marty
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- Apr 9, 2004
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I was hoping to do an nice hike with Ray, but his knee was still a bit off, so I decided to go solo. As I am no longer driven to hike by peak lists, I am doing some new hikes that are supposed to be good ones. I decided my first post-list hike would be Sandwich Dome.
Arrived at the trailhead and found no cars in the parking areas. Started hiking at 7:05 am on the Sandwich Mountain Trail. Conditions were cloudy, about 65 degrees, humid and a bit threatening. Crossed Drake's Brook easily and found the trail to be dry and in great condition. I started up what seemed to be a very steep climb up to Noons Peak. I was hiking at my fastest walking pace and got pretty winded after the first 1,000 feet or so in gain. Got to Noons Peak about 7:45 am and saw some hazy, but nice views of the Osceolas, Tripyramids and the valley from three different viewpoints. The trail got much easier after this. Took the Jennings Peak spur and got pretty much the same views, except that you could look straight down into the valley. I then headed up the final summit push. It got somewhat steep again, but it didn't seem to wind me this time. Hit the summit at 9:01 am. Found it empty and I still hadn't seen a soul so far. Views were still hazy and limited, but I still quite nice.
After spending 10 minutes on the summit area, I then decided to explore the Algonquin Trail a bit. After descending for 3 or 4 minutes, I got a nice view of the Lakes Region over the trees. Kept on for another 10 minutes or so, getting a view of Welch-Dickey and then turned around. I then headed down and decided to take Drake's Brook Trail for the descent.
I found Drake's Brook Trail to be a bit nicer than expected. After descending to 2,700 feet, a feeder brook and Drake's Brook itself became my constant companions. If I couldn't see them, I could certainly hear them at all times. Definitely a nice flow for having such dry conditions recently. There was one problem on this trail: black flies! There weren't many, but they were annoying. Sprayed on some Ben's 30% Deet. No effect. I then fished some Sawyer's Broad Spectrum out of bottom of my pack. That did the trick! My last resort would have been head net, but it was against my principles to wear one in the second half of August....
At about 2,000 feet, I finally ran into some people, a couple hiking up Drake's. They were the only people I saw the entire hike! Who says you're never alone in the White Mountains? Chatted with them for a minute and then crossed Drake's Brook (easy) and got to the truck at 11:15 am. Found the parking lot packed. I guess everyone either headed up Sandwich Mt. Trail after I did, or went to Fletcher's Cascades, which are off the Drake's Brook Trail.
The Sandwich Dome loop is an excellent hike and combined with a side trip down Algonquin, it was a nice workout. I highly recommend it!
Marty
Arrived at the trailhead and found no cars in the parking areas. Started hiking at 7:05 am on the Sandwich Mountain Trail. Conditions were cloudy, about 65 degrees, humid and a bit threatening. Crossed Drake's Brook easily and found the trail to be dry and in great condition. I started up what seemed to be a very steep climb up to Noons Peak. I was hiking at my fastest walking pace and got pretty winded after the first 1,000 feet or so in gain. Got to Noons Peak about 7:45 am and saw some hazy, but nice views of the Osceolas, Tripyramids and the valley from three different viewpoints. The trail got much easier after this. Took the Jennings Peak spur and got pretty much the same views, except that you could look straight down into the valley. I then headed up the final summit push. It got somewhat steep again, but it didn't seem to wind me this time. Hit the summit at 9:01 am. Found it empty and I still hadn't seen a soul so far. Views were still hazy and limited, but I still quite nice.
After spending 10 minutes on the summit area, I then decided to explore the Algonquin Trail a bit. After descending for 3 or 4 minutes, I got a nice view of the Lakes Region over the trees. Kept on for another 10 minutes or so, getting a view of Welch-Dickey and then turned around. I then headed down and decided to take Drake's Brook Trail for the descent.
I found Drake's Brook Trail to be a bit nicer than expected. After descending to 2,700 feet, a feeder brook and Drake's Brook itself became my constant companions. If I couldn't see them, I could certainly hear them at all times. Definitely a nice flow for having such dry conditions recently. There was one problem on this trail: black flies! There weren't many, but they were annoying. Sprayed on some Ben's 30% Deet. No effect. I then fished some Sawyer's Broad Spectrum out of bottom of my pack. That did the trick! My last resort would have been head net, but it was against my principles to wear one in the second half of August....
At about 2,000 feet, I finally ran into some people, a couple hiking up Drake's. They were the only people I saw the entire hike! Who says you're never alone in the White Mountains? Chatted with them for a minute and then crossed Drake's Brook (easy) and got to the truck at 11:15 am. Found the parking lot packed. I guess everyone either headed up Sandwich Mt. Trail after I did, or went to Fletcher's Cascades, which are off the Drake's Brook Trail.
The Sandwich Dome loop is an excellent hike and combined with a side trip down Algonquin, it was a nice workout. I highly recommend it!
Marty
Last edited:
Great report.
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