Autumn Walk Up Temple Mountain
| Date: | 10-9-2023 |
| Location: | Temple, NH |
| Distance: | 3.18 mi |
| Elevation Gain: | 499 |
| Total Time: | 2 hr 2 min |
| Parking: | 25+ cars |
The last day of Columbus Day Weekend was cool. Temps were in the high 50’s to low 60’s and it was sunny with only a few clouds in the sky. It was a perfect day for a walk in the woods.
My original plan was to take Liberty up Pack Monadnock but when we got to Miller State Park the sign said it was full. So, we turned around and decided to hike up Temple Mountain across the road.
We parked in the Temple Mountain lot. The lot holds 25+ cars and was about half full. I made sure Liberty had her hunter orange on. I made sure to have all the water, bowls, snacks etc. and we were off.
We started up the trail and about 100’ up we turned up the Beede Trail. Our goal is to go up to the Cairns on Temple and do a clockwise loop.
The bottom of the Beede trail goes through some tall grass and is a little wet in some areas. As we moved slowly up the trail the open grass gave way to tree cover and the trail seemed to get muddier and soupier.
There were some moderately steep short sections on this trail. Most of the trail was easy going and had lots to look at. Toward the top there are a few areas with views of Pack Monadnock across the way.
Toward the top of the ridge the trail leveled out and eventually merged with the Wapak Trail. The ridge has some small ups and downs but nothing to hard. Lots of rock slabs and roots so I was sure to watch my step.
Eventually I made it to the cairn chairs and to my surprise there was no one there. Liberty and I walked around and took some pictures. After a small break we started to make our way back down.
We followed the Wapak trail down. This trail goes a little further down the ridge than the Beede does. Once we approach Temple Mountain the trail turns more in to an old service road.
There are a lot of large loose gravel going down, so I was glad to have my boots on and not my sneakers.
This part of the trial goes quickly. There are some options to take some old ski trails down that might be a bit shorter. However, they all go through tall grass, and I don’t feel like picking a ton of ticks of Liberty and myself.
We made it back to the car shortly after. This was a fun short hike and a perfect day for it. Liberty had a blast playing in all the mud and swamp water along the trials.
