jake L.
New member
Getting up to this neck of the woods is always quite a haul for me, living in the Sebago Lake region, but this time I was able to stay in Berlin at a friends house. My two brothers and I arrived later Friday evening in Berlin and enjoyed a very boisterous game of Scrabble accompanied with pizza from Tony's and a few Moat Mountain growlers. We awoke early the next morning to spot cars at either end of our trek and headed North to Millbrook Road. About a mile down the dirt road we were treated to a glimpse of an adult male black bear standing upright off to the roadside and watched as he ran away into the woods, cool! There were two piles of broken glass at the trailhead and we decided to park the car a bit further down the road and just left the doors unlocked. We continued on to Star King Road and had boots on the ground at about 9AM.
The hike up Star King was pleasant and we saw just a few other hikers as we neared the top. From the view point very impressive thunder heads could be seen building over the presidentials and hoped these would not reach us until much later. A quick walk brought us to the summit of Waumbek and a friendly grouse (rare indeed) taking a dust bath. We left the summit heading across the Weeks and would not see another hiker until reaching Cabot the following day. The Kilkenny Ridge was a spectacular, fern laden stroll and the weather was holding up wonderfully! Stopping at the top of North Weeks we all enjoyed some lunch but the insects didn't allow for much inactivity, so off we went making our way down into Willard Notch to spend the night. It took a little hunting to find a nice spot to camp and a clean stream but we found both on the unmaintained section of the York Pond Trail. Tents were pitched just as an impressive thunder storm broke and we quickly donned rain gear to start preperations for dinner. After some time looking for an appropriate place to hang a bear bag, everyone was quickly off to bed for an early night.
The rain continued much of the night but we awoke to find clear, blue skies and warm Sun. We zig zagged up Terrace Mtn. and had a nice view of Mt. Cabot. It was a fast, steep ascent to the ledge that overlooked the Weeks and Waumbek and were quickly at the cabin for lunch. Cabot's summit "nook" was cozy with the four of us squeezed together so we wasted no time in proceeding to The Bulge and Horn. I am always impressed by the astounding views from The Horn and today was no exception. We spent a very long time here, just enjoying our surroundings, but eventually had to think about our departure and the last section of trail past Unknown Pond. The last four miles slid by and in no time reached the car just as we left it...whew!
Pictures below:
The hike up Star King was pleasant and we saw just a few other hikers as we neared the top. From the view point very impressive thunder heads could be seen building over the presidentials and hoped these would not reach us until much later. A quick walk brought us to the summit of Waumbek and a friendly grouse (rare indeed) taking a dust bath. We left the summit heading across the Weeks and would not see another hiker until reaching Cabot the following day. The Kilkenny Ridge was a spectacular, fern laden stroll and the weather was holding up wonderfully! Stopping at the top of North Weeks we all enjoyed some lunch but the insects didn't allow for much inactivity, so off we went making our way down into Willard Notch to spend the night. It took a little hunting to find a nice spot to camp and a clean stream but we found both on the unmaintained section of the York Pond Trail. Tents were pitched just as an impressive thunder storm broke and we quickly donned rain gear to start preperations for dinner. After some time looking for an appropriate place to hang a bear bag, everyone was quickly off to bed for an early night.
The rain continued much of the night but we awoke to find clear, blue skies and warm Sun. We zig zagged up Terrace Mtn. and had a nice view of Mt. Cabot. It was a fast, steep ascent to the ledge that overlooked the Weeks and Waumbek and were quickly at the cabin for lunch. Cabot's summit "nook" was cozy with the four of us squeezed together so we wasted no time in proceeding to The Bulge and Horn. I am always impressed by the astounding views from The Horn and today was no exception. We spent a very long time here, just enjoying our surroundings, but eventually had to think about our departure and the last section of trail past Unknown Pond. The last four miles slid by and in no time reached the car just as we left it...whew!
Pictures below:
