WeRmudfun
New member
The plan was to hike the Twins and possibly Galehead, until we heard the winds that were forecasted (50+ MPH sustained), so we chose to hike up Mt. Waumbek instead of an open summit. We got off to a later start than we normally do, but were still surprised at the amount of cars parked at the trailhead, we got there about 9:30AM. We last climbed Waumbek in Nov of 2011, and only ran across one other couple.
The first thing we noticed was that the beginning of the Starr King Trail was moved since our last visit. After an easy little hike, we came up to the old well. We also saw the other well, a little further up, we missed that one the first time. By the time we got to the spring, we had come across a lot of little flowing areas of water, but the runoffs were doing their job. The trail itself was in good shape, there were signs of mud though. As we got further up the trail, especially between, Starr King and Waumbek, the mud was significant in places. To be fair, it poured all day on Friday, we were expecting it.
The trail will have you in the woods for most of the trip. There are not many views until you hit the old lodge/shelter area, where only the fireplace remains, on Starr King. We had heard there were views and were looking forward to seeing them, as the last time we were there, we saw no views. Made us wonder how it was on the 52 with a View list the first time. The views themselves were not bad, but there were clouds resting on the peaks.
The mile hike over to Waumbek was pretty much uneventful, it heads down, levels for a bit, then climbs to the summit. We didn’t find any of the hike to be too hard, the GreyJays were even quiet. We saw one, but as we tried to share some trail mix, it was startled by another hiker and took off. Ms. Brandi got to play with another pup on the summit of Waumbek . #8 for Ms Brandi. There is a tribute to Army Specialist William J Tracy with a US flag at the summit. He was killed in action. We are thankful for his service and our thoughts go out to his family.
On the way back over to Starr King, we passed a lot of other hikers heading to Waumbek. It was a popular day for the mountain. We got back down to the trailhead at around 1:45PM. Not bad for 7.2 miles at our age. lol
As usual we take video and did post the adventure to YouTube, for anyone that might be interested in seeing how the hike looks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H2Mp1lzks8&feature=c4-overview&list=UUvonD5mWIH03yQY3eosLwcQ
The first thing we noticed was that the beginning of the Starr King Trail was moved since our last visit. After an easy little hike, we came up to the old well. We also saw the other well, a little further up, we missed that one the first time. By the time we got to the spring, we had come across a lot of little flowing areas of water, but the runoffs were doing their job. The trail itself was in good shape, there were signs of mud though. As we got further up the trail, especially between, Starr King and Waumbek, the mud was significant in places. To be fair, it poured all day on Friday, we were expecting it.
The trail will have you in the woods for most of the trip. There are not many views until you hit the old lodge/shelter area, where only the fireplace remains, on Starr King. We had heard there were views and were looking forward to seeing them, as the last time we were there, we saw no views. Made us wonder how it was on the 52 with a View list the first time. The views themselves were not bad, but there were clouds resting on the peaks.
The mile hike over to Waumbek was pretty much uneventful, it heads down, levels for a bit, then climbs to the summit. We didn’t find any of the hike to be too hard, the GreyJays were even quiet. We saw one, but as we tried to share some trail mix, it was startled by another hiker and took off. Ms. Brandi got to play with another pup on the summit of Waumbek . #8 for Ms Brandi. There is a tribute to Army Specialist William J Tracy with a US flag at the summit. He was killed in action. We are thankful for his service and our thoughts go out to his family.
On the way back over to Starr King, we passed a lot of other hikers heading to Waumbek. It was a popular day for the mountain. We got back down to the trailhead at around 1:45PM. Not bad for 7.2 miles at our age. lol
As usual we take video and did post the adventure to YouTube, for anyone that might be interested in seeing how the hike looks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H2Mp1lzks8&feature=c4-overview&list=UUvonD5mWIH03yQY3eosLwcQ
