnock/Royce Trail]
The woods were wet and foggy (just like most of my drive), but beautiful. I noticed blue diamond blazes along with the standard white M-M blazes, turns out the diamonds are for the WMT (Wantastiquet-Monadnock Trail; https://wmtcoalition.org/). I do remember looking this up the last time I hiked on the Royce Trail, but had forgotten all about it!
I was delighted to have worn my waterproof boots, as parts of this trail were muddy with the moisture in the air. I crossed a stream in a pretty, mossy area, noticing many pondskimmers below. I then came up to tons of big, mossy boulders that the trail weaves through and around. I noticed the cloud ceiling was comically low, but I was hoping that much of the fog would burn off by view-time, especially since I was taking the long way up.
The trail became a bit more rugged and crossed a land boundary blazed in red, followed by another fun, bouldery area. The trail then entered a logging area labeled as "Logging haul road across trail ahead" and "SAFETY ZONE; No tresspassing, no shooting."
After the safety zone, I could make out the sounds of NH-124. This stretch of trail was definitely longer than I was mentally prepped for, but it was a delight! I spooked a family of deer, crossed a couple more streams, entered "Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forest" land, crossed a stone wall, and then made my way across the busy-but-not-impossible-to-cross NH-124!
[8:34am - Crossing Rt. 124]
The entrance to the Metacomet-Monadnock/Royce Trail on the other side of NH-124 was very well blazed with WMT diamonds, white rectangles, blue NH state property paint, NH state land boundary plackards, and a no pets sign. There was an easy-to-get-around blowdown just after reentering the woods, and I was off! The trail hugged the state land boundary and crossed a stone wall, climbing at very easy grades. My sleeves were officially rolled up, though!
The Royce Trail neared a brook on the left in a blowdown area and later crossed a lovely, mossy stream. I also saw my first two red efts of the season!
The trail crosses another stone wall and officially entered the clouds, but the sun was really trying to break through. I hit a few spider webs as I continued to easily gain elevation, and eventually, I saw somoe patches of blue sky! The trail then steepens to a short plateau, where it crosses with Cart Path.
After crossing with Cart Path, the Royce Trail crosses another stream with a log that houses a collection of broken glass and pottery, presumably from the old Halfway Hosue. The grade steepened again, the sun was now shining, and soon enough I was at the terminus at the Monte Rosa and White Arrow Trails!
[9:12am - White Arrow Trail]
I had a very short descent on the White Arrow Trail, which was wide and eroded to the Halfway House site.
[9:14am - Halfway House Site]
First, I noticed an area with a possibly missing plaque (let me check previous photos... no, I do not have any photos of the area unfortunately). I also noticed that there has been some trimming of the view to open things up. Sadly, whatever the view was, it was still behind a cloud! The clouds were interesting at this point, as I personally was in the sun, but there were clouds all around me. I admired some of the old graffiti and then the Moses Spring (which was much larger than I remembered!) before chugging some Nuun and continuing my journey!
[9:19am - Hello Rock Trail]
This started the "most indirect way to the summit" portion of my hike. I wanted to hit all five of the Halfway House-to-Cliff Walk trails. This started with the delightful, but slippery Hello Rock Trail. The woods were wet and soggy but beautiful. I think I could make out every possible shade of green. The footbed was a little obscure at times, but I was able to follow no problem. Closer to Hello Rock, I reentered the cloud, but the sun rays were shining through, putting on a really spectacular show.
The trail continued like a gentle rollercoaster on a soft footbed. I kept taking photos of the sun rays and almost went off-trail at a blowdown with a trail arrow attached. Soon enough, I was on the Cliff Walk!
[9:29am - Cliff Walk]
The Cliff Walk, one of, if not my favorite trail on the mountain, was misty, but no longer foggy. There was a breeze that made my sopping wet body a little chilly. Some big flies had woken up at this point and were buzzing in the sun, but not enought to be a nuissance. The trail climbed up to Point Surprise, a wonder, WARM, viewpoint. The fog was still around the vallies, so the Wapack Range was fully hidden. The sign for Point Surprise was just back in the woods high up on a tree.
[9:36am - Point Surprise Trail]
From here, I started my descent on Point Surprise Trail, which had a muddy start. The woods were foggy again with the really cool sun rays shining through, and I was occasional pelted by raindrops when a breeze would hit the trees. There was a moderate initial descent followed by a walking break, a small rise, and then the descent continued, all on a delightfully soft footbed. There was one more little rise, one more descent, and then I was back at the junction!
