A Bird's Eye View of North, Middle & South Sugarloaf Mtn (Zealand): 19-Mar-2010

[1HappyHiker]

At one time or another, nearly everyone on this Forum has done the hike up to North and Middle Sugarloaf off the Zealand Road.
Both of these little mountains offer a big bang for the buck in terms of views.

Meanwhile, poor little South Sugarloaf is trail-less and therefore doesn't get many visitors. Before the snow becomes completely useless in terms of bushwhacking, I wanted to pay a visit not only to South Sugarloaf, but also to a ledge to its south that is about 350 higher than the summit of South Sugarloaf. From that ledge, I was hoping to get a bird's-eye view of all 3 Sugarloaf mountains.

The whack up to South Sugarloaf went fine. The snow was far from being a hardened boiler plate, which would have been ideal. However, the snow was firm enough for some doable bushwhacking. There were occasional soft spots which resulted in unexpected plunges (a.k.a. "spruce traps"). However, for each plunge, self-extraction was an easy undertaking!

I'd been to South Sugarloaf once before in August 2008, and I recall being amazed at the orange/tan almost sand-like material on the summit area of this mountain. Geology (among many other areas) isn't one of my strong suits. Is this material what is sometimes referred to as "rotten granite"?

This orange/tan material is evident in a couple of the snapshots (shown below) which were taken from South Sugarloaf.

View of Presidential Range from South Sugarloaf

Another View of Presidential Range from South Sugarloaf

Tom, Field, Willey from South Sugarloaf

Okay . . . I spent far too much time basking in the warm sunshine on South Sugarloaf. And so now I started to wonder if I would have time to visit the ledge to the south. I could see it clearly from South Sugarloaf. It was taunting me to give it a try. The distance to the ledge was known (a short 0.3 mile, as the crow flies). But the great unknown was how many glitches might be encountered along the way.

Below is a snapshot of the ledge as seen from South Sugarloaf.

Finally, I talked myself into giving it a shot, and so I headed off in the direction of the ledge. It turned out to be a relatively short and easy whack. And, when I got out onto the ledge, I was rewarded with the view of the 3 Sugarloaf Mountains, all lined up in a row.

First in line, and just below me, was the orange/tan summit of South Sugarloaf, followed by Middle Sugarloaf with its massive south-facing cliff clearly visible. And just a bit beyond Middle Sugarloaf, I could see some of the rocky top of North Sugarloaf.

South, Middle and North Sugarloaf from a 3,360 ft. Ledge

So, with the type of weather we've been having, this might well have been my last snowshoe bushwhack for this season. But that's okay . . . there are plenty of days ahead for great hiking, both on and off trail!

1HappyHiker

 

[NewHampshire]

Nice John! I still have not made my way out to the Sugah Loaves yet...alas a recurring problem with many great hikes (too much to do, too little time! ) Looks like my kind of trip too, complete with bushwhack! And I know what you mean about the snow. I went to do Kearsarge North today and on the way up I kept eyeballing Bartlet Mountain just a short jaunt to the west. Without having done any research I did not know what there would be to offer, but it looked like a couple of spots might have offered views, and when I got to the top of K-North the urge to head over was getting real tough to ignore. But then I started coming down, and the temps had turned the snow into a mash potato nightmare and my enthusiasm for a whack, even a short one, evaporated quickly. I wound up just doing a simple descent back down the trail slipping and sliding in my snowshoes as if I were on ice skates!

Brian

 

[1HappyHiker]

Nice John! I still have not made my way out to the Sugah Loaves yet...alas a recurring problem with many great hikes (too much to do, too little time! )

Thanks Brian!

I think we all can relate to your comment about there not being enough time to do stuff. Many years ago I was talking with one of those time-management consultant guys, and it was suggested that in order to focus on what you want to get done, you need to create a "NOT to do" list. Sounds OK (I guess) . . . in theory! But, who the heck has time to develop a "NOT to do" list, I ask you?!

 

[Taconic]

Nice. Any other views from the ledge? I think it's the first time I've ever seen anything from that spot.

