![]() The park makes it clear that they will turn away hikers who don’t have reservations for those trailheads, so don’t set yourself up for some aggravation. Details are on the NH State Park website. Reservations Required: Parking reservations are required if you plan on hiking up White Dot/Cross, Birchtoft, or the Old Toll Road. Blazes are vertical white stripes, or a “W” painted on the rocks. Walk back out from the parking area, turn left, and you’ll see the trailhead kiosk. Go up about 3/4 of a mile, and parking is on the left. From there, it’s another 1.9 miles to Shaker Farm Road South. In a couple miles, you’ll pass the entrance (on the right) to the Old Toll Road trailhead parking area. Nuts and Bolts: From the main entrance, continue on 124. If it weren’t the second trailhead on 124, I think it might get more traffic than it does. Unlike that trail, this one featured nothing that required hand-over-foot climbing, and not even much scrambling. About as easy to get to as White Dot/Cross, but I think the ‘Dot is harder, due to its much more technical sections. Overall, this isn’t even remotely one of the harder trails on the mountain. Much of today’s trail could break down roughly in two. Looking north-ish out over Pumpelly Ridge. Being officially autumn, the summit was crowded, but not nearly as bad as in summertime. You’re on both Dublin and Marlboro trails at this point. Nearer the summit, just below Jim’s Junction. A pair of hawks, lazily soaring overhead. Junction with the Marian trail leaves nothing ambiguous. Some open ledges offer the first expansive views to the west. It goes up a fair bit more steeply at this point. Interesting stone wall built by a bend in the trail. With the drought, and no drainages or seeps nearby, there’s no chance of mud at the moment. Oddly, I couldn’t escape the sense that the understory is pretty thin. Starting out, the trail isn’t terribly steep, but there’s a bunch of rocks and roots. It’s been a nice exploration of the different sides, and one that keeps quietly giving up its secrets. There’s still the bajillion summit trails that I’ve yet to nail down, but slowly, I’m hiking every mile on every trail. That’s pretty neat, and something I’m not sure I’ve done anywhere else. ![]() I should probably do Birchtoft again because it’s been awhile, and I’ve only done the Old Toll Road to Parker, but at this point, I’ve either hit the summit, or descended from it, by all four compass points. Suffice it to say this much: it’s another of Monadnock’s friendlier trails. This being Monadnock, and probably the mountain I’ve written about the most, I’m going to let the photos do the talking. I’d been wanting to do Marlboro anyway, so that worked out well. But a dear friend asked if we could do a hike, and so it made sense to break with my usual custom. And all the while, I’m enjoying solitude, which really suits me. I get two days off midweek, which suits me: I can hike, then blog, and I’ve dropped some knowledge so you guys can make plans for your weekends. If you go through my posts, you’ll notice I’m not much of a Saturday hiker. Sun with a few clouds and some high altitude haze. Winds were negligible in the trees, about 10-15 knots at the summit.
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