Sherry and Jody invited me to join their hike up Mt. Monadnock the other day. My first time up this nearby landmark.
The trail starts out with an easy walk up a dirt road, then turns to forest trail and gets increasingly rocky.
For the last mile or so, you’re just scrambling up a stone staircase. And back down, which was harder on my old knees.
But the payoff was grand: true 360 degree views, and a rare interspecies gathering: grizzled H. Patagoniia lounged peacefully in the sun with puffy-vested H. Northfaciensis and even a few chattering H. Lululemoniae (although these latter seemed quite chilled by the cold wind blowing over the summit).
Brattleboro Adventure – the Auckland Edition 
I’ve climbed this several times, but as a kid – then it was easy. Somewhere, never found it, my grandfather’s name and his brother’s name are carved in a boulder – back when they did that, very early in the 20th century. Turns out my grandmother’s stories about German spies using Mt. Monadnock to communicate were true – though it happened during WWI (not II)! As you note, the view is spectacular. Though it’s fallen from usage, Monadnock used to be an adjective describing analogous – commanding – situations.
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