As the DC area prepared for Hurricane Sandy, this weekend, my husband and I decided to go for a hike on Sugarloaf Mountain in Dickerson, MD (7901 Comus RoadDickerson, MD 20842) this weekend before the hurricane blew away all the pretty autumn leaves. Unfortunately, most of the leaves on Sugarloaf Mountain have already fallen, but it was still a beautiful day for a hike and we both enjoyed spending the time outside. We parked in the Westview Parking Lot and took the blue blazed Northern Peaks Trail until the intersection with the red blazed trail Monadnock Trail to go up to the summit. We spent some time at the summit admiring the views and then we backtracked down the red blazed trail back to the intersection with the blue blazed Northern Peaks Trail and continued hiking along the 5 mile Northern Peaks Trail and ended right back in the Westview Parking lot. Since most of the leaves have already fallen, it was difficult to see the trail at some points because the trails were entirely covered with leaves, which also made it slippery in some areas (there were some near falls). There were several nice overlooks like the one at White Rocks along the Northern Peaks Trail.
I’veheard that the orange blazed Sunrise Trail to the summit was the most challenging, but we opted to go on a longer hike this time and will likely try the orange blazed trail next time. The summit was very crowded with most people taking the steps (yes, actual stairs) up on the green blazed A. M. Thomas Trail.
View from the summit of Sugarloaf Mountain
On our way home, we stopped by
Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard (18125 Comus Road Dickerson, Maryland 20842), which was also pretty crowded. They have a nice outdoor area with tables and seating along with an indoor area for purchasing and enjoying wine and crackers and cheese. For $10, you can sample 8 of their wines in the outdoor patio before going inside to purchase wine.
Next, we stopped by
Comus Market (23830 Old Hundred Road Dickerson, MD 20842) to take a look at their many varieties of pumpkins and winter squash. They had a large selection of different kinds of pumpkins including Cinderella pumpkins, sugar pumpkins, blue pumpkins, peanut pumpkins, Fairytale pumpkins and much more. They also had a large selection of winter squash like butternut squash, acorn squash, spaghetti squash, turban squash and much more. We both had fun learning more about the different varieties of pumpkins and winter squash and how to cook them. My favorite was definitely the Cinderella pumpkin because it was so beautiful and also because it has a magical quality for me since I’m still a big kid who loves Cinderella and hasn’t outgrown Disney.
Comus Market
Pumpkins!
Winter Squash
Cinderella Pumpkin
It was another wonderful autumn Saturday before Hurricane Sandy!
The Adventurous Wife 