BIGEarl
Well-known member
June 25, 2011: Cabot and Waumbek
Trails: Two Hikes…
Cabot: York Pond Trail, Bunnell Notch Trail, Kilkenny Ridge Trail
Waumbek: Starr King Trail
Summits: Cabot and Waumbek
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me
Our Rule #1 of day hikes: Hike time must exceed drive time. For Sue, the round trip to Cabot is ~9 hours. We needed at least 9 hours of hike time for the day. Individually, each hike comes up short. Together, we’ve got the drive time covered. The plan was simple; hike Cabot from York Pond Road, hike Waumbek via Starr King Trail, go home.
Because the weather forecast wasn’t good, we decided to hike Cabot (the most inconvenient target) first in case we were forced to bail on the afternoon hiking. The drive to the trailhead was more entertaining than usual. As we were coming into Twin Mountain we saw a family of turkeys on the side of the road. There were two adults and approximately 15 – 20 young ones. We stopped beside them for a quick look and some of the young ones demonstrated their ability to fly, roughly three feet at a time. Next, we had passed the buildings at the Berlin Fish Hatchery and driving beside one of the ponds. I noticed the surface of the water next to the road was upset but couldn’t see anything causing the action. Something said watch the mirror. As soon as we passed the area a moose jumped onto the road behind us after his morning swim. Of course, we stopped and watched for a while.
The trailhead lot on York Pond Road was empty when we arrived. With the day’s weather forecast that wasn’t surprising. In fact, everything was dry, we had clouds, high humidity, but no rain. As we prepared to get started another vehicle pulled in a left, we later found it parked in the end of the trail area further out York Pond Road.
York Pond Trail to Bunnell Notch and on to Kilkenny Ridge Trail is in pretty good shape. There is less mud than I’ve previously seen but there are a few blowdowns. All of the blowdowns block the trail and are the walk-around variety. They’re not tough to get past. Roughly half way to the trails junction with the Kilkenny Ridge Trail we were passed by a group of four and we met two others. The trail section leading to Mt. Cabot Trail is usually loaded with mud but it isn’t as bad as usual, but it’s still pretty muddy. There are a couple places along this section where views to the west can be pretty nice, not today.
We made the turn onto Mt. Cabot Trail and started the 1.4 mile climb to the summit. This upper part of the climb to Mt. Cabot was generally dry. Along the way is the spur to Bunnell Rock and some views. We decided to wander out to see if there was anything worth seeing. A few holes in the clouds allowed occasional views but the upper clouds and undercast generally limited visibility to a couple miles. Soon, others arrived and we continued on the climb. A short distance below the Cabot Cabin we were passed by another pair of hikers. Evidently they decided to make a short stop at the cabin and we re-passed them there.
Between Cabot Cabin and the summit is a blowdown mess. There is a stretch of a couple hundred yards where the trail is blocked in multiple places. Paths are becoming established through the brush and around the downed trees. This area will take a pretty good effort to open back up. Before long we reached the summit sign, got our usual pictures, and made the u-turn. We knew our start was later than planned and decided to try and make up some of the lost time on the hike back to the trailhead. Our exit hike was fairly quick with very few stops. Back on York Pond Road there were a number of vehicles at the side of the road near the trail exit and a few more in the actual hiking parking area. In the course of the hike we met twelve others also ignoring the weather predictions and enjoying a nice day in the woods. We wasted no time is getting our things loaded and taking off for our afternoon hike. Maybe we can gain a little time on the drive to Jefferson.
By the time we were back on pavement the refreshments were spread out for our lunch on-the-run; Gatorade, cookies, and other similar high-energy happy food. We made one quick stop on the way through Berlin and managed to pick up a little time on the trip to the trailhead for Starr King Trail. Parking wasn’t a problem; the few vehicles that were still there and the way they were parked suggested a full house existed earlier, but now it was getting late.
We topped off our water supplies and started up. Over the first couple miles we met quite a few others on their exit hikes; that’s what a late start gets. The afternoon conditions were great; sunny with a light breeze. By the time we approached the traverse into the conifers we had the place to ourselves. Starr King Trail is similar to the trails on Cabot; much drier than expected. There’s mud but not nearly the amount we have experienced in the past. The heat and humidity of the day had done a job on both of us and we were trying to continue loading up with fuel and raise our energy levels. Somewhere near the spring a short distance below the summit of Starr King Sue said she was feeling pretty good, again. That means good old Earl is about to get his butt kicked. I was doing okay while Sue was dragging but things were about to change.
The upper part of the climb to Starr King went better after the spring. We generally found a pace that was acceptable to Sue and comfortable to me and we just hiked from stop to stop (every few hundred yards). Near the summit we started into the cloud layer and then made the final climb to the top. We made a short stop at the fireplace for refreshment and were soon on the hike to the summit of Waumbek.
The final mile across the ridge to Waumbek went quickly and we were soon at the summit cairn taking pictures. While we were there another hiker arrived, visited for a couple minutes, commented about not having a headlight, and took off for the trailhead. I was pretty sure we would need our headlights before reaching the trailhead. We made the u-turn and were on our exit run.
The return hike was completely as expected. We cleared Starr King and started the general descent. A short distance before leaving the conifers and going back into the hardwoods we pulled out our headlights for the remainder of the distance. At the trailhead we again met the hiker that we saw on the summit of Waumbek. Evidently, she intended to spend the night in the area, perhaps at the trailhead.
It was a good news-bad news ending to the day. Bad news: We started late and were still late. Good news: We didn’t lose additional time in the course of the day. Overall it was a good day. The forecast including 70% probability of rain and thunder storms didn’t materialize and we were able to get both planned hikes completed, and stay dry.
Soon we were packed and on the highway south with refreshments to enjoy on the way.
Thanks Sue, it was another fun double hit & run.
I’ve posted some pictures from the day.
BIGEarl's Pictures
Straight to the slideshow
Trails: Two Hikes…
Cabot: York Pond Trail, Bunnell Notch Trail, Kilkenny Ridge Trail
Waumbek: Starr King Trail
Summits: Cabot and Waumbek
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me
Our Rule #1 of day hikes: Hike time must exceed drive time. For Sue, the round trip to Cabot is ~9 hours. We needed at least 9 hours of hike time for the day. Individually, each hike comes up short. Together, we’ve got the drive time covered. The plan was simple; hike Cabot from York Pond Road, hike Waumbek via Starr King Trail, go home.
Because the weather forecast wasn’t good, we decided to hike Cabot (the most inconvenient target) first in case we were forced to bail on the afternoon hiking. The drive to the trailhead was more entertaining than usual. As we were coming into Twin Mountain we saw a family of turkeys on the side of the road. There were two adults and approximately 15 – 20 young ones. We stopped beside them for a quick look and some of the young ones demonstrated their ability to fly, roughly three feet at a time. Next, we had passed the buildings at the Berlin Fish Hatchery and driving beside one of the ponds. I noticed the surface of the water next to the road was upset but couldn’t see anything causing the action. Something said watch the mirror. As soon as we passed the area a moose jumped onto the road behind us after his morning swim. Of course, we stopped and watched for a while.
The trailhead lot on York Pond Road was empty when we arrived. With the day’s weather forecast that wasn’t surprising. In fact, everything was dry, we had clouds, high humidity, but no rain. As we prepared to get started another vehicle pulled in a left, we later found it parked in the end of the trail area further out York Pond Road.
York Pond Trail to Bunnell Notch and on to Kilkenny Ridge Trail is in pretty good shape. There is less mud than I’ve previously seen but there are a few blowdowns. All of the blowdowns block the trail and are the walk-around variety. They’re not tough to get past. Roughly half way to the trails junction with the Kilkenny Ridge Trail we were passed by a group of four and we met two others. The trail section leading to Mt. Cabot Trail is usually loaded with mud but it isn’t as bad as usual, but it’s still pretty muddy. There are a couple places along this section where views to the west can be pretty nice, not today.
