Mount Monroe 5372'

Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail / Monroe Loop Trail

7 Miles 2850' Elevation gain

Kevin, Judy & Wicket

It occurred to me that May was nearly passed and we had not ventured above tree-line in search of alpine wildflowers. As has been the case with many wildflowers this spring, they appear to be a bit late by my reckoning, at least.

We set foot on the trail at a civilized time of 10am. I hadn't slept well, and wasn't sure how bad Monroe was going to kick my ass this day, but I was there and willing to find out. We made good time over the first mile to the junction with the connector to Marshfield Station.

Many of the woodland wildflowers were still in bloom, Purple and Painted Trillium, Goldthread and even some Trout Lily were still found along the trail. Signs of a hard winter, and harder spring were visible along the Ammonoosuc River as we followed its course upward past many new washouts and downed trees.

Wicket trotted along like she was made for this, forging ahead a bit, but stopping to check our progress as we caught up. We occasionally passed fellow hikers and there were no "stranger danger" problems. She is getting much better with seeing other hikers along the trail.

I had been pushing a bit to reach the Gem Pool where I knew the real climb began in earnest. We stopped briefly for a sip of our drinks and to get our heart rates down a bit before beginning what amounts to climbing stairs for the next half mile or so after the pool.

A short way above the pool was the side path to The Gorge where there are fantastic views of Monroe Brook as it drops about 600 feet in a double or even triple cascade. This welcome diversion came up much quicker than I expected and I was certainly glad for it when we arrived.

If it had been a little warmer I'd have been really tempted to jump into the ice water pool below me, but we still had quite a bit of steep terrain to face before reaching the hut, let alone the summit of Mount Monroe.

Climbing steeply up out of the gorge we soon turned back onto the main trail and continued the steep ascent. When we came to a short ladder up and over a small ledge I wondered how Wicket would choose to negotiate it. Not surprisingly, nor unexpectedly, she chose to scramble up the rock beside it just as her predecessor Emma would have done.

We continued upward hopping back and forth across the brook as the trail wound from one side to the other. There are dozens of cascades visible along the way which makes for a very visually pleasing hike.

Often we popped out on the top of one cascade or another with a vista to our northwest as we get higher and have views over the trees. Soon roots and boulders give way to ledge, and we get our first views to the east and up to the summit of Mount Washington.

We catch more hikers as we approach the hut. My last visit here I huddled in "The Dungeon" beneath the closed hut trying to shelter from the wind while we ate a quick bite before continuing on to Mount Washington and Jefferson for a Bluebird Day winter summit of the two massive Presidentials.

Today we had another Bluebird Day, but this time it was Spring, not Winter, it was warm and there was little wind to speak of by Presidential Range standards. We had another quick break at the hut and continued on towards Monroe.

As we broke off of the Crawford Path to begin the Mount Monroe Loop a woman Forest Ranger approached us. I was sure she was going to ask us to leash Wicket, but she was actually apologizing that the section of the Crawford Path around Mount Monroe was closed, and that citizen botanists were there helping the AMC with surveying the wildflowers.

I inquired if the Robbin's Cinquefoil was out and was told it indeed was, and could she show me some? "Sorry, no, it's in the closed section." Well, I guess I'll have to try again next year...

In what seemed like a mere few minutes we were rising up onto the relatively flat plateau that makes up the summit of Mount Monroe. On the way up, and along this section I had begun to spot Lapland Rosebay here and there, but nowhere in abundance yet.

A few days later I saw a friend's trip report from a nearby location and there was tons of it in bloom, so much so that he remarked it must be a very good year for it. I wonder if it will survive the weather of the next few days. A thousand feet above these flowers the summit of Mount Washington is glazing over as I write.

We sat on the summit and talked with some other hikers while we ate and soaked up the beautiful views on a beautiful day. A large group of Canadian hikers arrived on the summit with us, and Wicket had no problem sharing the limited space with them, much to our relief. She really is a good dog, just needs more exposure to hiking with other hikers present.

Below us along the Crawford Path we could see the lucky citizen botanists who were going to get to see the rare and endangered Robbin's Cinquefoil for their effort of climbing Mount Monroe. I looked down at the still half frozen Lakes of the Clouds and found myself just thankful that I could once again get myself to a place like this relatively pain-free.

The hip replacement has been such a blessing, once again giving me the ability to hike, and once again having the desire to forge into the mountains with wife and dog. This hike made thirteen four-thousand footers for Wicket. Thirty-five more to go. With my new hip it should be a cinch.