[9:42am - Thoreau Trail]
Halfway House climb #2 was up the Thoreau Trail, which really started to get my hamstrings and glutes fired up. I was deeply in my classic "I love this mountain" mode (this would fade later) as I climbed up, back into a cloud, then along a slippery, rocky spine, and eventually opening up at Thoreau's Seat, which is pretty overgrown at this point.
[9:53am - Cliff Walk]
I turned left onto another stretch of the wonderful, fun Cliff Walk. More fog had burned off with just some rolling clouds in the area. I scrambled up a brief moment of open blue sky along slippery rocks and soon made it to the Do Drop Trail.
[9:58am - Do Drop Trail]
Do Drop is the first stretch of trail that I would not label as "wonderful." I remembered having a tough time last time I hiked it, and this round was more of the same. The woods were spooky and I lost the trail early on in my descent. I more or less just followed the GPS track on super soft ground and hoped I wouldn't plummet to my untimely death! Eventually, I found it again and continued down along an eroded footbed, which was unfortuantely an improvement! There were a couple of guiding arrows near the bottom, but other than that, no blazes at all, which made things challenging to naviate.
[10:08am - Side Foot Trail]
Next up was a short stint on the Side Foot Trail, which was a welcome reprive after Do Drop. So far in this hike, I'd been having plenty of fun, but I was happy to I only had one more side trail left! The trail conditions were remarkably better than Do Drop - even featuring some stone steps! I could hear wood frogs in a nearby vernal pool, and soon enough, it was time for another climb!
[10:12am - Noble Trail]
Noble Trail got right to business with its climb. It was similarly difficult to follow at points, with one particularly tricky steep, slippery spot. My legs were on FIRE and I stopped frequently to check my GPS (and to catch my breath). Slow and steady I moved, eventually being rewarded with a lovely breeze higher up. There was a brief scramble before the trail broke out into the scrub, and the sunny immediately brought me back to life. The rocks in the sun were bone dry, and I caught my first glimpse at the top, which was almost out of the clouds!
[10:22am - Cliff Walk]
Now I just had a short walk on Cliff Walk before my break at Bald Peak. It was beautiful and sunny with a cool breeze now. I was a little chilly with the wet shirt, but I knew I could shelter from the wind at Bald Peak and use the sun to dry out some. Cliff Walk brought me back into the woods, eventually scrambling up to the open summit of Bald Peak!
[10:28am - Bald Peak]
I had a lovely break at Bald Peak. The summit of Mt. Monadnock was in and out of the clouds. The Wapack Range was now mostly in view in the distance. I could make out (and hear) some folks working their way up the White Dot Trail. It was just lovely. I enjoyed some honey roasted pisachio, plenty of liquid, and took a quick scenic pee. It was also fun to see Gap Mountain! It was chilly in the wind, so once I was up, I was immediately moving again!
[10:39am - Smith Connecting Trail]
I continued onto Smith Connecting Trail, which descends along slabs into the col between Bald Peak and Mt. Moandnock, with Mt. Monadnock towering ahead - really such a fantastic view. There were nice views to Monte Rosa on the left as well. Eventually, the descend leads back into some beautiful woods, which were much warmer now that I was out of the wind. The trail turns away at the junction with Amphitheatre Trail junction, which is uniquely marked with four dots and a plus sign - not sure why.
[10:47am - Amphitheatre Trail]Soon after the curious junction there was a rusted, metal disc nailed to a tree. I would guess an old blaze? Curious. The Amphitheatre Trail continues briefly in the woods before opening up on some beautiful, slanted slabs with partial views to the summit. Last time I was on this trail was during a rain storm, so this was a nice change of pace!
[10:50am - Side Foot Trail Joins]
The Side Foot Trail then joins and coincides while a volture was circling overhead - yikes! The trail skirted around a steep drop and then climbed some more, providing a nice view to Gap Mountain.
[10:54am - Junction w/ White Arrow Trail]
Amphitheatre Trail briefly turned right onto White Arrow and then left off of it ~10 feet later before entering a really cool ledgy area. After, the trail reentered the woods and descended over steep, wet, slippery rocks. This pattern of ledge - wet woods - ledge continued for a bit, almost always with a nice view, though. Eventually, I descended on some dry open slabs and came to what I must assume is the black precipice before reentering the woods for a final time.
[11:06am - Smith Summit Trail]
Now it was finally time to summit Mt. Monadnock! At the Amphitheatre's terminus, I turned right onto the Smith Summit Trail, which would steeply bring me to the top. At first, I ventured through some more wet, slippery woods and over some trickling streams, and then I began to really ascend. I couldn't help but think about how crazy it was that the first two times I took this trail was via descent, and one time it was even raining. It's a rough trail!
There were great views the whole time and some fun scrambles (and gustier wind) higher up. It was now 52 degrees with 5-15mph winds, and one gust up to 20 mph. I hit the final, trickier scramble and made it to the summit area with views in almost all directions! All I had left was a few scrambly climbs to the tippy top.
[11:30am - Summit of Mt. Monadnock]
To no surprise, there were a decent amount of people, especially families, up top. It was windy and chilly, so I didn't plan to stick around. I found the two USGS discs that I know about - for a while I thought there were three, but after going through my photos a dozen times, it seems like only two! The views were amazing, to no surprise, but I was soon on my way to Jim's Junction!
[11:33am - Dublin/Marlboro Trails]
I followed the sign for the Dublin/Marlboro Trails and (aside from the summit) passed my first people of the day! The trial was wet, but not a problem at all. This whole area above "treeline" is just stunning.
[11:40am - Jim's Junction/Marlboro Trail]
I was feeling good at Jim's Junction, so I decided I'd take another break down at the junction with Marian Trail later. The sun was now behind the clouds, taking away some of the beloved warmth from before. My descent was slow and scrambly, as this trail gets comically steep (still better than descending on Do Drop). The steepness calmed down in a stunning mossy forest before coming to a ledge with views to Haystack Mountain, Stratton Mountain, Bromley Mountain, and Mt. Ascutney (I love this time of year when I can see the snow on the ski slopes still).
It was now even cloudier and I had my first decent slip and fall of the day! Smashed my left hip into a rock - ouch. Thankfully, I was fine, and it doesn't actually count as a fall becuase my bum didn't touch the ground! The Marlboro Trail continued a rough descent through a crack in a rock and eventually opens up to a few slabby stretches marked with cairns.
At the junction with Marian Trail, I took a quick break to recouperate after my fall, eat some pistachios and a protein bar, and simply chill. This break actually saved my life, because I was considering cutting the hike short, but I was BACK. Next stop: Monte Rosa!
[12:09pm - Marian Trail]
I had similar, rough memories of the Marian Trail, specifically in regards to footing. The Marian Trail hikes past some cool, overhanging rock formations - they looked like you could just slot them right out from one another. Then, my memory was validated as true, as I had to descend on some large, slippery boulders, and then... SPLAT. Another slip and fall on my right hip - ouch! I had some colorful language escape from my mouth after this one, but I was still fine thankfully.
From this point, the trail unfortunately just got rockier and slipperier (is that a word?). I was brought to sitting-and-scootching to avoid another catastrophe. On the bright side, the sun came out for the first time in about an hour, so that was a win! There was a beautiful stream crossing in the mossy woods, which was followed by a very pretty stretch. I was definitely on low-energy and low-excitement after my falls, but the beauty of the woods definitely helped to keep me going.
I continued a descent in an area with some slippery side-hilling, which I did remember being rough last time. That led to a small view and then turned into more pretty woods with GOOD FOOTING! Finally!
I passed some kind of recent mammal poop (the Seek app was not helpful) and then I think I heard it move in a grassy area just off-trail - exciting! I was NOT going to f- around and find out, though, so I kept it moving. I noticed an old herd path on the right just before the Great Pasture/Mossy Brook junction, not sure where it goes.
[12:43pm - Great Pasture Trail]
Last time I was on the Great Pasture Trail, I was descending, and I remember it being DUMB steep. The Great Pasture Trail began at the three way junction in a wet area with Marian and Mossy Brook Trails. It is blazed with yellow rectangles, and the footbed was similarly obscure to Nobel and Do Drop, but the blazes helped immensely!
The trailbed soon got extremely rooty and then it got rockier and steeper. I did miss a turn, but quickly realized when the footbed got soft and got back on it. This trail did the thing that steep trails do where they pretend to have switchbacks, but they moreso just zigzag steeply up the mountain. It got STEEP, but I was very happy to be ascending versus descending.
The Great Pasture Trail eventually opened up to a ledge with views to the summit. The trail was now mostly marked by spaced out cairns - I was just happy to be back on grippy rocks! I got a view out into southern Vermont, where I could now see Killington and Okemo! After some more climbing I, to quote my notes, "finally found that damn weathervane." I think it's time to start my return trip!
[12:58pm - Monte Rosa]
[12:59pm - Smith Summit Trail]
I did not stay at Monte Rosa for even a second. I continued on the confusing descent along Smith Summit Trail to The Tooth. I did get a little too confident on my foot placements though and slipped again, but I did NOT fall nor did I smash my left hip into a rock, so that's a win!