We made the turn onto Mt. Cabot Trail and started the 1.4 mile climb to the summit. This upper part of the climb to Mt. Cabot was generally dry. Along the way is the spur to Bunnell Rock and some views. We decided to wander out to see if there was anything worth seeing. A few holes in the clouds allowed occasional views but the upper clouds and undercast generally limited visibility to a couple miles. Soon, others arrived and we continued on the climb. A short distance below the Cabot Cabin we were passed by another pair of hikers. Evidently they decided to make a short stop at the cabin and we re-passed them there.
Between Cabot Cabin and the summit is a blowdown mess. There is a stretch of a couple hundred yards where the trail is blocked in multiple places. Paths are becoming established through the brush and around the downed trees. This area will take a pretty good effort to open back up. Before long we reached the summit sign, got our usual pictures, and made the u-turn. We knew our start was later than planned and decided to try and make up some of the lost time on the hike back to the trailhead. Our exit hike was fairly quick with very few stops. Back on York Pond Road there were a number of vehicles at the side of the road near the trail exit and a few more in the actual hiking parking area. In the course of the hike we met twelve others also ignoring the weather predictions and enjoying a nice day in the woods. We wasted no time is getting our things loaded and taking off for our afternoon hike. Maybe we can gain a little time on the drive to Jefferson.
By the time we were back on pavement the refreshments were spread out for our lunch on-the-run; Gatorade, cookies, and other similar high-energy happy food. We made one quick stop on the way through Berlin and managed to pick up a little time on the trip to the trailhead for Starr King Trail. Parking wasn’t a problem; the few vehicles that were still there and the way they were parked suggested a full house existed earlier, but now it was getting late.
We topped off our water supplies and started up. Over the first couple miles we met quite a few others on their exit hikes; that’s what a late start gets. The afternoon conditions were great; sunny with a light breeze. By the time we approached the traverse into the conifers we had the place to ourselves. Starr King Trail is similar to the trails on Cabot; much drier than expected. There’s mud but not nearly the amount we have experienced in the past. The heat and humidity of the day had done a job on both of us and we were trying to continue loading up with fuel and raise our energy levels. Somewhere near the spring a short distance below the summit of Starr King Sue said she was feeling pretty good, again. That means good old Earl is about to get his butt kicked. I was doing okay while Sue was dragging but things were about to change.
The upper part of the climb to Starr King went better after the spring. We generally found a pace that was acceptable to Sue and comfortable to me and we just hiked from stop to stop (every few hundred yards). Near the summit we started into the cloud layer and then made the final climb to the top. We made a short stop at the fireplace for refreshment and were soon on the hike to the summit of Waumbek.
The final mile across the ridge to Waumbek went quickly and we were soon at the summit cairn taking pictures. While we were there another hiker arrived, visited for a couple minutes, commented about not having a headlight, and took off for the trailhead. I was pretty sure we would need our headlights before reaching the trailhead. We made the u-turn and were on our exit run.
The return hike was completely as expected. We cleared Starr King and started the general descent. A short distance before leaving the conifers and going back into the hardwoods we pulled out our headlights for the remainder of the distance. At the trailhead we again met the hiker that we saw on the summit of Waumbek. Evidently, she intended to spend the night in the area, perhaps at the trailhead.
It was a good news-bad news ending to the day. Bad news: We started late and were still late. Good news: We didn’t lose additional time in the course of the day. Overall it was a good day. The forecast including 70% probability of rain and thunder storms didn’t materialize and we were able to get both planned hikes completed, and stay dry.
Soon we were packed and on the highway south with refreshments to enjoy on the way.
Thanks Sue, it was another fun double hit & run.
I’ve posted some pictures from the day.
BIGEarl's Pictures
Straight to the slideshow
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