So I haven’t hiked in awhile and decided to tackle Monadnock as my first peak. Went along with a friend and we started off on the White Dot trail, crossed over Cascades Link Trail to Red Spot Trail, then onto Pumpelly Trail to the summit. Trees are thick with foliage, definitely a fair amount of mosquitoes and other flying bugs that kept getting stuck in my pony tail. Perfect weather and some beautiful views! But for me…I struggled; I couldn’t get my breathing and heart rate under control and had to take several breaks. Took a longer route up but made it in under 2 1/2 hours. On the way down we took White Cross. Beware of some areas of very smooth rock to descend. My knees were not fond of the descent but we made it in under an hour and a half. Despite my struggle, my partner was there for me and a constant encouragement and we completed our first peak! Onto the next!