Metacomet-Monadnock Trail (Sections 19-22)

Me on Gap Mountain headed towards Monadnock

Having been out to the Royalston Falls area in Royalston, MA several times now, and having camped at the Falls Brook Shelter, I knew that the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail passed through the area. There is a sign on the other side of the foot bridge below the shelter that reads 18.7mi to Mt. Monadnock. From that sign to the summit consists of Sections 19-22 of the 114-mile long trail that runs from CT through the Berkshires to Mt. Monadnock in Jaffrey, NH. When hiking out there, that had became one of my goals, was that I was going to hike to Mt. Monadnock from there. 

Porcupine encounter!!

On October 30, 2010, I decided I was going to go for it. With less daylight for this hike, I arrived at the Trustees of Reservations trailhead on Route 32 around 5AM. Getting an early start would end up being essential in making it in time. Honestly, when I pulled into the lot and was making my final equipment check and adjustments, it was so dark, that I was pretty nervous about animals. The trail from the lot to the footbridge is a 1/2 mile descent into the woods. Within my first 2 minutes of walking down the path, I already heard something right in front of me. It was a huge porcupine that basically forced me to walk around it, because he wasn't moving. That certainly was a small adrenaline rush to start, and now, just 3 or 4 minutes in, I was feeling pretty nervous, what the heck could be next, a black bear? Coyote?

Reddish sun coming up

Once I passed the footbridge and began hiking on the trail, which parallells falls brook for quite a while, the brook turns into deeper gorges as you elevate, and the trail is not all that easy. I quickly realized that, although well marked in most areas, the trail markers take you through the woods without it feeling like you are on a trail. Almost all of the wooded sections of the trail have this feel. It's great. Once you leave the brook, you end up on a few logging roads in NH, where you have to follow signs very carefully. Some of the original trail is involved in land disputes, so you have to pay attention to where the trail has been updated, which I did, and it was still not easy. I was still using my headlamp and flashlight at that point. I could see the sun coming up through the trees, and it had incredible color. For almost an hour, just as the sun was coming up, there was uncertainty as to whether I was going in the right direction. The white markers can be seen on the telephone poles of Route 119. I did not really expect to be on main roads, other than crossing them, but in actuality, you have to walk a decent distance on gravel and asphalt roads. 

Ice on pond

Now that it was fully daylight, I was past the confusing section, and entered the most remote and wooded section in the town of Fitzwilliam, NH. In the middle sections of this hike, I was entertained with mile after mile of varying terrain and teaser views. The first view came when I reached Little Monadnock Mountain at 8:30am. At 1,883 ft, it offers the first full view of Mt. Monadnock in the distance. After seeing how much farther I had to go, I went on. I passed a small pond that had some ice leftover from the chilly night before. Continuing on, the trail empties out into a neighborhood, and at the end of the paved road, I came into the town of Troy, where I was met with another challenge. I did not have a trail map. Thats not always a smart move, but I was confident with the reading up I had done and having a print-out of the online-trail guide in hand. Once into town, there is a long bike path that I thought might be the trail, as it passes through town. I had stopped at this second-hand store in the square, and asked the gentleman if the path behind the store was the trail, and named the trail. He said, "oh yeah, yes, goes right behind the houses." Ok, great, so I continued for a little while, again with uncertainty, until I felt I had to ask some bikers on the trail. After hiking back to the square, it took a little bit of wandering to realize that I needed to walk through the square, take a right, and walk over a half mile along Route 12. I could have strangled the guy!

Somewhere in the middle of that confusion, I must have dropped the trail guide. Back on track though, the trail passes the Troy dump and back into the woods going up and then down NAME OF HILL. During this section, I summitted Gap Mountain, which is a small summit that provides a closer commanding view of Monadnock. I met a father and son on the summit and we swapped photo duties before I marched on. It seemed as if Monadnock was going to make me gain every single on of the 3,165 feet, as the trail seemed to keep descending. After this descending section, I came to Route 124, where I crossed the road, and entered Monadnock State Park. Having hiked almost 20 miles, I was now faced with the fairly tough climb to the summit of Monadnock. My ascent took my up the White Arrow Trail, which is steep in many places, especially at the top. The leaves being mostly all down, made it challenging to find the best places to step. Although Mt. Monadnock is possibly the 3rd most summitted mountain in the world, I was pleasantly surpised to see how steep and challenging the last push to the top of the mountain was. Once at the summit, there was a large amount of people there. The wind was blowing hard consistently. I asked someone to take a photo, and began to descend on which I thought was the same trail...

Me on summit of Mt. Monadnock

I made my destination, but I was not done. It is about 3 miles from Route 124 to the summit, so I had the same to return to Route 124, where I would be picked up. I realized that I had gone off the White Arrow Trail, and ended up on the Halfway House Trail. From the marking on the summit, I knew I would end up at 124, so I continued down the trail, as opposed to going back to find the White Arrow junction where I veered off. Just before 4:30pm, my father arrived at the parking lot on Route 124 to pick me up. Driving back to Royalston, MA, he was flabbergasted at how far I had hiked. It was far, but this is another aspect of hiking I want to experience more of. I have added the goal of completing the complete length of the M&M trail to my list.

