,,, Bicycle Camping at Mt Monadnock, 2010
From Eastern Mass, there is pretty much one way to
get there, find your way to Route 119 and stay on it,
then 202N. Once in Townsend Mass, you have the option of
taking Rt 124 North. I stuck with Rt 119 since it has more
services (water, restrooms) when compared to 124. Route
124 is shaded and slightly shorter, but lack of services
could be an issue. Both routes are quite pretty and have
lite traffic, on RT 124, I doubt you will even see another
vehicle.
Day 1 of 4:
===========
Left home around 9:00am, the plan was to ride to
Willard Brook State Park, and stay the night. But since
it was suppose to rain the next day, decided to ride
the full 50+ miles (80km+) to Monadnock. The trip was
planned as a leisurely "Shake Down" ride for the LHT.
IMG Picture: loaded LHT
Above is a picture of the loaded bike by a farm
in Dunstable Mass, continued on to Pepperell Mass
where I stopped at the "Pepperell Spa" for Breakfast
(quite good). There I talked to an older gentleman
about "Bike Touring" and he was telling me about his
friend who lives in Alaska. He tours with a trailer,
taking Nature Photos throughout AK and the Yukon while
riding, selling them to National Geographic, Atlantic
and other magazines.
IMG Picture: Rt 119
Above is Rt 119 in West Townsend Mass. in the distance
you can see the hills I am heading for. Reached Willard
Brook State Park, where the rangers let me use the
restroom and refill my water bottles in the main office
(thanks!). I believe I left my cycling gloves there,
not a big deal since I only used them rarely and at
times they bothered me a bit.
IMG Picture: Willard Brook
IMG Picture: Willard Brook Gate
Here we have the road through the park, and free
parking for me :). Notice the trash bag. In Pepperell
it started to rain lightly, but it was a short
shower. Up to now it has been humid but cloudy and
cool, but soon the weather changed to sunny and around
85F (30C).
IMG Picture: Lunch
It has been a quick ride up to this point, continued
on 119 to Ashby Mass. where I took lunch at the Ashby
Market (above). Talked to the owner and a customer
about my trip, they said it will be difficult from
this point on, they were not kidding!
IMG Picture: Rt 119 in NH
IMG Picture: Rt 119 in NH w/Bike
So, headed out on Rt 119, as you can see from above,
the road goes slightly up, and at points it got a
slightly steeper, but nothing that indicates how hard
this part of the ride would be. I did not notice it
at the time, but I was in the middle of "hill hell",
it is a stretch of 10+ miles (16km) that took me
three hours to ride. Until this point I was looking
at reaching Monadnock State Park sometime around 3:00.
I really like this area on 119, I always get the
feeling I am on a big trip or in the middle of nowhere
when I an on this section of the road. You can see
the mountains in the distance.
IMG Picture: Elevation graph
But as you can see from the Elevation Chart, it is
a real rough section of road. Took a break in Rindge
NH talked to a guy about hiking and touring, he gave
me pointers on a little shortcut that bypasses the
busy intersection of Rt 119 and Rt 202. This is where
you branch off of Rt 119 and head North on Rt 202,
from there you link up with Route 124 and head to
Monadnock State Park. The shortcut "cuts the corner"
and you end up on Rt 202 North.
When I stopped in Rindge I was maybe 10 (16km) miles from
camp. From the Mass/NH border, it is 17 miles (28km) to
Monadnock State Park, but a hard 17 miles (28km). At least
I was near the end of "Hill Hell", when I reached
Jaffrey NH it seemed I was on a kind of plateau,
was a bit hilly but not bad. So I continued on and
reached camp around 5:30.
IMG Picture: Camp
IMG Picture: Rest Rooms
I set up Camp, heated up some food I carried and
relaxed and "went into a coma", as a bike riding buddy
(Carl) would say. I took site A4, it was close to
the bathrooms and showers (above). There was hardly
anyone camping there.
Rode 53 miles (86km) from home to camp.
Day 2 of 4:
===========
Woke up feeling sore from yesterday, but OK. Last night
and early morning there was quite a thunderstorm,
I think it ended around 8:00am. Hard rain and wind,
but everything survived.
I rode into Jaffrey to pick up supplies, the day
was turning into a nice day. Spent a little time
exploring before heading back to camp. Stopped at a
French cafe and had this cake (below) as a reward for
yesterday's ride.
IMG Picture: Cake
IMG Picture: Road
IMG Picture: Church
Above is is the road out of Jaffrey towards camp,
on the way you pass by the Church in the town center
built in 1780.
IMG Picture: First Tavern Rd
IMG Picture: Monadnock 1
IMG Picture: Monadnock 2
IMG Picture: Monadnock 3
If you are riding to the camp from Jaffrey, you can
take a right on "First Tavern Road" to save a climb and
is a bit shorter, it will join with Dulin Road. Also
above are some pictures of Mt Monadnock on the way to
camp (Dublin Road)
For the rest of the day I read a book (The Girl with
the Dragon Tattoo) I brought along. It was recommended
to me by my Doctor and relaxed for the evening.
Turned out to be a very good story to read.
Day 3 of 4:
===========
Last night was very cool but nice in the tent. There
was also a very bad wind storm last night, if the tent
had been empty it would have blown away. When I got
up I used some rope I brought along to further secure
the tent. You may be able see what I did on the right
side of the tent:
IMG Picture: Tent
I tied one corner to the table, and extended right
side rain cover so I could stake it in better ground.
Today was cool and cloudy, doubt it reached 60F (15C)
during the day. But I had brought enough clothes to be
comfortable. Explored around a bit, but did not hike
any long trails because of the threat of rain. One of
the things I always bring along is a bicycle cover:
IMG Picture: Camp w/bicycle cover
this protected the bike from the rain and the mud blown
up by the strong winds last night. I noticed there were
only two other people in the whole park. The "Host"
(Site A1), a ranger who lives on site and someone in
the "Section B".
Section B is a bit better for tents, but it was
down at the bottom of a hill and a distance from the
showers. Spread out through the campground are a few
"organic" toilets, but you could only shower and wash
dishes at the building near my site:
IMG Picture: Shower Building
There are 3 sections, A, B and R. Section R is for
"remote sites", you can only get to these sites by
hiking, below is a picture of Site R2 (Remote 2),
the chimney is the remains of an old cabin.
IMG Picture: Remote R2
There are suppose to be around 6 remote sites, the
ranger I asked was not to sure how many there were,
but thinks 5 or 6. For the rest of the day I relaxed
and continued reading.
During the day, there were a few rangers cleaning
up the campground, I thought it was very clean, but
realized since it was Thursday they were getting it
ready for the weekend.
Day 4 of 4:
===========
Last night was even more windy and the coldest
night, but I was warm in the tent. The ropes helped
out a lot, kept the tent sturdy during the strong
winds. Unfortunately, this is the day I have to head
home, so I packed and headed out.
When I checked out, it was with the "host". We talked
a bit and he said I was so quiet he was going to
swing by and check in on me, but figured I was out
hiking. I asked him about the campground, he said they
just closed the old camp and this is the new camping
area. He mentioned some people like it better, others
do not. I thought is was nice, but I suspect people
do not like it because it is a little further from
the Mountain.
While packing, I noticed a lot of people pulling in,
seems it will be a busy weekend. So I guess it is just
as well I am leaving.
IMG Picture: Ready to go
IMG Picture: Turkeys
On the way out of the campground I took the above
pictures of the mountain with the packed bike and
some turkeys wandering around. This is the river in
Jaffrey NH showing how dry it has been over the summer.
Hardly any water can be seen:
IMG Picture: Dry River
Took the same way back, based upon the elevation map
(above), it will be a very easy ride home.
Ate breakfast in Jaffrey, wish I found that place
two days ago. They had a very good egg/beacon/cheese
sandwich. Two days ago I only knew of a fast food
place, then explored around and found the French Cafe
a while later where I had tea and cake (see pic above).
The ride home was uneventful, I took it easy so I would
not get home too early, wanted to enjoy the day. Taking
it easy was tough, all I had to do was sit up straight
and let the wind and hills take me home.
IMG Picture: Rt 119 NH
IMG Picture: Rt 119 MA
Comments:
========
I really should get into the habit of using sunscreen,
on Day 1 I got a minor sunburn on my face.
I used everything I packed except for one of the
bicycle shirts and the wool socks. This list has worked
for me for quite a while, packing this way helps me
keep the weight down.
TEXT Items Packed
With that said, I should replace the "1 Long Sleeve
Shirt" with a "Light Weight Long Sleeve Shirt",
maybe wool.
For me, "Bicycle Shorts" are not what you think
they are. These look like regular black shorts but
contain a small pad sewed into the liner. So, they do
"double duty".
For food, I should have picked it up in Jaffrey instead
of carrying it from home, but I always want to carry
a bit of food with me "just in case".
Only one very minor mechanical issue. The front
derailleur bar end shifter loosened up. That is an on
going issue with it. But, that bar end came from the
XO-2, used on the Old Trek 750 then installed on the
LHT, thus it is quite old. I just had to tighten it
and continue on. Someday I should replace it, but been
saying that for years.
IMG Picture: Old 750
IMG Picture: LHT at Camp
The LHT handled very well (great actually), no shimmy
at all and except for the extra weight I did not notice
anything. It handled better than the Old trek 750,
but that frame was not a touring frame, it started
out as a hybrid bike and was changed using parts from
the Bridgestone.
One thing I wish the campgrounds would change. When
I use to camp with my parents a very long time ago,
each camp site would have a buried ice box. You could
then buy blocks of ice, and any food you need to keep
cold would be stored it in the box. The box would
have a loose wood floor, so it was no issue if the ice
melt, the water would drain into the ground. This way,
as a bicycle rider, I could pick up food which needs
to be kept cool and have a place to keep it. As it
stands, when camping, my options are to eat out or
buy non-perishables.
$Id: gophermap,v 1.6 2024/10/15 12:32:59 jmccue Exp $