I am enjoying my week off immensely. Bad weather gave me the opportunity to catch up on some housework yesterday, today I was ready to get back into the mountains. Laura invited me along with her hiking buddy, Kristin, to Middle Sugarloaf on the 52WAV. This is about the only one I have left, I felt confident enough to do with my lack of fitness and Winter conditions right now. The rest are a bit above where I feel my fitness level is, particularly in Winter. Vanessa decided to join us also, so we had a great crew going. Kristin was a ton of fun and I was happy to meet her after hearing so much from Laura over the past few months. We met at the Winter parking for the Sugarloaves, which is a snowmobile lot on Rt 302 in Twin Mountain, just a little ways down from Zealand Road. In season, you can drive down Zealand Road and park right near the actual trailhead. During Winter, Zealand Road is gated closed, so one must walk 1.3 miles from Rt 302 to the trailhead. It took us a while to get all our gear together, we decided to carry snowshoes just in case. The road walk up Zealand Road is an easy walk with a bit of incline right off the bat before easing off. It's relatively groomed as it's a popular back country ski route. The Sugarloaf Trailhead is just over the bridge and begins by following the river for a couple tenths. It was so beautiful with all the snow. Thankfully it was never deep enough to be an issue, and had been well packed before us, that we were able to just keep our spikes on for the entire hike. In fact, Kristin barebooted, so really great conditions. At about 3 tenths in, the Trestle Trail continues straight ahead and the Sugarloaf Trail bears left. At only roughly a mile from here to the next intersection, it's a short hike, but packs a decent punch, climbing most of the way. Nothing crazy or technical, just a good old fashioned slog up the mountain. We stopped many times to take breather breaks, layer up and down as we got hot and cold or just chat and take pictures of the beautiful scenery around us. Once at the intersection, we decided to do North Sugarloaf first. Not on any lists, we figured we'd bag the summit anyway while we were so close. The trail descends a little before climbing up through some boulders and to the summit. The views across to the Presidentials are incredible, though somewhat restricted with tree growth. We enjoyed a quick snack before descending and heading over to Middle Sugarloaf. I had read about a ladder right before the summit, which had me a bit nervous in Winter. Turns out it's more of a steep staircase, and although snow covered, posed no issue in ascending and before you know it, the ledges open up and the views are all around. I can see why it is on the 52 With a View list. We enjoyed lunch and the views for quite a while. Amazingly, we had the summit all to ourselves, except for a couple who were already there, but left shortly after we arrived. I have read in Summer on a bluebird day, this summit can seem like an interstate highway with a constant stream of people coming and going, so we definitely took advantage of the peace and serenity of the day. Once we all started to get a bit chilly, we geared back up and headed back down, making good time and passing a couple more groups on their ascent. Back on the road, a couple of back country skiers passed us coming from further up Zealand Road, otherwise an uneventful trip back to the car. We were all definitely very tired, but agreed that the day was one of the best.
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