North Sugarloaf/South Sugarloaf 10/6/06
North Sugarloaf 2310’ and Middle Sugarloaf 2539’ in the Little River Mountains
3.4 Miles 1000’ Elevation gain
Kevin, Judy and Emma
On this trip we decided to camp at Sugarloaf 2 Campground on Zealand road off of Rte. 302 in Carroll near Bretton Woods. We had camped here 2 weeks previous for the first time on our trip to Mount Washington ascending the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail. Regrettably, we didn’t climb the Sugarloafs that trip. It is always a nice climb. It takes us about 35 minutes from our campsite to reach either summit and about 20 minutes in between at a casual pace. In winter you must ski or snowshoe in on Zealand Road which makes it slightly more difficult and adds a mile in and a mile out. The first mile in on Zealand Road is partly uphill, but that just means it’s downhill on the way out.
We love these hills, we have camped on their summits and watched sunset and moonrise in beautiful mountain scenery for very little effort. On previous trips we have climbed more than once and even more than once on the same day. The views of Washington and the surrounding Presidentials are fantastic from either summit. Also, the Rosebrooks, Mount Tom, Mount Hale and South Sugarloaf, then North Twin, can all be seen, gazing clockwise from Mount Washington. On this trip we took our supper to the summit. Another great thing about this location is there is a Quiznos a couple of miles west on Rte 302. If you’ve never had one you must try them. I could write another chapter about what their sandwiches mean to me. It’s a guy thing.
Anyway, we brought our sandwiches to the summit and watched the show as the sun went down in a beautiful blaze of orange, eventually morphing into magenta and staining the wispy clouds cotton candy pink. Almost simultaneous with the sun dropping below the purple stained mountains on the horizon, the old man in the moon crept up the sky behind Mount Washington like Kilroy hanging on a fence. While this was going on in the sky, the treetops below us caught the varying light in their boughs and reflected it back in stunning colors. Truly the “Magic Hour”. All the while there was barely a breath of wind so we were very comfortable.
As darkness fell and before the full moon was high enough to really light up the woods we made our way back down to the campground. Although we were warm when we were moving, when we stopped it was straight into the sleeping bags. That night there was a hard frost. Getting up to pee in the morning I decided “That’s it. I’m up now. I’m going to make some tea now.” The things I had left on the picnic table the night before, the coffee pot, the lighter, were now stuck to the picnic table and took a little extra effort to remove. The bottled water had a thick skim of ice on it. Luckily, the sun was bright for we had a long journey ahead of us that morning.
Read More3.4 Miles 1000’ Elevation gain
Kevin, Judy and Emma
On this trip we decided to camp at Sugarloaf 2 Campground on Zealand road off of Rte. 302 in Carroll near Bretton Woods. We had camped here 2 weeks previous for the first time on our trip to Mount Washington ascending the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail. Regrettably, we didn’t climb the Sugarloafs that trip. It is always a nice climb. It takes us about 35 minutes from our campsite to reach either summit and about 20 minutes in between at a casual pace. In winter you must ski or snowshoe in on Zealand Road which makes it slightly more difficult and adds a mile in and a mile out. The first mile in on Zealand Road is partly uphill, but that just means it’s downhill on the way out.
We love these hills, we have camped on their summits and watched sunset and moonrise in beautiful mountain scenery for very little effort. On previous trips we have climbed more than once and even more than once on the same day. The views of Washington and the surrounding Presidentials are fantastic from either summit. Also, the Rosebrooks, Mount Tom, Mount Hale and South Sugarloaf, then North Twin, can all be seen, gazing clockwise from Mount Washington. On this trip we took our supper to the summit. Another great thing about this location is there is a Quiznos a couple of miles west on Rte 302. If you’ve never had one you must try them. I could write another chapter about what their sandwiches mean to me. It’s a guy thing.
Anyway, we brought our sandwiches to the summit and watched the show as the sun went down in a beautiful blaze of orange, eventually morphing into magenta and staining the wispy clouds cotton candy pink. Almost simultaneous with the sun dropping below the purple stained mountains on the horizon, the old man in the moon crept up the sky behind Mount Washington like Kilroy hanging on a fence. While this was going on in the sky, the treetops below us caught the varying light in their boughs and reflected it back in stunning colors. Truly the “Magic Hour”. All the while there was barely a breath of wind so we were very comfortable.
As darkness fell and before the full moon was high enough to really light up the woods we made our way back down to the campground. Although we were warm when we were moving, when we stopped it was straight into the sleeping bags. That night there was a hard frost. Getting up to pee in the morning I decided “That’s it. I’m up now. I’m going to make some tea now.” The things I had left on the picnic table the night before, the coffee pot, the lighter, were now stuck to the picnic table and took a little extra effort to remove. The bottled water had a thick skim of ice on it. Luckily, the sun was bright for we had a long journey ahead of us that morning.
Emma is on alert when food is out.
