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3.2 miles of hiking • 1500' elevation gain •

This was my first time up North Pack Monadnock. I typically hike Pack Monadnock, but I wanted a change since I have been up Pack many times. North Pack Monadnock is the last mountain of the 21-mile Wapack Trail. I was the only car in the parking lot and did not see anyone else on the mountain. Note - the parking lot has not been plowed and my car (Ford Explorer) was sliding around a lot! Old Mountain Rd where the base is located is not well plowed either, so you may have some trouble with a car that's not great in the snow.

I took the Wapack Trail (yellow blazes) up and down (not a loop hike). The trail is snow packed and easy to follow. Some of the blazes are quite faded, so I was grateful for the snow trail! There are several little streams to cross, most of which have man-made bridges to use. There are several great viewpoints along the way. The ascent gets steep fairly quickly after the first viewpoint and stays that way until the summit.

While snowshoes are not needed, crampons are definitely necessary. I used my Freesteps crampons and had ski poles, and was very grateful for both! There are some big icy patches hiding beneath the snow. I had no big problems, but it would have been much more difficult without the added traction and support.

The summit has great views of Pack Monadnock, Monadnock, and the surrounding areas. There is some obstruction from trees, but there's big rocks to stand on and get a better view.

This hike has a much more secluded feeling than Pack Monadnock. There is no auto road like there is on Pack, so I assume the warm months are less busy as well (the summit of Pack is often overrun by families and groups of kids). Overall, it was an easy-moderate climb.

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Comments

Kyle Meyer and Chris heart this trip.
Sarducci

Father Guido Sarducci
January 10, 2013

If 2250' of elevation gain in 1 mile is a an easy-moderate climb I'd hate to see what you feel is a difficult climb.

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Molly Higgins
January 10, 2013

I'm not that much of a freak-athlete! I made this entry on my phone and had some difficulty with it. Every time I put in the mileage it would just save as 1 mile for some reason. The elevation was wrong too, not sure what was going on with that.