.March 31, 2007 Hike #1I had a long drive to get to the trailhead today, 2 hours and 15 minutes. There was a couple at the trailhead who started out a few minutes before me. They had spoken with someone recently about the trail conditions. The trail was packed snow so I decided to leave my snowshoes behind.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Just a couple minutes after starting, I crossed Drakes Brook. The snow bridge held, but I could hear the sound of water running underneath. After a gradual start, the trail began to steepen.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I lost Madison for a few minutes. It took a couple minutes of calling for her, but she came back. The trail began to get icy in quite a few places, so I decided to put my crampons on. Then I met up with the couple who had left a few minutes before me.
"Your dog came to visit us once before," the man said.
"Oh, so that's where she was," I said.
I was warming up quick and was down to my t-shirt.
The trail really steepened as I neared Noon Peak. There was lots of ice, and this was the first time I really got a chance to put my crampons to the test. They worked great. The couple behind me were making there way up all this ice with just Yaktraks. They're determined. I'm sure I'll see them at the top. Just before the summit of Noon Peak, there is a great view. I could see Mount Washington way in the back.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I'm not exactly sure when I reached the 2976' summit of Noon Peak, but I came to a somewhat open area where I could see ahead to Jennings Peak, my next objective.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Next I reached the trail junction with Drakes Brook Trail. I'll probably take that route when I come back down.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Jennings Peak is only .2 miles out of the way, so I guess I'll take a little detour. I dropped my pack and started up.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ It was a steep .2 miles. Just before the summit I got another great view of Mount Washington.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I could also look way down into Waterville Valley.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Another minute of hiking and I reached the 3460' summit with a great view to the west.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I retraced my steps back to Sandwich Mountain Trail, picked up my pack, and continued up the trail entering the Sandwich Range Wilderness. I'm sure I'm not the only one who gets hungry reading the sign with the word 'sandwich' in it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
There are lots of trails that go to the top of this mountain. I passed the junction with Smarts brook Trail ...
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
... and just before the summit I passed the junction with the Algonquin Trail.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Madison and I reached the summit!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The 3993' summit false just 7 feet short of being a 4000 footer. I'm surprised no one has piled up 7 feet of rocks. However, it does make the list of New England's 100 highest. It ranks #68 and is #49 on my list of completed peaks for this list. One more and I'll be half way. I had only been on the summit about 5 minutes when I was joined by a woman hiker. She had come up the same route as me. I hadn't seen her on the way up, but she must have been right on my heals the whole way. Her name is Kate, and she is from Vermont. We had fun identifying all the peaks together.
The lower peak in this photo is Jennings Peak which I had just climbed. The mountain with the ski trails is Mount Tecumseh, one of my unconquered 4000 footers.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Here's a few more 4000 footers.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ We were also able to identify Moosilauke, Osceola, East Osceola, the Hancocks, Lafayette, the Kinsmans, Passaconaway, and Whitehead. You sure could see a lot of 4k footers from here. A couple minutes later, we were joined by the other couple who I had met on the trail earlier. Sorry, I didn't get their names. I told them about my website. If they happen to read this and want to email me their names, I would be happy to add them.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The gentleman hiker was kind enough to take my picture for me, but Madison was being shy.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I returned over the same route until I reached Drakes Brook Trail.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
If you are like me, then you probably prefer to go up a steep trail and down a gradual trail. This was a great trail to come down plus I missed all the ice that I had to walk up earlier today.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I had to cross Drakes Brook on another snow bridge. The snow bridge held but it is getting thin. A few minutes later Madison and I reached the car. It's early in the afternoon so I have time for another small hike. Off to Dickey and Welch Mountains.
| 