[1:02pm - Smith Bypass]
The Smith Bypass trail was short and sweet with some rocky footing, but all manageable. I had one final slip of the day, but I did catch myself... with my phone screen hitting a rock. It's hard to catch a break! I had my phone out to make sure I got on the Monte Rosa Trail and not the Fairy Spring Trail at the junction. So frustrating!
[1:08pm - Monte Rosa Trail]
The Monte Rosa continued to descend in steep woods. Thankfully, it was warm, sunny, and dry. I eventually crossed paths with my second group of people for the day! They were very nice and had a dog. They asked if they were on the Monte Rosa Trail, I said yes, they asked if this path goes to the summit, I said yes, assuming they meant the summit of Monte Rosa. In hindsight, they might have meant the tippy top, which we were nowhere nearby... They asked if they were far, I told them not distance-wise, but they were far [from Monte Rosa] elevation wise, and they got a chuckle. They then told me they were looking for Cart Path, but couldn't find it... I hope they made it through okay!
The Monte Rosa continued to plummet after this interaction, eventually crossing a lovely footbridge and terminating at the junction with White Arrow and Royce.
[1:19pm - Metacomet-Monadnock/Royce Trail]
I had originally planned to descend via Halfway House or Toll Road, but I really didn't want to walk along NH-124, so back on Royce I went! I noticed some old machinery in the woods between White Arrow and Royce, but I was too far for a photo. I also heard what sounded like yardwork, maybe coming from the private residence. The sun was starting to feel hot, which felt amazing. My brain was on low-thinking-energy as I continued my descent.
I stepped through a few muddy puddles and noticed that the waterproofing on my boots wasn't as strong as it once was. I zoned out for a while, but came back when I started to cross some streams and neared the road. I passed some yellow flowers that I noticed hadn't bloomed as of the morning, but were now proudly on display. I soon entered state land, crossed a rock wall, and then I was at NH-124!
[1:51pm - Crossing Rt. 124]
I had another easy crossing of NH-124, passed an old M+M Trail Marker, and was back in the woods. My brain turned off for this stretch again, which was kind of nice. I crossed the steams, entered the safety zone, passed the boulders, and eventaully made it back to the parking lot!
[2:13pm - End of Hike]
There was one other car at the parking lot, but no people to be seen. I was TIRED. My heart wanted to hit Gap Mountain, too, but my body was all done. Plus, I had to wake up super early the next day to drive to NJ to see Boop! on Broadway (very fun show). Besides my hip pain, another great day on my favorite mountain!
Step-by-Step
- Park at Gap Mountain Reservation North parking area.
- Start hike on parking lot spur to Metacomet-Monadnock Trail/Royce Trail (blue diamond).
- At jct., turn left onto Metacomet-Monadnock/Royce Trail (white rectangle).
- Cross NH-124, continue on Metacomet-Monadnock/Royce Trail (white rectangle).
- At terminus, turn right onto White Arrow Trail (white arrow).
- At Halfway House Site, follow spur trail to Hello Rock/Point Surprise/Thoreau Trails.
- At jct., turn right onto Hello Rock Trail (unblazed).
- At terminus, turn left onto Cliff Walk (white diamonds/white Cs).
- At jct., turn left onto Point Surprise Trail (unblazed).
- At terminus, turn right onto Thoreau Trail (unblazed).
- At terminus, turn left onto Cliff Walk (white diamonds/white Cs).
- At jct., turn left onto Do Drop Trail (unblazed).
- At terminus, turn right onto Side Foot Trail (white rectangles).
- At jct., turn right onto Noble Trail (unblazed).
- At terminus, turn left onto Cliff Walk (white diamonds/white Cs).
- Summit Bald Rock.
- Continue onto Smith Connecting Trail (yellow Ss)
- At jct., turn left onto Amphitheatre Trail (yellow rectangles).
- At terminus, turn right onto Smith Summit Trail (white dots/white Ss).
- Summit Mt. Monadnock.
- Descend via Dublin/Marlboro Trail (white Ds/Ms).
- At Jim's Junction, turn left onto Marlboro Trail (white Ms).
- At jct., turn left onto Marian Trail (yellow dots).
- At jct., turn left onto Great Pasture Trail (yellow rectangles).
- Summit Monte Rosa.
- Continue on Smith Summit Trail (white dots/white Ss).
- At jct., turn right onto Smith Bypass.
- At jct., continue straight onto Monte Rosa Trail.
- At jct., continue straight/right onto Metacomet-Monadnock/Royce Trail (white rectangles).
- Retrace steps back to car.
