After what seemed like the absolute longest week in the history of all time (welcome back to full weeks of work after the holidays; unprepared, guys, unprepared), I was oh so ready to have some peaceful mountain time this weekend.
Well...as peaceful as mountain time can be when it involves your five year old son. It was Breccan’s very first hike of the year and the first time in a while that I’ve taken the full squad which includes one small human and two mid-sized pooches. For anyone without kids or dogs, this can be...a lot.
Don’t get me wrong, I love that I’m able to share nature time with my son. It’s just a VERY different experience than the recharge I get when I hike with Charli. Even just adding Navi in the mix, a lot more of my time is spent making sure everyone isn’t careening off a cliff as opposed to enjoying my surroundings. And honestly, that’s why I hike alone (well, with Charli) so much. Charli is so well trained that I don’t need to worry about her and can let my mind quiet. Getting to really focus and experience nature has become invaluable to me, but again, family hikes are amazing, too. Just for completely separate reasons.
I let Breccan decide between three hikes Friday night and the Sugarloaf Mountain Trail won out. I think because Sugar loaf is a straight ridiculous name for a mountain. But I can’t be sure what goes on in the mind of a five year old.
We left late because mama needed her some sleep in time after the madness that was last week. When we arrived around 11, the parking lot was relatively empty. I think we ran into maybe three groups the entire time, which was a pleasant surprise given it was a Saturday.
Within about, oh, I’d say five minutes or so we had our first ice tumble and some tears ensued. He was a trooper though, and wanted to do the hike, so we made our way to what we thought was the trail head. It was not. The sign a different trail head is NOT where you want to go for this hike. It’s actually directly across the parking area. Thankfully, Alltrails once again saved the day and took us to a trail that was gated for vehicle access. This is where you want to go, but with the gate I wasn’t sure and we veered to the left and did the other side of a small loop, which you can do as well, it’s just quite snowy.
There were definitely times I questioned whether we were actually on the trail going up the left loop side. Realistically, I’m pretty sure there was a lot of the time we weren’t completely on point, but it’s such a short trail I wasn’t worried about it. It gets a little tricky with blown snow sometimes, and this trail definitely had some solid drift on this portion. We ended up meeting the area where the little loop merges (thanks again, AllTrails) and trekked onward.
If if you have spikes, there are definitely areas of the trail where they’d be extremely helpful. I didn’t wear mine and at some points had my son latched onto my arm to make sure he didn’t go full sendy on a slip n slide. What wasn’t icy was pretty rocky, so make sure to watch your step.
The hike had absolutely amazing views throughout. I don’t think I’ve done many hikes where I was constantly stopping just to take it all in so early on. As we walked, there was an area with a bench and beyond that a lot of gnarly, charred trees. Towards the summit the trail alternated ice and rock, so again, this isn’t a hike to zone out on.
Once we made it to the top, WOW. For only 439 feet of elevation gain, the 360 views were insane. We had the area to ourselves for a couple minutes and then a group of about five, very pleasant people summited as well. There’s a neat little area with a rock bench and we had a great time exploring after our snack/treat time. I was shocked, but there was no wind and the sun was shining, so we ended up hanging out at the top for an hour or so.
I didnt really want to leave because I was imagining what the sunset would be like up there....buttttt I don’t think my squad would’ve appreciated our extended stay. Definitely on my todo list for future hikes when I’m with adults or solo :). The hike back down was really slippery, but we managed to get down without any epic wipeouts. The whole trek ended up only being a bit under two miles, but it was an absolute blast. Will definitely be coming back when I can explore some of the other trails in that area as well.
Happy hiking 🏔❤✌🏼! #hiking #shehikes #mountains #family #trails #52hikechallenge
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