Mount Monadnock

Rocky plateau on the summit

Mount Monadnock, or Grand Monadnock, is the hervorstehendste mountain in New England south of the White Mountains and east of the Berkshires in Massachusetts. With a height of 965 m Mount Monadnock is about 300 m higher than any other survey in the vicinity of 48 km and about 600 m higher than the immediate environment. The mountain is located approximately 100 km north- west of Boston in the south of the State of New Hampshire.

The mountain is named after the geological concept of Monadnock, which is used as a synonym for island mountain.

The mountain is located in Mount Monadnock State Park. A number of hiking trails lead to the mountain.

• 5.1 trails
• 5.2 Hiking in the mountains

Name

The word Monadnock is derived from the language of the Abenaki and describes a mountain. Loosely translated, it means " stand-alone mountain", although the exact meaning of the word, that is to say what specific kind of a mountain is, is uncertain. The term was used by early settlers in southern New Hampshire and later by U.S. geologists as an alternative word for island mountain. To distinguish the Mount Monadnock from other mountains with similar names in Vermont and New Hampshire, he is also frequently called Grand Monadnock.

History

The transcendentalists

Both Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau visited the mountain and wrote lovingly about him. Emerson was a regular and dedicated his poem " Monadnoc ". Thoreau came from 1840 to 1844 a total of four times to the mountain and spent much of his time observing and cataloging of natural phenomena. According to widespread opinion, he wrote one of the first serious works on the nature of the mountain. A bog near the summit and a rocky lookout point at Cliff Walk trail were named after him; Another viewpoint is named after Emerson.

The Halfway House and other buildings

In 1858 Moses Cudworth of Rindge opened Hotel The Half Way House on the south side of the mountain, approximately halfway from the base to the summit. To supply the hotels the Toll Road was built. At this time the mountain was extremely popular, so Cudworth needed to expand his hotel after a very short time to accommodate 100 guests. On busy summer days were in the stables of the hotel up to 75 horses.

The Halfway House became the common property, when several hundred inhabitants of the surrounding villages banded together to buy the street, a hotel and at the same time to prevent the construction of a radio tower on the summit. After the hotel was burned down in 1954, a kiosk has been set up at the same place. As in 1969, the street was closed to public traffic, also included the stand. The Moses Spring, the source of which is driven by a rock in a hole at the rear of the property, is one of the last few remaining references to the years of hotel operations.

A small hut of the local fire department was located directly on the peak and was in operation from 1911 to 1948. It was closed, could be detected as forest fires thanks to modern technology easier. However, the cabin itself was as a snack bar and accommodation for hikers to 1969 in operation and was demolished in 1972.

Private house 100 ft (30.48 m ) south of the site of the former hotel is the last remaining building on the mountain above 1,000 ft ( 304.8 m).

Ascents

The first recorded ascent of Mount Monadnock in 1725 was held by Captain Samuel Willard and 14 rangers who set up camp at the summit and used it as a lookout while they were on the lookout with patrols by Indians. Many of the hikers scratched at the beginning of their name at the top, until the practice was frowned upon. The oldest engraving reads " S. Dakin, 1801 " and is attributed to a local city employees.

The athlete Garry Harrington emigrated in 24 Hours 16 times to the summit, while Larry Davis at 2,850 consecutive days (equivalent to 7.8 years ) each once traveling to the summit.

It is often claimed that after Fuji in Japan, Mount Monadnock is the second most climbed mountain in the world. In fact, the mountain is climbed by 125,000 annually hikers, while about 200,000 hikers make the Fuji. According to the UNESCO, however, comes close to the popularity of no mountain Tai Shan in China, which has to cope with more than 2 million visitors annually.

Biogeography, ecology and geology

Due to fires in the early 19th century, the ft much of the tip in a diameter of about 300 ( 91.44 m ) burned to the summit, is located there today, only a thin layer of soil. Although the mountain has so far recovered that the landscape looks natural, Mount Monadnock is an example of a mountain with an artificial tree line, which is significantly below the comparable natural climatic frontier mountains of the region.

On the way from the base to the tip, the number of plant species decreased with increasingly thinner layer of soil. At the summit, there are a variety of specialized, sub- alpine species that moisture can save a long time. Among the occurring alpine and sub ​​- alpine species are haws, cotton grass, sheep laurels ( Kalmia angustifolia), Greenland Mieren ( Minuartia groenlandica ) and cranberries. In addition, there are a lot of crooked wood as well as some Moore. The lower elevation areas are covered with a dense mixed forest, there are at an average altitude also some stocks with American red spruce. Before the fires, the entire mountain was covered with these trees, and since then these trees are about the process of succession slowly towards the summit ahead.

The mountain is mostly made 400 million years old, highly metamorphic rocks of mica -schist and quartzite, which brought mainly with the Littleton Formation, a geological layer of the Devonian, extending from Massachusetts to the south to the White Mountains in the north, in conjunction will. At lower elevations on the mountain as well as in relation to the geological layers below the Littleton formation comes the bedrock from the Silurian and consists of mica schist of the Rangeley Formation, quartzite of the Perry Mountain Formation, granulite of Francestown Formation and from the Warner granulite formation.

