Jazzbo
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2005
- Messages
- 1,197
- Reaction score
- 163
Parking lot for Sandwich Mt Trail is plowed. I made it up to top lot, but someone in a Saab could not. The Drakes Brook crossing was ice bridged and not a problem. In general the trails are well packed and sort of bony. There was 2-3 inches of fresh powder on top of the hard pack. Sandwich Mt Trail has some extremely steep pitches just below Noone Peak. These were really icy. I was glad I had my crampons on. They were border line for Hillsounds. Microspikes would have been just plain bad.
Once past Noone Peak one could bare boot, but I kept the crampons on since they make climbing the occasional steep pitch easy. There was some light drifting in spots. I appeared to be the only person who took this route today.
Jennings Peak and clear cold skies made for wonderful views in many directions.
The descent via Drakes Brook was a piece of cake trail and uneventful. I met a party of 2 coming up Drakes Brook Trail who planning to hike Jennings Peak and descend via Sandwich Mt Trail. I cautioned against descending via Sandwich Mt trail as they didn't really have any traction except for some low budget snowshoes. I hope they took my advice. This crossing of Drakes Brook was also ice bridged and easy.
Once past Noone Peak one could bare boot, but I kept the crampons on since they make climbing the occasional steep pitch easy. There was some light drifting in spots. I appeared to be the only person who took this route today.
Jennings Peak and clear cold skies made for wonderful views in many directions.
The descent via Drakes Brook was a piece of cake trail and uneventful. I met a party of 2 coming up Drakes Brook Trail who planning to hike Jennings Peak and descend via Sandwich Mt Trail. I cautioned against descending via Sandwich Mt trail as they didn't really have any traction except for some low budget snowshoes. I hope they took my advice. This crossing of Drakes Brook was also ice bridged and easy.
