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Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks Mt. Monadnock, Bald Rock, NH
Trails
Trails: White Dot Trail, Cascade Link, Spellman Trail, Pumpelly Trail, White Arrow Trail, Amphitheatre Trail, Smith Connector Trail, Cliff Walk, Parker Trail
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Sunday, July 29, 2018
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: $5 to park. Plenty of parking in the massive lots at the state park, even on a nice summer weekend like this one. 
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment:  
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: One on Cascade Link that could be easily rock-hopped, even with all the rain yesterday. Only other major crossing, on Parker Trail, was bridged. 
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: Trails were well blazed. One blowdown on Cascade Link between White Dot and Birchtoft - looked recent. Junction of White Arrow and Amphitheatre is not signed as the Amphitheatre Trail. Besides that, all trail junctions, even those with minor trails, were fairly easy to spot and well signed. 
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes: Not allowed in Monadnock State Park. 
Bugs
Bugs: The only bugs we saw or heard were the clicking insects (I don't know what exactly they are) along the Pumpelly Trail, and those were not bothersome.  
Lost and Found
Lost and Found: A kettle was hanging from a tree along either the Cliff Walk or Smith Connector Trail (I don't remember which one) not far from Bald Rock. We left it there. 
 
Comments
Comments: A great loop over Monadnock, using mostly the lesser-used trails to avoid the crowds (who were out in force today). Cascade Link was nice - mostly gradual climbs and junctions were well-signed. The only major unbridged river crossing of the hike was on it, but we figured that the stream was high only because of the rainstorm yesterday afternoon. It still wasn't difficult to cross. Spellman was not only very steep but also extremely scenic - it had a nice waterfall with a viewpoint from above (though again, the rains yesterday probably helped with that). The rock scrambling was fun and not too bad - there were only a few short dicey spots mostly due to wet rock. Pumpelly was, as always, very scenic, and this stretch was mostly above the trees. Cairns along this stretch are mostly large and easy to spot. Summit was very busy, and views were amazing as usual. There was one person smoking at the summit - please don't do that, it not only is very unhealthy and negatively affects your ability to hike, but is also extremely unpleasant for everyone downwind of you (which at the summit was probably several dozen people at least).

White Arrow going down from the summit was steeper and rougher than I expected - it's quite a rugged trail. The 0.5 miles to the Amphitheatre Trail junction will seem like longer. As noted above, the Amphitheatre Trail junction is not signed as such, but it is signed for the Side Foot Trail, so use that as a landmark. At the Amphitheatre/Side Foot junction, Amphitheatre Trail is still not signed as such; instead it is signed as 'To Bald Rock', which was sufficient for us. The Smith Connector and Bald Rock trails (as well as Pumpelly) have lots of PUDs, so they are more strenuous than you might expect, even going down. Cliff Walk is very scenic, with lots of nice lookouts, and the frequent trail junctions tell you that you are making progress. The ladder near the bottom is not too difficult. Parker Trail is a breeze.

What a fun hike! I very much enjoyed using the trails that I had never used before. I will certainly be using them again!  
Name
Name: GN 
E-Mail
E-Mail:  
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2018-07-29 
Link
Link: https:// 
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