South Sugarloaf has been on my to do list for quite a while. Every time I'm up on Middle, I eye it and think about it, but I haven't taken the plunge.

 

[1HappyHiker]

Nice. Any other views from the ledge? I think it's the first time I've ever seen anything from that spot.

South Sugarloaf has been on my to do list for quite a while. Every time I'm up on Middle, I eye it and think about it, but I haven't taken the plunge.

Yes, from the ledge I visited above South Sugarloaf, there are other vistas in addition to the view of North, Middle & South Sugarloaf. The easterly view toward the Presidential Range is the most dominate vista. (It's similar to what you get from South Sugarloaf, but from a higher vantage point.) And, there is an interesting northerly view looking up the corridor of the Cherry Mountain Road which runs between Cherry Mountain and the Dartmouth Range. There are other vistas, but those are the two that I found most interesting. Much of the view to the south is pretty much blocked by East Hale.

So, here are photos of the two views that I found interesting (in addition to the view of the 3 Sugarloaf Mountains).

You might already know this, but the ledge that I visited is located on a ridge that comes off of Mt. Hale. There's a chain of other ledges along that ridgeline which I hope to visit at some point.

Also, for what it's worth, perhaps I should mention that I didn't bushwhack to South Sugarloaf from Middle Sugarloaf. Instead, I began my whack from the Zealand Road at a point a few tenths of a mile north of the trailhead for the Hale Brook Trail.

 

[NeoAkela]

Oh - South Sugarloaf looks great! Strange that the trail cutting ancestors stopped at the first two - those are some nice views from up there. Also nice to see views from Hale's northern side.

I'm not a geologist either, but my dad used to collect smoky quartz in the Moat area and called that kind of rock "rotten rock". I know you can find smokies on the northern Sugarloaves, so maybe it is in a similar matrix.

 

[1HappyHiker]

I'm not a geologist either, but my dad used to collect smoky quartz in the Moat area and called that kind of rock "rotten rock". I know you can find smokies on the northern Sugarloaves, so maybe it is in a similar matrix.

Chris, your Dad was right about "rotten rock"! I confirmed this with David Govatski in Jefferson, NH who is a noted naturalist and historian. He is retired from the US Forest Service where he worked as a Fire and Aviation Management Officer and Silviculturist.

Below is what David is quoted as saying about the grainy gravel that I photographed and posted from my trek to South Sugarloaf:

"This is called rotten rock (or rotten granite) and is a popular road building material in the Conway and Albany area. It also makes a wonderful trail surface if you can find enough of it. Another name is Grus which is a German name I believe. Feldspar is the glue that holds granite together and through weathering this feldspar is washed away and the grainy gravel is what you have left."

And, as to why the summit areas of Middle and North Sugarloaf appear different from the summit of nearby South Sugarloaf, here is what David had to say:

"Middle and North Sugarloaf are also Conway Granite but of a slightly different chemical composition that has better resisted the weathering. If you walk around the sides you will see many deposits of Grus also on these two mountains."

 

[Amicus]

I always enjoy your rambles to worthy parts hitherto unknown, to me anyway, and always well illustrated. I'm curious what led you to hike there from the road, rather than Middle Sugarloaf. Map study? A tip?

 

[1HappyHiker]

I always enjoy your rambles to worthy parts hitherto unknown, to me anyway, and always well illustrated. I'm curious what led you to hike there from the road, rather than Middle Sugarloaf. Map study? A tip?

Hey Mike . . . thanks for your reply!

There were a number of factors that led me to begin this whack from Zealand Road vs. whacking over from Middle Sugarloaf.
Whacking from the road is a slightly shorter distance, plus I think the woods are more open. However, the biggest factor for me was this. Along the way, I wanted to explore the eastern spur that comes off South Sugarloaf. There are some ledges along that spur which also offer some nice views. They are similar to the views from the top of South Sugarloaf, only from a lower elevation (below is a snapshot taken from this spur).

Subsequent to this bushwhack, I found out from David Govatski and Steve Smith that there are some rare Jack Pine trees on that eastern spur. As if I needed it, I now have an excuse to go back there and check that out!