A trail with two different points of view, Sugarloaf Mountain – June 29

Here is Mike’s version:

Went up a very long, steep hill. Saw fog. Came down same very long steep hill. Had mud and bugs. I was the grumpy hiking partner . One of those hikes that didn’t do anything for me.

Ann’s version:

We thought the clouds/fog would lift off of Sugarloaf Mountain. We kept seeing blue sky teasing us, so decided to stick to our destination. We drove the 8.3 miles on Nash Stream Road, with the sun sometimes peeking out. Parked the car by a cabin and was immediately swarmed by gnats and mosquitoes.

We followed a grassy path until it viewed to the right and followed the Sugarloaf Mountain trail.

We had to keep moving because of the bugs. I tried to stop to snap a picture and even the camera was attacked.

Not much to say except follow this trail and just keep going up. The trail isn’t impressive. The steepness doesn’t stop and I had to motivate myself to reach one water division channel at a time. Stop at each one, catch breath, get to the next one. I ended up thinking this was just a workout hike, to keep me in a good mood. I could tell Mike wasn’t enjoying the trail.

Even in the mud section, where I swear the mud monster is lurking to suck your shoe off, you are going up. Walking through the mud avoiding this monster was a better way to go than rock hopping. The rocks were very slippery.

At 1.5 miles we reached the old fire warden’s hut, that is now a jumbled mess of wood and tin.

After this the forest transformed into a Boreal Forest. The trail was beautiful for the next .6 miles and the grade seemed a little easier.

I had a spring in my step, so we made good time to the summit.

We stood around and ate a few pieces of food quickly. The bugs at the summit didn’t take a break and we snapped a few pictures of the fog that surrounded us.

Down we went at a good clip. I tried to cheer up my grumpy hiking partner, told him we just had a great workout and it helps to look at it that way. Usually I’m the grumpy one, but I enjoyed battling the mud monster, laughing as he didn’t get my shoes and that kept my spirits light.

The Details: Park on Nash Stream Road in Stark. 4.1 miles, 2200 feet elevation gain. Total time was around 3 hours, 1 hour 6 mins. it took us to come down.

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June 30, 2013

Hiking in New Hampshire

Responses

1HappyHiker

June 30, 2013 at 9:09 am

Ann, for what it’s worth, I’ll chime in and say that my one and only hike to Sugarloaf was an experience that was nearly identical to yours. Perhaps I’ll make a return visit someday, but it’s not high on the list. 🙂

Despite the circumstances, you still managed to produce yet another report that was interesting and enjoyable to read.

John

Reply
1. hikergal
  
  July 1, 2013 at 5:40 am
  
  Thanks for the comments, John. We have the same feelings as you do, maybe someday we will return, but for now we will let it be. It was a great leg workout I will say.
  Ann
  
  Reply
traci

July 1, 2013 at 7:06 am

Hi, I like the map with changes in elevation gained. Can I ask how you did that ? Is that a program you can download ?…..

Reply
1. hikergal
  
  July 1, 2013 at 7:26 am
  
  Hi Traci,
  My husband does this using Garmin Basecamp. If you have a Garmin GPS it is free to download. He then takes a screenshot and saves it for me. Hope this helps. Thanks for reading the blog.
  Ann
  
  Reply
mtruman42

July 3, 2013 at 5:57 am

Finally getting caught up on my reading. This one gave me a laugh – two perspectives indeed. (Sorry, it’s not nice to laugh at someone else’s expense) 🙂

With the glowing endorsements from you and John this is surely a peak that will be high on our list to visit as we work through 52WAV 😉

I like the Basecamp elevation and 3D views. I use it occasionally, but haven’t fooled around with the 3D perspective. I usually pull my GPS track into Google Earth for the 3D views (which also allows the cool 3D flyover of the route). You can also do that by creating a track using the White Mountain Guide Online (www.wmgonline.org) and saving it as a GPX. I love that option for hike planning in the Whites. One can never have too many tools in the toolbox…

Mark

Reply
1. hikergal
  
  July 5, 2013 at 3:39 pm
  
  Mark,
  Thanks for the comment and it is ok to laugh. Mike never talks about writing on the blog, but we had reached the little beaten down shack and he recited his review of the hike. I did chuckle too. Though a few days later, he did say he would do it again, if someone wanted to do it and it was a clear day, shocked I was to hear that. So maybe if you ever want to do it and want some company, give us a call, maybe John will join us.
  
  I’ll get Mike on the WMG online, surprised Mr. Techie hasn’t discovered it yet. Thank you for telling me about it.
  
  Happy Hiking this summer,
  Ann
  
  Reply