Last weekend I wanted to get in a nice fall foliage hike because everyone has been saying how nice the leaves are this year, but when it came down to it I couldn't stand the thought of the drive with all the leaf peepers. I saw some videos and it was a mob scene, so I was glad I hadn't gone, but I did want to get in some leaf peeping myself! As I often do, I decided that I would use the middle day of the long weekend for my hike so I could been the traffic. I woke up at 4:30 am with my fat cat sitting on my bladder, and decided that I would just get up and head out, even though I only got like 4 hours of sleep. This actually worked really well - I drove up in the dark for the most part, but there weren't a ton of people on the road. I had a good book to listen to, and it took less than two hours to get to the trailhead.
One thing that I like about this hike is that it's a loop hike, with the hardest part being the first mile and a half. The whole hike has about 2700 feet of elevation gain, and 1500 is in that first part. Also, there are three peaks, each with a nice (but not 360 degree) viewpoint, so you can stop several times to enjoy the view, and they are all a little different. Also, Sandwich Dome is 3993 feet tall, which means that it's a nice big hike with a high view, but it's just a few feet short of being a 4000 footer - I saw about a dozen people all day, I bet the 4000 footers were a mob scene.
Because I left so early I got to the parking lot at 7 am and started hiking at 7:15. All day I was impressed with how early I was! I got to the top of the first mountain, Noon Peak, a little after 9 and sat and ate a really delicious apple. I spent like 10 minutes or so enjoying the view before heading out. There is still almost 1500 feet of elevation gain after this point, so it's no joke, but it was much more reasonable in terms of elevation gain after Noon peak, and I got to the base of Jennings Peak pretty fast. It was still early for lunch, so I decided to continue to Sandwich Dome first and then hit Jennings on the way back - I remember Jennings having more space and a nicer view - which it did, so good to save for the end of the uphill.
Half of the walk to Jennings Peak was a nice ridgeline, which I enjoyed, and the other half was pretty uphill. I was starting to get hungry, so the uphill part was even slower going. I was so happy to get up to the top, stand on the cairn, and touch my poles to 4000 feet. I then sat down and had a power bar. While I was there another woman came along and she was eating nerds gummy clusters. I was like "I didn't know they still made nerds" and she offered me some, saying that they were the best hiking food, which they were. Basically solid sugar with crunch nerds on the outside and gooey red licorice on the inside. After hiking I stopped at the store for icecream, and Walgreens has them. That will be something for me for my next big hike!
Anyhow, I just sat there for a little bit before heading to Jennings. As I remembered, Jennings peak was really nice with a more expansive view of the valley. I sat and ate a sandwich and admired for a while. The hike down was really nice - there were a ton of leaves on the ground, which made it slower going, but also nice and crunchy. You have to go down 2700 feet, so there is obviously a lot of down hill, but it's pretty spaced out through the entire way down, so there are only a few spots where you have to figure out what you are going to do. The end is basically an unpaved road, which was pretty easy to walk. I finished the hike around 2 ish, which is so early for me. I decided to go to Waterville Valley town center because it's 4 minutes away, and I was thinking about a little dip in the pond there. There was a band playing there and a lot of people around, so I decided not to dip, but I did have a little bit to eat and changed clothes before heading out. It was a little trafficy on the way home, but not bad - no points where I was just sitting. Overall a good hike, still recommend as an alternative to a 4000 footer that is basically a 4000 footer. Really good for weekends when you know the other mountains will be crowded.
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