Well, it turns out that there is ANOTHER LIST (why am I not surprised), called New Hampshire's 52 With a View, and Sandwich Dome is on that list [Christmas present, anyone?] Although it was raining on Wednesday, the weather promised to be sunny and clear on Thursday. And this Loop hike (in blue) looks like it would match wonderfully with my previous hikes:
IT DID!
I wound up hiking 13.7 miles in 6 hours 40 minutes:
I went in for my Thursday Men's Breakfast in Boston, then headed north. Going down dirt road (Bennett St) in North Sandwich, New Hampshire at 11:15
and at the trailhead only a couple of minutes later:
Pretty pretty up here in the woods:
This trail is Flat Mountain Pond Trail, and after about 1/2 mile you take a right onto Bennett Street Trail - um, this doesn't look like Massachusetts:
You go up alongside pretty Pond Brook:
It was tricky, losing the trail once in a while in the snow. But it just kept going up along the stream, so I kept finding the trail again. Got to Great Falls at 12:15
15 minutes later, after making a left uphill, Bennett Street Trail crosses Flat Mountain Pond Trail:
(Looking behind me back down Bennett Street Trail):
From there it was 1 hour 40 minutes of up up up (well, there were a few flat parts) until I reached the summit at 2:09
Beautiful day, with excellent visibility, and plenty to see:
This is the Algonquin Trail, which runs southwest from Sandwich Dome. It is a high-altitude ridge trail (I LOVE THESE!!), and I am following 2 people (guys? girls?) that are just a little shorter than me (I keep hitting branches with snow, which goes down my back [only a little]). I hope I can catch up to them:
There is a nice cleared area just before Algonquin Trail intersects Black Mountain Pond Trail:
which has a great view down to Black Pond:
and other areas east:
and west:
Um - it is 3 PM and I have a LONG WAY DOWN, so those are the last photos of the day. The hike/climb down to Black Pond is insane, and you get a little bashed up no matter how careful you are. I was fast up top, and I will be fast down below, but during this stretch I am just crawling along.
After I am done with the "hard part", I'm moving pretty well, following the footprints ahead of me. Not dark yet, but I am beginning to lose light a little. I Thank God for these wonderful adventures, and I Thank God for the hikers ahead of me (angels?), and ask Him to Bless me, and Bless the hikers ahead of me!
It is about 5 PM when I catch-up to the 2 hikers (guys), just before intersecting the Guinea Pond Trail running northeast back to the parking area. They were putting on headlamps, but I didn't need mine just yet. We never even noticed Guinea Pond as we went around it, but at 5:30 came smack-dab against a huge beaver pond. While they explored off to the left, I took the opportunity to put on my headlamp (first time! - worked great), and then followed them around to the left, jumping from log-to-log and eventually getting back on the main trail, which is an old railroad bed, so it is pretty obvious. I really don't like hiking in the dark - the Cold River was just off down to our right - we could hear it, but we couldn't see a thing:
At one point I could tell that there were steep drop-offs on either side of us, but we couldn't appreciate it. Back to the parking area at 6:09, quick shaking hands (and congratulations all around), and then I hit the road for home - Home at 9, then Bed Bath and Beyond (well, actually bath and then bed). WOW - Thank you God for this Great Spur-of-the-Moment Day!
Staying in one of my mp3 cds that I burned back in September 2000:
Jimmy Buffett - Beach House on the Moon, 1999
Bruce Springsteen - Before the Fame, 1997 double album, now out-of-print
Until right now, I didn't know this was a bootleg. His very early demos - I really like "Prodigal Son" and "Zero and Blind Terry (Version1)".
The Byrds - Sweetheart of the Rodeo, 1968
The Eagles - Hotel California, 1976
Pat Metheny Group - Imaginary Day, 1997
It won the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album.
The Mahavishnu Orchestra (featuring John McLaughlin) - The Inner Mounting Flame, 1971 debut album
What a garbage album - perfect example of what was wrong with "jazz" in the late 60s and early 70s.
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II, 1969 second album
New Order - Power, Corruption & Lies, 1983 second album
great 80s band - I love the first song "Age of Consent"!
Shameless Plug: if you enjoy this blog, you may like my other one about visiting Art Museums and National Parks (and hiking in the Rockies)
hyperlink: dixonheadingwest
http://dixonheadingwest.blogspot.com/
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