.September 30, 2006 Hike #2
My original plan was to hike North and South Twin with Madison and let her rest in the truck while I knocked out North and Middle Sugarloaf, but she seemed to still have plenty of energy. I will have no problem taking her on 20+ mile hikes when I head back to Virginia in 5 weeks for more AT hiking.
Unlike Sugarloaf in Maine which is over 4,000 feet, the Sugarloaf Mountains of the Whites are around 2,500 feet. As you may have guessed, there is also a South Sugarloaf but there is no trail to it, so I will just be hitting North and Middle Sugarloaf.
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Up a stone staircase.
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This is a very short hike. In just less than a mile, I came to a split in the trail.
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This hike was short enough that I had time to hit both summits. The question was which one to do first. I decided to make the decision like I make all my important decisions.
Eenie, meenie, minee, mo.
I headed off to North Sugarloaf and within a few minutes was on the summit (elev. 2310'). I looked south to Middle Sugarloaf.
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Here's another great view of the Presidential Range. The valley was full of color as the foliage nears its peak. Route 302 cuts through the valley.
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Overlooking the small town of Twin Mountain.
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Madison and I headed back the way we came and then up to Middle Sugarloaf (elev. 2539'). I thought it would be crowded since a lot of people were coming down when I was going up, but I had the summit to myself.
Looking back to North Sugarloaf.
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I got a good view over to North and South Twin which I hiked earlier in the day. So far, I have yet to figure out why these mountains are named the Twins. I haven't found out anything really that similar about them.
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Another view of the Presidential Range.
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Here's the same shot with the mountains identified.
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Looking south I could see Mount Tom and Mount Field. I hiked Mount Field a few months ago but still need to hike Mount Tom.
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I finally, finally tired out Madison. I stopped to rest and she laid down next to me. During all my other stops today, she kept on walking around while I rested. We enjoyed the view and relaxed for another 10 minutes or so and headed back down. She was a little relunctant about going down this ladder at first.
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This is a nice little hike with great views for those who don't want to go on an all day hike. It is steep and fairly strenuous but short. If you just want to hit North Sugarloaf, you can trim the hike down to about 2.4 miles roundtrip.
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