For more information on the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail, visit the AMC Berkshires Website for more information. 4R4EXAY5K978 

Deboullie Ecoreserve - North Maine Woods 2010

Before we had even left Deboullie in 2009, my brother and I had already marked the calendar for our 2010 trip. We were also able to drag our friends Sean and Eric up to this remote area in late May. Having this trip planned an entire year in advance was hell, but it finally came. This year, we were stepping up our game and decided to make it a kayaking trip. We loaded 4 kayaks onto the roof, along with all of our gear, and headed up to the wilderness for 3 nights and 4 days. This was the first time going away with more than just 2 people, so I was looking forward to a great trip.

Our home for 3 nights

It is always more talkative with people, so the 6 hour drive was not as bad this time. Once we got into Portage and onto the logging roads, were were treated to 3 or 4 moose sightings on the way in, including one that darted right out in front of the car while I was driving! Pretty intense. Once we got to the parking lot near Pushineer and Deboullie Pond, we unloaded and packed up the kayaks with all of our gear. During our 2009 trip, my brother and I had set our goal on camping on Gardner Pond, where there is a remote campsite accessible only by boat. We put in at Deboullie Pond and began our paddle across the very deep Deboullie Pond. On the other side of Deboullie Pond, there is a portage of a couple hundred yards over to Gardner Pond. The entire paddle from the car to the camp site is close to 3 miles.


It was incredible to have hiked around the year prior, and come back and sit in the middle of this enormous glacial lake and look at the rock slide and formations from a different perspective. Once across to our destination, the exploration began. There is no possible way for someone to walk or hike to this campsite. It is protected on the southern shores of the pond by cliffs that go straight into the pond, and the northern shore, which is a steep hillside that is densely overgrown with large trees, roots, and underground streams. About twenty feet into the woods behind the camp site was more of the same. There are no trails around the campsite, but there are several hundred feet of rocky shoreline that become yours. Its almost like your own sanctuary, and if anyone is coming you will notice, because they are coming by boat.

Eric fishing just offshore

In 2009, Bill and I tried fishing however we never got a nibble. That was because we were using the wrong bait. This year, we had equipped ourselves with fly fishing rods and trout lures. One of our goals was to catch Maine's rare arctic char (Blueback Trout), which can only be found in 11 lakes in all of Maine, including these ponds. Our friend Eric was the first to pull a char out of the water. He caught it while fishing from the kayak. We certainly cooked that up, which led to an unfortunate event...me getting deathly sick, or so it seemed. Although I have gotten sick before from fish, I did not believe or know whether I had an allergy. It seems that I may have an allergy to fish in the salmon family. To make a long story short, the fish tasted amazing, especially with our canned food, which we mixed the meat with. However, a couple hours later, I began paying for it, and I payed for it ALL night long, until the bile started coming out. I know, sorry.

Eric's Blueback up-close

My Blueback Trout

The next evening, when we were all fishing, trying to catch that night's fish portion for dinner, I had the opportunity to snag the Blueback Trout. I will never forget catching this fish, because I was able to capture it on video. It is clear from the video that technique, the correct position, and luck play a factor in landing the Blueback Trout. We were fishing on a shallow shore, but one that basically drops off into the abyss about 20 feet from shore. After a long time of no action, not even a bite between us all, I moved a few feet forward, allowed the lure to sink more than I had in any previous cast, and then it hit. It had been so boring, when I felt something hit the line, I knew that was it. Having this awesome and perhaps once-in-a-lifetime experience on video is something that I will cherish forever. (Unfortunately, I could not eat my own fish that night)


On the last day before hiking out the next morning, Bill, Sean, and I paddled across Gardner Pond and back to Deboullie, where we then hiked a fairly strenuous elevation gain of 800 feet to the summit of Deboullie Mountain. Although the top is somewhat wooded, there are paths that lead to outlooks offering excellent views of the remote land. After heading down, Bill and I took Sean on the hike to Galilee Pond. When we made it there, there were two Brad Pitt River Runs Wild looking kinda guys in full fly fishing gear telling us they could not catch crap. I took off my boots and hopped into the pond as they looked on. I was using my Colorado, which I caught the Char with. I was in and out the pond in less than 10 minutes and caught about 3 smaller sized brookies


This trip never fell short of my expectations. In two trips, I have developed a connection with this area. Its true remoteness and beauty and will wow anyone who stands within it. Pictures do not measure up to what it is like to stand among such enormous and breathtaking geographic features, and do so with no other people nearby. What really gets me, is that even people who live and work in Maine will tell you that they have never heard of this place.



If you did not catch my Blueback Trout video on my previous post, check out that video on my YouTube Channel, along with a video showing the rough water on Gardner Pond.