shamples
New member
Still waiting for snow and ice to melt on the big White Mountain peaks, so thought Sandwich Dome would be a good new trip to try.
Parked at Sandwich Mtn Tr/Drakes Brook Tr lot. First car in the lot at 7:45am.
8am - Got started and hiked with my 74 yr old ex father-in-law and made our way down to the first immediate river crossing on Sandwich Mtn Tr. No real easy way for him to get across not being the most agile person, so we backtracked to the road, down the road and picked up the herd path along the river to meet up with the trail on the other side of the river. Kind of a pain, but was easy enough.
9:15am - Hit Noon Pk and nice place for a snack break
10:20am - Jennings Peak
10:50am - Hit the junction with Drakes Brook Tr
11:15am - Peaked Sandwich Dome
Book Time is 3 hour 20 min but without the 0.2 spur up to Jennings Peak and the 0.2 back down. So the fact we added that and still came under book time at 3 hour, 15 min was nice.
After a sweet lunch break at the top,
Started descent at 11:40am
12:07pm - Back at the Drakes Brook junction (1.2 miles in 27 minutes I was very happy with!)
1:30pm - Back at the car via Drakes Brook Trail (3.2 miles in just over 1 hour 20 min... and with pitstop bushwack waterfall picture taking along Drakes Brook)
The 4.4 miles down in 1 hour 50 min, again, was very happy with.
I take my time going up and try to take snapshots along the way, but when its time to go down, I want to go and we motored. Machine-mode.
Drakes Brook Tr river crossing was easier than the one on Sandwich Mtn Tr. Lennys boots did land in the water making a jump for it, but I stayed dry atop the rocks. A little tricky though. All in all, 8.7 miles... maybe closer to 9 miles with the early walkaround with the road river crossing and herd path. Total time 5.5 hours.
Bummer this isn't considered a 4,000 footer since just misses, but I'll get to the end of that list eventually. I enjoy red-lining new hikes. I may need to do the Moats next before tackling the rest of the 4,000s I need (7 left I think?).
Great hike though. Only saw 4 people all day. 1 guy and 1 girl both trail running. And then one couple on the way down. Back at the car, noticed another car in the lot with a VFTT bumper sticker! Was excited for that.
No snow or ice anywhere. Sandwich Mtn Tr a very damp/soggy trail, but pretty cool. If you love moss, this is the trail for you! Which is why I loved it. Drakes Brook Tr much drier and more interesting with the many waterfalls and swimming holes. On a hot day, I would be fine just hiking in on Drakes Brook Tr for anywhere up to 2 miles in enjoying different swimming holes. There were more than a few sweet spots!
Happy Hiking!
Parked at Sandwich Mtn Tr/Drakes Brook Tr lot. First car in the lot at 7:45am.
8am - Got started and hiked with my 74 yr old ex father-in-law and made our way down to the first immediate river crossing on Sandwich Mtn Tr. No real easy way for him to get across not being the most agile person, so we backtracked to the road, down the road and picked up the herd path along the river to meet up with the trail on the other side of the river. Kind of a pain, but was easy enough.
9:15am - Hit Noon Pk and nice place for a snack break
10:20am - Jennings Peak
10:50am - Hit the junction with Drakes Brook Tr
11:15am - Peaked Sandwich Dome
Book Time is 3 hour 20 min but without the 0.2 spur up to Jennings Peak and the 0.2 back down. So the fact we added that and still came under book time at 3 hour, 15 min was nice.
After a sweet lunch break at the top,
Started descent at 11:40am
12:07pm - Back at the Drakes Brook junction (1.2 miles in 27 minutes I was very happy with!)
1:30pm - Back at the car via Drakes Brook Trail (3.2 miles in just over 1 hour 20 min... and with pitstop bushwack waterfall picture taking along Drakes Brook)
The 4.4 miles down in 1 hour 50 min, again, was very happy with.
I take my time going up and try to take snapshots along the way, but when its time to go down, I want to go and we motored. Machine-mode.
Drakes Brook Tr river crossing was easier than the one on Sandwich Mtn Tr. Lennys boots did land in the water making a jump for it, but I stayed dry atop the rocks. A little tricky though. All in all, 8.7 miles... maybe closer to 9 miles with the early walkaround with the road river crossing and herd path. Total time 5.5 hours.
Bummer this isn't considered a 4,000 footer since just misses, but I'll get to the end of that list eventually. I enjoy red-lining new hikes. I may need to do the Moats next before tackling the rest of the 4,000s I need (7 left I think?).
Great hike though. Only saw 4 people all day. 1 guy and 1 girl both trail running. And then one couple on the way down. Back at the car, noticed another car in the lot with a VFTT bumper sticker! Was excited for that.
No snow or ice anywhere. Sandwich Mtn Tr a very damp/soggy trail, but pretty cool. If you love moss, this is the trail for you! Which is why I loved it. Drakes Brook Tr much drier and more interesting with the many waterfalls and swimming holes. On a hot day, I would be fine just hiking in on Drakes Brook Tr for anywhere up to 2 miles in enjoying different swimming holes. There were more than a few sweet spots!
Happy Hiking!