Structurally, the mountain is part of an inverted syncline (also known as "folded tectonic cover), which was formed by the compression forces of the Acadian orogeny. At many stone surfaces on the mountain very small to medium metamorphic folds can be observed, including the famous Billings Fold about 450 ft ( 137.16 m) west of the summit, which was already described in 1942 by Marland Pratt Billings in his book Structural Geology.

In addition to the impressive folds there are also large pseudomorphic specimens of sillimanite and andalusite. These crystals, which are usually thin as a needle, come up as a 4 in (101.6 mm) long " turkey tracks ", which are caused by prograde metamorphism.

Hydrology

Mount Monadnock is located on the dividing line of the river basins of the Connecticut River and Merrimack River. The northern areas of the mountain drain into the reservoir Howe and then over the Minnewawa Brook in the Ashuelot River, the Connecticut River and eventually into the Long Iceland sound. The Gleason Brook and Mountain Brook flow on the west side of the mountain on the Shaker Brook in the southern branch of the Ashuelot River. The south-western areas of the mountain drained by the Fassett Brook and Quarry Brook also in the southern branch of the Ashuelot River.

In the southeast of the mountain of Mead Brook and Stony Brook flow into the Mountain Brook, a tributary of the Contoocook River, which drains over the Merrimack River into the Gulf of Maine. The eastern areas of the mountain drain into the Thorndike Pond, from where the Stony Brook in a northeasterly direction in the Nubanusit Brook and then flows into the Contoocook and Merrimack.

Leisure and relaxation facilities

Mount Monadnock offers numerous opportunities for hiking, trekking, picnicking and hiking with snowshoes. In winter there is even remote areas, where the skiing is possible. On the southeast side of the mountain a campsite by the state of New Hampshire is seasonally operated - in other places camping is not allowed. Within the season a fee per person will be charged to park at the Old Toll Road or at the headquarters of the park management can. There is no road to the summit, and the Old Toll Road, which leads to the remains of the Halfway House is closed to traffic. Quads are generally not allowed on the mountain. In particular, the New Hampshire Route 124 offers a good view of the mountain and its immediate surroundings.

Trails

Mount Monadnock is crisscrossed by a dense network of well-maintained hiking trails. The most popular routes are the 2.2 mi ( 3.54 km ) shortest and steepest route at the same time White Dot Trail on the south side and the 2.3 mi (3.7 km) of White Arrow Trail, which is considered as the simplest way and via the Old Toll Road on the south side of the mountain.

Other hiking trails include:

• The Marlboro Trail on the west side, 2.2 mi (3.54 km) to the summit
• The Dublin Path on the north side is part of the Monadnock - Sunapee Greenway, 2.4 mi (3.86 km) to the summit
• The Pumpelly Trail on the northeast side, with the longest rise, 4.4 mi (7.08 km) to the summit
• The access on the east side of the mountain is made possible by the Birchtoft Trail and several connecting routes to the summit.

The White Cross Trail is a parallel alternative route to the White Dot Trail, and the Cliff Walk offers special scenic impressions. Mount Monadnock is the northern end of the 110 mi ( 177.03 km ) long Metacomet - Monadnock Trail, which leads to the south-west side of the mountain, however, is difficult to access due to lack of parking. The mountain also represents the southern end of 50 mi ( 80.47 km ) long Monadnock - Sunapee Greenway, which leads north to Mount Sunapee. In addition, the project of Wantastiquet - Monadnock Greenway aims, Mount Monadnock to the Pisgah State Park and the Wantastiquet to join Mountain.

Hiking in the mountains

The approximately four-hour round trip to the summit and back via one of the shorter trails is moderate demands on the average hikers and requires from late spring until early autumn no technical skills. Wind and weather are on the rocky peaks throughout the year stronger than at lower altitudes, and hurricanes and summer thunderstorms can be life threatening there.

In winter, snow and ice are up to May on the trails and make the ascent and descent without special technical equipment very dangerous if not impossible. In particular, the increased compression of the snow on the roads frequently used even in winter ensures that this will remain longer than elsewhere. Therefore, hiking poles, crampons, ice ax, ski poles and snow boots are in this season, depending on the thickness of the still lying snow and ice cover, if necessary, helpful or even necessary.

In autumn hikes require warmer clothes, a careful weather monitoring as well as earlier rise times. Since ft few reliable sources of drinking water on the mountain and little protection from the sun above 2,000 are ( 609.6 m), including dehydration and heat stroke to the potential risks. Poison ivy does not grow on the mountain, and poisonous snakes there are not also. However, life on the mountain and around American black bears, although problematic encounters between humans and bears are rare.

Artistic contributions

In addition to Emerson and Thoreau, other artists have been inspired by Mount Monadnock, including:

• William Preston Phelps (1848-1917), known as " the painter of Mount Monadnock ."
• Many other American painters have immortalized the mountain in a painting. These include Abbott Thayer, Rockwell Kent and Richard Whitney.
• The U.S. American composer Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000), who ascended the mountain several times in his youth, composed in 1935, a symphonic fantasy titled Monadnock, Op. 2
• The writer HP Lovecraft wrote a poem on the mountain with the title "To Templeton and Mount Monadnock ."
• The poet and winner of the Pulitzer Prize Galway Kinnell wrote about the mountain in his poem "Flower Herding on Mount Monadnock ."
• A portion of the annual Mount Monadnock Celebration of Dance will take place at the summit of the mountain at the time of the autumnal equinox.