Submitted by Pat
Stats
Mountains: North and Pack Monadnocks
Date: May 13, 2025
Weather: Partly sunny, upper 60s
Miles: 5.09
Elevation Gain: 1,437
Contentedly, I step out of the shower after our 5-mile hike up and over North Pack and Pack Monadnock on the Wapack Trail, our current endeavor toward a patch. The elevation gain of around 700 feet per mountain isn’t hard or debilitating, despite my being out of hiking shape. Neither of us have done much elevation lately so today’s hike is perfect.
The trail up North Pack is a wide path with occasional wet areas that we easily avoid. It’s veined with roots and studded with rocks that become bigger and more prevalent as we climb. We arrive at some slabs and the tree line (such as it is) at about the same time. I pour sweat off my head, and postnasal drip has me blowing my nose constantly.
We arrive at the summit of North Pack, take a summit picture, and begin hiking down an extremely rocky trail. Surprisingly, I feel secure and comfortable as I navigate the rocks though I am cautious and steady, relying on my poles. Nancy has a couple of meniscus tears, and if she steps wrong, she feels severe pain. I am aware of that and keep my pace slow. Besides, I want to hike with her, so I stay close.
Climbing to the summit of Pack Monadnock feels excellent though my legs begin to tire. We stop often to drink and catch our breath as we climb. The ridge walk to the summit is gorgeous – pine duff, fewer rocks and roots, with beautiful vernal pools set in nests of emerald green moss. I love the mile we walk between the two Monadnocks. After the climb to the top of Pack Monadnock, Nancy surprises me with a delicious cookie from the Monadnock Co-Op. We sit at a picnic table, but the black flies soon bother me with their incessant dive bombing around my head.
It takes us a few minutes to figure out the trail situation at the top because it’s confusing where the Wapack Trail is. We finally find the right trail and begin descending. We encounter lots of wet rocks and slabs as we make our way through a jumbled mass of boulders that thinks it’s a trail. We are extremely careful as we go down. I don’t like the trail for a descent, but I’m glad I don’t have to come up this way.
Throughout the hike, I stop occasionally when I hear bird song. I want to know who’s singing. Using my Merlin app, I am excited to hear a Blackburnian warbler, a common yellowthroat, a white-rumped warbler, and a blue-eyed vireo. I know that after only hearing the sound once I won’t remember the song and the bird it belongs to. It will take many more hearings to associate the song with a bird.
Nancy and I talk about everything – about books, her knee, our friendship, hiking, the trail, and Sarah (her sister). I love talking with Nancy. I love hearing about her daily experiences, and I love it when she shares the depth of her heart.
We talk about hiking. Nancy says that she doesn’t want to put herself in the position of hoping that we will continue to hike together. I am the one who usually cancels our hiking plans because of a myriad of health-related and scheduling reasons, all of them worthy and unplanned. Though my reasons for cancelling are good ones, her disappointment has been intense. So she’s not going to invest emotional energy in hoping I’ll be able to hike regularly. I get that. There have been times when Nancy couldn’t hike, and her reasons were always good. I understand her disappointment. I tell her that I want to hike next Tuesday, but can I hike 12 miles in the shape I’m in?
The 12 miles are the last section of the Wapack Trail and breaking it into two hikes is not an option. What happens if I have a bad day? There’s no place to bail out. What happens if her knee explodes in pain and she can’t continue? Turn around? Keep going? Bushwhack to the nearest road? Will my legs tolerate the mileage? I would feel more confident if I had an 8-mile hike under my belt.
This kind of thinking about hiking gets me into trouble with myself. Should I say no, I need to do more hikes before I can commit to twelve miles, and frustrate Nancy again? Nancy is fit enough and has the endurance to hike twelve miles. I have neither the fitness nor the endurance without putting forth a massive effort. I would have to reach as deeply inside as I did when Nancy and I climbed out of the Canyon near Kanab Creek after a 5-day guided backpacking trip. I’m not ready or willing to put myself through that.
Our day ends with me in conflict, though I am pleased to get out and hike. I took a step toward increasing my fitness today, and for that, I am proud.