I have noticed that in all the descriptions of summitting activities in the Commonwealth, the main objective seems to be peeking into other states. In my efforts to prepare myself for the ascent of Mount Everett, I have come to regard the monadnock as a peculiarly pesky kind of hill. The monadnock is a stub of a mountain, all that's left after millions of years of weather and water and wind have worn away a range of peaks. The monadnock is made of sterner stuff, and generally it sits all by itself, round and smug, slippery and sometimes offering a view of New Hampshire from its top. Going up a monadnock is bad enough, but getting back down frequently involves slithering down on one's backside and backpack.
Descents are, by all accounts, always harder than ascents.
Well do I know it. At such moments, one does not totally appreciate the natural beauty of the monadnock, which generally involves ferns and blueberries. Mount Everett, though, is a different kind of peak. It will be the first non-monadnock mountain I've attempted. I picture it as being somehow less slippery and having fewer ferns.