WeRmudfun
New member
After RT 93 refused to let us go further than exit 27 the previous Sunday, we decided to go to exit 35 last Sunday and what a day it was. We had been looking at doing North and Middle Sugarloaf for a while now, but we are not huge fans of road walking and Zealand Rd is still closed. Friends of ours suggested taking an unofficial trail from the Twin Mountain Recreational Area. That trail eventually runs into the abandoned west side of the Sugarloaf Trail, so that was the plan.
We got to the Rec Area about 8:30AM and drove down the road/snowmobile path to find a spot closer to the beginning of the trail. After thinking about what the temps were predicted to be we turned around and parked closer to the rec area. Good thing too, because when we returned the snow was very soft and the parking lot was very muddy. We needed 4WD to get out.
We started our hike and took a right off the road and started on the unmarked trail. There is an old snowshoe path on it and it was solid enough to support us in just Microspikes, the sides on it though had deep postholes. Everything was going great until the first water crossing. When I say first, I mean it is the only one that we all remembered, if there was more, they didn’t stick in our minds like the first one did. Why you may wonder? Well let’s just say someone in our little group has a new trailname of ‘Scuba Diver’ now, yup there’s video.
Shortly after the swimming dip, we switched to snowshoes. We eventually came to the abandoned part of the Sugarloaf Trail where faint yellow blazes can still be seen. This part of the trail was abandoned in the 1970’s, but is still quite evident where it used to be. It wasn’t long then until we met up with the official Sugarloaf Trail.
We took left to North Sugarloaf and shortly after we put the Microspikes back on an wore them to the summit. The only tough spot was that short but steep ascent right before the summit as it was cover with ice. Having never been to these summits, we were amazed at the views for such minimal effort. We checked out both viewing areas and then headed over to Middle Sugarloaf.
The hike over to Middle was a nice hike, we stopped the trail junction going down to Zealand Road. Be forewarned that trail has a lot of postholing in it. When we got to the ladder, the original thought was to attempt it, that thought was short lived as it was covered in ice. Right now it is more of a hindrance then a help. Someone did find a way to get around it, so we went the same way. Once on the summit of Middle, it was easy to understand why that summit is on 52WAV. The views were incredible and the presidentials looked fantastic in their snowcap. We had a beautiful backdrop for our lunch.
One of the best things about the day IMHO, was that the 4 of us got to enjoy both of these great summits without another soul. We couldn't believe that we didn’t see anyone on either summit. As a matter of fact we only saw one other person with 2 dogs on the trail between the 2 summits.
In closing I just want to say that on the way out 'Scuba Diver' successfully made it across the 1st (or only) water crossing.
Anyone interested in our GPS track, it's here:
http://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=9379654
We got to the Rec Area about 8:30AM and drove down the road/snowmobile path to find a spot closer to the beginning of the trail. After thinking about what the temps were predicted to be we turned around and parked closer to the rec area. Good thing too, because when we returned the snow was very soft and the parking lot was very muddy. We needed 4WD to get out.
We started our hike and took a right off the road and started on the unmarked trail. There is an old snowshoe path on it and it was solid enough to support us in just Microspikes, the sides on it though had deep postholes. Everything was going great until the first water crossing. When I say first, I mean it is the only one that we all remembered, if there was more, they didn’t stick in our minds like the first one did. Why you may wonder? Well let’s just say someone in our little group has a new trailname of ‘Scuba Diver’ now, yup there’s video.
Shortly after the swimming dip, we switched to snowshoes. We eventually came to the abandoned part of the Sugarloaf Trail where faint yellow blazes can still be seen. This part of the trail was abandoned in the 1970’s, but is still quite evident where it used to be. It wasn’t long then until we met up with the official Sugarloaf Trail.
We took left to North Sugarloaf and shortly after we put the Microspikes back on an wore them to the summit. The only tough spot was that short but steep ascent right before the summit as it was cover with ice. Having never been to these summits, we were amazed at the views for such minimal effort. We checked out both viewing areas and then headed over to Middle Sugarloaf.
The hike over to Middle was a nice hike, we stopped the trail junction going down to Zealand Road. Be forewarned that trail has a lot of postholing in it. When we got to the ladder, the original thought was to attempt it, that thought was short lived as it was covered in ice. Right now it is more of a hindrance then a help. Someone did find a way to get around it, so we went the same way. Once on the summit of Middle, it was easy to understand why that summit is on 52WAV. The views were incredible and the presidentials looked fantastic in their snowcap. We had a beautiful backdrop for our lunch.
One of the best things about the day IMHO, was that the 4 of us got to enjoy both of these great summits without another soul. We couldn't believe that we didn’t see anyone on either summit. As a matter of fact we only saw one other person with 2 dogs on the trail between the 2 summits.
In closing I just want to say that on the way out 'Scuba Diver' successfully made it across the 1st (or only) water crossing.
Anyone interested in our GPS track, it's here:
http://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=9379654
