Mount Monadnock, or Grand Monadnock, is a 3,165 feet (965 m) peak in southwestern New Hampshire, United States, which has drawn attention for years by its relative isolation from other mountains. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (3008x2000, 2395 KB)Mount Monadnock as seen from Franklin Pierce College. ... Franklin Pierce College is a four-year liberal-arts college in rural Rindge, New Hampshire, founded in 1962 and named after Franklin Pierce, the New Hampshire-born 14th President of the United States. ... A topographical summit is a point on a surface which is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. ... A foot (plural: feet or foot;[1] symbol or abbreviation: ft or, sometimes, ′ – a prime) is a unit of length, in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ... This article is about the unit of length. ... Jaffrey is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, USA. The population was 5,476 at the 2000 census. ... Dublin is a town located in Cheshire County, New Hampshire. ... Cheshire County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. ... Official language(s) English Capital Concord Largest city Manchester Area  Ranked 46th  - Total 9,350 sq mi (24,217 km²)  - Width 68 miles (110 km)  - Length 190 miles (305 km)  - % water 4. ... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ... // Topographic maps are a variety of maps characterized by large-scale detail and quantitative representation of relief, usually using contour lines in modern mapping, but historically using a variety of methods. ... InsertSLUTTY WHORES≤ non-formatted text here{| class=toccolours border=1 cellpadding=4 style=float: right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; width: 20em; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%; clear: right; |+ United States Geological Survey |- |style= align=center colspan=2| [[Image:USGS logo. ... Southern and northern Mount Everest climbing routes as seen from the International Space Station. ... A foot (plural: feet or foot;[1] symbol or abbreviation: ft or, sometimes, ′ – a prime) is a unit of length, in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ... This article is about the unit of length. ... Official language(s) English Capital Concord Largest city Manchester Area  Ranked 46th  - Total 9,350 sq mi (24,217 km²)  - Width 68 miles (110 km)  - Length 190 miles (305 km)  - % water 4. ...

The word "monadnock" has been adopted by American geologists as an alternative term for an inselberg. In glaciation events, a monadnock may remain ice-free above the iceflow that surrounds it, forming a nunatak and thus may retain relics of the pre-glacial period. This peak is often called Grand Monadnock, to differentiate it from other Vermont and New Hampshire peaks with "Monadnock" in their names. The peak is largely composed of schist and quartzite rocks. A monadnock or inselberg is an isolated hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain. ... An inselberg is an isolated hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain. ... Nunataks on Greenlands east coast A nunatak (or, more properly spelt: nunataq) is the exposed summit of a ridge, mountain, or peak not covered with ice or snow within an ice field or glacier. ... Official language(s) None Capital Montpelier Largest city Burlington Area  Ranked 45th  - Total 9,620 sq mi (24,923 km²)  - Width 80 miles (130 km)  - Length 160 miles (260 km)  - % water 3. ... Official language(s) English Capital Concord Largest city Manchester Area  Ranked 46th  - Total 9,350 sq mi (24,217 km²)  - Width 68 miles (110 km)  - Length 190 miles (305 km)  - % water 4. ... Schist The schists form a group of medium-grade metamorphic rocks, chiefly notable for the preponderance of lamellar minerals such as micas, chlorite, talc, hornblende, graphite, and others. ... Quartzite Quartzite (from German Quarzit[1]) is a hard, metamorphic rock which was originally sandstone. ... For other uses, see Rock (disambiguation). ...

History

USGS seal on the summit.

Monadnock was the site, in the 19th century, of a toll carriage road, still visible, and of a resort hotel. Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson were among those who climbed and wrote about the mountain. Herman Melville compared the hump of Moby Dick to Monadnock when describing Captain Ahab's final struggle with the whale. In the same period, uncontrollable fires — some supposedly set to drive wolves out of thickets to be shot^[1] (the last wolf killed in the state of New Hampshire was in 1887) — destroyed crucial vegetation, permitting severe erosion and creating a tree line that still persists, though the mountain is too low to have a naturally bare summit. Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862; born David Henry Thoreau[1]) was an American author, naturalist, transcendentalist, tax resister, development critic, and philosopher who is best known for Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay, Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance... Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882) was an American essayist, poet, and leader of the Transcendentalist movement in the early nineteenth century. ... Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. ... For other uses, see Moby-Dick in popular culture. ... In this view of an alpine tree-line, the distant line looks particularly sharp. ...

Ownership of the mountain is a patchwork of protected lands: some of the mountain is within Monadnock State Park, while other portions are owned by the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests or the town of Jaffrey^[2]. Monadnock is criss-crossed by well-maintained hiking trails. The New Hampshire state park authority reported in 2003 that the park sees 95,000 visitors yearly. The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests is a private, non-profit land-conservation organization based in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. ... Jaffrey is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, USA. The population was 5,476 at the 2000 census. ...

Monadnock is often described as "the second-most-climbed mountain in the world," with 125,000 climbers yearly^[3], behind only Mt. Fuji in Japan, with about 200,000 yearly climbers. Bus routes that head part way up Mt. Fuji opened in 1990, and it has been suggested by some that Mt. Monadnock may be in first place if Mt. Fuji's bus riders are not counted. On the other hand, despite the bus rides, each person who reaches the summit of Mt. Fuji has climbed about 5,000 vertical feet, more than the elevation of Mount Monadnock. Other contenders for the title of the "most-climbed mountain in the world" are legion. Tai Shan, in China, for example, sees an estimated 1.5 to 2 million visitors yearly, though not all make the journey on foot. Mount Fuji (富士山 Fuji-san, IPA: [ɸuʝisaɴ]) is the highest mountain on the island of Honshu and indeed in all of Japan. ... Mount Tai (Chinese: æ³°å±±; pinyin: ) is a mountain of historical and cultural significance located north of the city of Taian, in Shandong Province, China. ...

A 360° view from the top of Mount Monadnock.

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (5699x518, 379 KB) A view from the top of the mount Monadnock, in NewHampshire. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (5699x518, 379 KB) A view from the top of the mount Monadnock, in NewHampshire. ...

Environs

The mountain is located mostly within the town of Jaffrey, New Hampshire. The 5,000 acre (20 km²) Monadnock State Park includes many well-used trails, crags, and minor peaks. The main summit and the most popular trails lie in Jaffrey; two other major trails have trailheads in the town of Dublin. Jaffrey is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, USA. The population was 5,476 at the 2000 census. ... Dublin is a town located in Cheshire County, New Hampshire. ...

Monadnock is at the northern end of the Monadnock-Metacomet Trail , a long-distance trail stretching south through Massachusetts and half of Connecticut. As of 2006, there is a proposal under consideration that would designate the combination of the Monadnock-Metacomet with the Mattabesset Trail in Connecticut as a National Scenic Trail, giving it some of the status accorded to the Appalachian Trail. This article is about the U.S. State. ... Official language(s) English Capital Hartford Largest city Bridgeport Largest metro area Hartford Area  Ranked 48th  - Total 5,543[2] sq mi (14,356 km²)  - Width 70 miles (113 km)  - Length 110 miles (177 km)  - % water 12. ... National Scenic Trail is a designation for protected areas in the United States that consist of trails of particular natural beauty. ... The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, generally known as the Appalachian Trail or simply The A.T., is a 2,174-mile (3,500-km)[2] marked hiking trail in the eastern United States, extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine. ...

Monadnock is also at the southern end of the Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway, a trail connecting Monadnock and Mount Sunapee. The Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway is a 50-mile long, marked hiking trail in the southern portion of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. ... Mount Sunapee is a 5-mile-long mountain ridge in the towns of Newbury and Goshen in western New Hampshire. ...

Biogeography

Due to fires in the early 19th century which burned a majority of the top 300 feet around the summit, there is little to no soil cover on the peak and its surroundings. Mount Monadnock is an example of a mountain which has an artificial tree line, occurring well below the actual climatic tree line of similar mountains in the region ^[4]. As one ascends from the base to the summit, it is readily apparent that floral species abundance diminishes with increasingly shallow soil levels. Although the fact is not readily apparent, the summit is home to many different specialized sub-alpine species which can retain moisture for long periods of time. In this view of an alpine tree-line, the distant line looks particularly sharp. ... The hierarchy of scientific classification. ...

Before the 19th century fires, Mount Monadnock was totally covered in a red spruce forest. Since the summit has been barren of soil cover, red spruce have been slowly ascending back towards the top in a process known as ecological succession. Binomial name Picea rubens Sarg. ... Secondary succession: trees are colonizing uncultivated fields and meadows. ...

Artistic tributes

Mount Monadnock as painted by Richard Whitney in the painting Monadnock Orchard

The American composer Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000), who climbed Mount Monadnock several times during his youth, composed a symphonic fantasy entitled Monadnock, Op. 2, around 1935. Image File history File links Monadorch. ... Image File history File links Monadorch. ... Self Portrait, oil, 26 x 20, 1973. ... Alan Hovhaness with an Indonesian rebab Alan Hovhaness (March 8, 1911 – June 21, 2000) was an American composer of Armenian and Scottish descent. ...

See also

• List of mountains in New Hampshire

This is a list of some of the mountains in the state of New Hampshire. ...

References

External links

• NH Division of Parks & Recreation: Monadnock State Park
• Mount Monadnock Photo Gallery
• Mount Monadnock Photo Galleries
• USGS Topographic Map: Monadnock Mountain
• Grand Mount Monadnock
• Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway Trail Club