Today was attempt number two for this hike. Back in February, Right Turn and I had planned to do this hike, but couldn’t even get to the trailhead because of snow. It’s May now, and thankfully, the lot and road were clear. A couple other friends joined in.

We are finally in non-winter hiking, meaning I knew we wouldn’t need microspikes and the forecast at the base of the mountain was upper 60s/70s and still upper 50s at the summits.

Non-winter hiking also means flowers and mushrooms!

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The following mushroom pic gets notable mention only because we had to climb over this log that had fallen over the trail. The other three get over the log. It’s my turn and I look down and yell “MUSHROOM” because that’s how I roll.

The trail was quite steep in some places, and very rocky.

The first peak we hit was Noon Peak. Sadly for Noon Peak, it’s not on a list, and likely not talked about very often. But there was a nice little view.

Next up was Jennings Peak. My 20th 52 WAV peak. There is a lovely little ledge, where we stopped for lunch. You could look over and see where we were headed next.

The sun was out and it was pretty warm. I was sweating buckets and yet still saw a few remnants of ice on the trail. Sadly, I was warm enough to wonder how this pine-cicle might taste.

Then we were at Sandwich Dome summit. It has a small little open summit area, where we stopped for a few minutes. I changed clothes. I’ve been changing more and more pieces of clothing with every hike. It used to just be my shirt. Then it was my shirt and sports bra. This time I changed my shirt, sports bra, and socks. I’ll tell you when you’re hot and sweaty at the summit, it feels FANTASTIC changing into clean and dry clothes.

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We ascended via Sandwich Mountain Trail and descended via Drakes Brook Trail. Drakes Brook Trail was a lovely little trail that was longer, but more gradual, and (obviously?) followed along what I can only assume was Drakes Brook.

• Distance: 8.7 miles
• Elevation gain: 2,850 feet
• Total time: 7 hours, 36 minutes
• Moving time: 6 hours, 10 minutes