Monadnock Weekly Report 05.31.13

05.31.13

“We have climbed it in all kinds of weather; in snowstorms and summer heat, in zero weather, in thunderstorms, in fog, and in brilliant sunshine.”
– Mildred Groot, On Climbing Monadnock, 1959 

As you can find a day within the past seven where any of those conditions were present, Mildred may just as well have been talking solely about this past week at Monadnock State Park!

 

052613
Last Saturday brought a mix of sleet and snow to Monadnock’s summit. Pockets are still visible as the clouds cleared the following day.

It has been a very bizarre, Jeckyl and Hyde type week on our beloved mountain. Monadnock Staff, volunteers, local fire crews, and New Hampshire Fish and Game Officers battled through fog, wind, and driving sleet and snow for a successful rescue and carry out of an injured hiker with a broken leg on the Dublin Trail on Saturday. The weather finally cleared out by Monday, although snowball fights near the summit were still taking place Memorial Day morning. An estimated 2,500 hikers climbed Mount Monadnock on Monday.

Thunderstorms moved into the Monadnock Region by midweek and the thermometer will be hitting near 90 degrees today and tomorrow.  

After rain fall, be sure not to step on any Efts. Here is one found on Monadnock's Lost Farm Trail earlier this month. Photo by Patrick Hummel.
After rain fall, be sure not to step on any Efts. Here is one found on Monadnock’s Lost Farm Trail earlier this month. Photo by Patrick Hummel.

Last weekend, we were concerned about hikers becoming hypothermic. This weekend, we will be concerned about hikers becoming dehydrated.

This blaze on Monadnock's Cliff Walk has been nibbled on by a squirrel. Photo by Patrick Hummel.
This blaze on Monadnock’s Cliff Walk has been nibbled on by a squirrel. May 2013. Photo by Patrick Hummel.

Monadnock’s trails have quickly dried out from this week’s rain. More storms, of the sudden pop up variety, could develop this weekend and into next week.

This tree on the Cascade Link was stripped by a porcupine. At least the porcupine's leave the trail blazes alone! May 2013 photo by Patrick Hummel.
This tree on the Cascade Link was stripped by a porcupine. At least the porcupines leave the trail blazes alone! May 2013 photo by Patrick Hummel.

It is essential that hikers bring at least 2 liters of water per person, in addition to food and snacks. Additionally, any signs of thunderstorms should influence hikers to descend the mountain, wherever they are on the trails, slowly and carefully.

Painted Trillium are out. This one was found on the Lost Farm Trail. Photo by Patrick Hummel.
Painted Trillium are out. This one was found on the Lost Farm Trail. Photo by Patrick Hummel.

It will be a hot, muggy, buggy weekend on the trails, so be safe out there!

Day Tripping

As you readers are aware, Monadnock State Park was featured in a recent piece from Fox CT and their “Day Trippers” program. For those who have yet to view it, the online link is now available here.

The FOX CT crew taking in the views from the White Arrow Trail. 05.06.13. Photo by Patrick Hummel.
The FOX CT crew taking in the views from the White Arrow Trail. 05.06.13. Photo by Patrick Hummel.

Thank you to Fox CT and Sarah Cody for featuring our mountain and allowing me on their airwaves.

This Month in Monadnock History

When this weekly report was in the form of an email newsletter, I brought this historical note to your attention. It may be a fun re-read for our long time readers. But, for the benefit of our newer readers at least, we will recount the first time in recorded history that Mount Monadnock was mentioned by name over 300 years ago.

It was June of 1704 when Mount Monadnock is mentioned as “Manadnuck Hill” in a letter to Colonial Governor John Winthrop of Connecticut (son of the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony of the same name) from Major William Whiting, describing the route taken by a crew on an Indian hunt that had just returned to Northampton, MA.  Whiting noted that the “enemy Indians” had built a fort and planted corn at a place called Cowassuck (what a name!), which is now known as the far less amusing, Barnet, Vermont.

 

Mount Monadnock as seen from neighboring Peterborough, NH. July 2012. Photo by Patrick Hummel.
Mount Monadnock as seen from neighboring Peterborough, NH. July 2012. Photo by Patrick Hummel.

Welcome to Mount Wahmodmaulk!

Monadnock Author Allen Chamberlain, in his research, came across 22 different spellings of our mountain’s name. You may have seen this list in the Monadnock State Park Visitor Center:

Mount what?!

Manadnuck

Menadnak

Manadnock

Menadnick

Manudnock

Menagnick

Manadnach

Menadnuck

Manadnack

Menadnock

Monadnock

Menadnack

Monadnuck

Wanadnock

Monadnick

Wannadnack

Monodnoc

Wenadnack

Monadnoc

Wahmodmaulk

Menorgnuck

Wahnodnock

 

“Monadnock” is thought to come from an Algonquin word, loosely translated to “mountain that stands alone” or “place of the unexcelled mountain.” 

A silhoutte from Monadnock's "unexcelled" summit. Photo by Patrick Hummel.
A silhouette from Monadnock’s “unexcelled” summit. Photo by Patrick Hummel.

The Native Americans were right on, as I find Mount Monadnock to be unexcelled in many different ways.

avatar

Patrick Hummel, Mount Washington State Park

As the Park Manager of Mount Washington State Park, I oversee and manage the operations of the 60 acres of the summit of Mount Washington; the highest peak in the northeast US at 6,288'. Our Park is staffed 24/7, 365 days a year and is sometimes referred to as the "Home of the World's Worst Weather". Previously, I served as the NH State Parks Volunteer Program Manager and before that, the Park Manager at Monadnock State Park, home to the most climbed mountain in the Western Hemisphere. IG= @topofthenortheast

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *