More panorama fun -- on top of Mount Monadnock

I am continuing to play with Panorama Maker 4, and having great fun doing so. I've been scouring my digital photo archive looking for material to try with it, and I found this set of photos.

Back in 2001, Gary Richardson suggested a hike up Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire. I'd heard of the mountain, and had probably driven or ridden in sight of it many times, but had never paid much (okay, ANY) attention to it. From what I understand, it is the second most hiked mountain in the world, after Mount Fuji in Japan.

I thought that statistic, which Gary enlightened us (me and Jim Lawson) with on the way to the mountain, might be an overstatement... until we arrived in one of the parking areas at the base of the mountain and saw multiple tour buses and a lot of cars. It was a beautiful day to hike, and I think it took us a little more than two hours to make the ascent. There was much beautiful scenery along the way, but the views from the top were fantastic. I was amazed at how many people were on the summit -- it was actually crowded! You can see what I mean in this panorama.



I stood on the highest rock I could find at the summit and took these photos showing the whole 360 degree vista. That's Gary giving the "thumbs-up", with Jim sitting across from him (about to eat some trail mix, I think).

The walk back down the mountain took somewhat less time than the climb up, and as I recall was enlivened by Jim's invention of the word "haltoids" to describe those muscles in the backs of your thighs which control your pace when descending a slope... said muscles (generally not given this much use, at least for us) aching quite fiercely from about the halfway point. But it was still a great day and a great hike. I wouldn't mind trying it again, though I suspect it might take me longer to get up (and down). -- PL