Monadnock 2: Looking At It

"They who simply climb to the peak of Monadnock have seen but little of the mointain. I came not to look off from it, but to look at it."  

Henry David Thoreau

On September 23, 2013, three days after my return from Maine and the excursion to Mt. Katahdin, I climbed Mount Monadnock for the second time.

Upon arriving at the gate to the Monadnock State Reservation Area I was informed that there were 400 high school students on the mountain that day. I later learned that it was lawrence Academy's Mountain Day. Once per year they take their students out to hike a mountain. This is a great idea as it turns students loose in a classroom without walls, or rather, a classroom with walls that they must scale. A direct experience with the natural world is, for the most art, missing from not only our children's lives, but all of ours. That disconnect may be more directly responsible for our environmental crises than any coal burning power plant as it is the ignorance of where we live that allows for its despoiling.

But enough soapbox... armed with the knowledge that the mountain's most popular trails would be overrun with visitors, I set off on a less used one, the Palmer Trail to the Cliff Walk, over Bald Rock to the Summit. The quote that leads off this post aptly describes the way I have applied myself to this project. And I have written that it's rather the more intimate moments and smaller gestures that will likely inform the art made from these hikes and climbs as opposed to the grand vistas. That being said there is nothing like looking off from a high peak to distant ranges, hills, cities, and towns. Or seeing the landscape dotted with lakes and ponds, etched by rivers, gridded into fields, or aflame with color from Autumn's paintbox.  My route, at first, took me through coniferous forest with a soft footpath which was a relief after the rocky trails on Mount Katahdin.  The easy passage, though, soon gave way to steeper and steeper sections that took me out onto Bald Rock. It was here and on the climb to the summit, often using my hands to pull myself onto shelves of rock, that I took particular notice of the nature of the stone. The granite was formed by magma as it escaped and cooled. In some places one could imagine the "liquid" origins of these fields of stone. Such close contact with hand and eye, one might begin to see stone as much more than inert matter.

To get to the summit from Bald Rock, one must first descend into a not too deep valley before ascending over granite, and hard mica schist to the top. Below is the view of the summit from Bald Rock.

 The approach from this side is nearly straight up and the wind, as on my last visit to Monadnock, was cold and blowing hard. So despite the nearly cloudless day, I was in need of a jacket and wished I'd brought some gloves.

I stopped on top for a sandwich and some water, but the summit was over populated, so I beat a hasty retreat down the White Dot Trail, a steep nearly straight descent to the parking area. Before I went down though I wanted to look around at the "party" on the mountain. There were maybe 100 people on top with me. Some were looking outward and pointing to landmarks, some were talking quietly, some were laughing and shouting with friends... their joy evident. There was one man reading and a small group of smokers. however the majority of people were looking for a signal, faces pointed down at their phones. I beat it out of there.