The temperature was 13 degrees and windy when I was pulling out of my driveway at 5:30 AM to meet my cousins for a hike up Mt. Israel.
We met up in Concord NH and then traveled to Sandwich New Hampshire. The trail head is near the Historic Sandwich Notch Road and located at the Mead Center.
At the Mead Center there is a good sized parking lot that would hold 20 or so cars. We got there early and there was only one other car in the lot. The temp had risen to 24 degrees at this point but the winds had picked up.
| Date: | 3-6-2021 |
| Location: | Sandwich, NH |
| Distance: | 4.16 mi |
| Elevation Gain: | 1,653′ |
| Total Time: | 6 hr 9 min |
| Parking: | 10+ cars |
| Difficultly Rating: | Moderate |
The trail starts out moderate and then gets a little steeper as we climbed the mountain. We brought snow shoes with us but the trail was well packed and micro spikes were all that we need.
I’ve always liked the Sandwich Wilderness. This area some some gigantic old growth trees still in it. These are some of the larges Birch, Maple and Oak trees I’ve ever seen. It is always a treat to see such an old tree still thriving in our state.
All the way up we were able peak through the trees and see a few views. As we got close to the summit there are some ledges with a fine view of Red Oak Hill and the fire tower, Lake Winnipesaukee and Squam Lake.
We continued up to the first “false” summit. As soon as we stepped into the opening the winds blasted us with some freezing mountain air. We stayed long enough for a few pics before moving on to the real summit.
When we arrived at the summit of Mt. Israel there was only one other person there. And they did not stay very long. It was real cold with the wind.
The gentleman was kind enough to take a photo for us but then he headed back. And I didn’t blame him. It was windy. I took my glove off for a few seconds to take some pics and my hands started freeze.
We decided to head back ourselves. We continued down the mountain to the first lookout and decided to have some lunch and some warm coffee. We all felt good after some food and warm drinks.
We continued down back to the parking lot. When we got back the lot was pretty full. A few cars even got stuck parking on some of the snow.
This was a beautiful day. It was cold but if you kept moving it was ok. It seemed like a lot of people chose to hike Mt. Israel this day. We met a lot of friendly people along the trail.
This is a great hike. This was my second time summiting this mountain and I’m sure I will return another day. Perhaps from the other side.
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