Ridgewalker
New member
There is a pleasure in the pathless woods;
There is a rapture on the lonely shore;
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and the music in its roar:
I love not man none the less, but Nature more…
Lord Byron
There is a rapture on the lonely shore;
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and the music in its roar:
I love not man none the less, but Nature more…
Lord Byron
The peak, Sandwich, is truly an underrated peak, even if someone decides to raise the cairn on the summit to make it the 49th peak to tackle on the list. The climb itself was indeed needed, for we all were trapped inside with the heat of the past week, and this Sunday climb was simply, just perfect.
Marty and I drove up the windy Sandwich Notch road, and chuckled at the one-lane bridge. We parked at Algonquin trailhead, and laced up our boots in youthful spirit. We wandered through the old logging road as we were shaded with mixed hardwoods. We bid goodbye to the gentle welcome of the trail and went up the stairs for the climb. We rose into the first rock slide and into the peaceful meadow and breathed the sweetness of the mountain laurel. The lichen iced the ground and the small balsam fir protected it, making for a lovely setting.
We went up the two steep pitches, and rising up, we were greeted by the day, with an incredible panorama. The vastness of the mountains was awe inspiring. The waves of peaks shaping into familiar friends of climbs past, with the roads of man’s work cutting way, and within our eyes could see the pristine wilderness of Black and Guinea Ponds. A lot of moose tracks were prevalent on the trail today. We could not complain of the mud or dicey stream crossings.
Rising on high, with the open rock, we gathered our breath, at the signpost announcing the last mile and three to the summit. Indeed, as we plodded along the PUD’s, I was wondering why this was so long, even after reading the books about it. I mentioned bluntly, “This is so long!” Indeed when climbing the last stretch of No. Twin, it seemed to be long.
Well, we made it, and parked on the summit, through the climb, we observed the changes in angles on the views, going to Chocorua, to the Presidentials, Camel’s Hump, and Monadnock. We turned around and heading down the Algonquin and Sandwich Mountain trails, and made a speedy descent, flying through the knowing of the ascent. We suggest the by-pass on the steep rocks going down, and otherwise, plan for a nice peaceful scene of descent.
Marty and I returned back to the little dirt parking ‘lot’ in about two hours, the ascent was about three. Thanks for a grand day out in the field!
--- I opted to scramble down from Algonquin on the craggy Black Mountain Pond trail to the Wilderness below. 
