BIGEarl
Well-known member
July 1, 2012: Waumbek
Trails: Starr King Trail
Summits: Waumbek
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me
It’s a new month and we’re working on cleaning up a new Grid list, and July’s is a short one. Our plans for the day included Waumbek in the morning and Tecumseh in the afternoon. We’ll be heading home from Waumbek and Tecumseh is on-the-way. Usually we don’t hike on Sunday. Mostly we hike on Saturday and our finishing time is less important. Sue needed an early wake-up for work on Monday and I was also looking at an early start to my Monday. We decided a return to Nashua by 7:00pm was our timing objective.
We arrived at the trailhead lot for Starr King Trail with several vehicles already there. We would eventually learn they were from people that had camped the night before. We enjoyed surprisingly bug-free final hike prep and were soon on our way.
The lower part of Starr King Trail had all of its usual muddy places but they seemed quite a bit drier than usual. Getting past them and staying clean wasn’t a problem but there were several places where the mud was very slippery and care was needed. We reached the turn away from the old logging road and left much of the mud. There were still a few wet places along the way to the turn into the conifers but most of the usual mud was no concern at all.
Hiking Starr King Trail in the fall or winter is a real treat because of the open nature of the trail. All of the leaves are down and the open hardwoods create a beautiful area. At this time of year it seems like a completely different trail. The area is not very open at all, the views are limited, and the sun is generally shaded from the canopy overhead. Even though what I see as the best features of the trail are gone right now it’s still a very pleasant hike.
Much quicker than expected, we made our way to the start of the traverse through the conifers. From here to the summits of Starr King and Waumbek the hiking conditions change very little through the year; very sheltered trail, dense conifers, and a well defined trail corridor. As we passed the spring I noticed it seemed to have a much stronger flow than usual; it looks like a pretty good water source this year. Next we passed through the small area of blowdowns and on to the summit of Starr King. We enjoyed clear trail for the full distance, no blowdowns, and the water bars all appeared to be in good shape.
The one mile trip to Waumbek from Starr King was more of the same; small amounts of mud but generally clear trail all the way across the short sheltered ridge walk to the summit. At Waumbek we met three others that evidently were backpacking in the area. After a short visit first two left and then a while later the final solo hiker set off. We hung around long enough for summit pictures and a snack. Soon, we made the u-turn and headed back out the way we hiked in.
On the way back to Starr King we passed the pair of backpackers we met on Waumbek but never saw the solo backpacker. Maybe we somehow passed him along the way. At Starr King we started running into additional hikers. There was a fairly steady stream of hikers all of the way back to the trailhead. Starr King Trail became a very busy place. Back to the trailhead and we found the solo backpacker loading his vehicle. He wasted no time in making his way back out. The trailhead lot was completely packed and there was a strong overflow of vehicles parked along both sides of the road approaching the lot.
Since we were on a self-imposed tight schedule we quickly packed and took off. Next stop – Tecumseh. The trip from Jefferson to Waterville Valley ski area went as expected with a quick stop at the Livermore trailhead on the way through. I needed to add water to my pack and we were ready to go. Generally on the late end of our planned schedule we were again hiking.
The Mt. Tecumseh Trail is clear and the relocated section down low is getting very well established. The old route is very heavily blocked with brush. There are new blazes and other markings at the lower crossing of Tecumseh Brook which should remove some of the confusion about the route of the trail. The old road that continues straight along the right bank of Tecumseh Brook from the lower crossing has been blocked with brush and other natural debris. We made the crossing and kept moving.
The day was pretty warm and the humidity seemed very high. A while after the lower crossing the day’s conditions started to register with me. I’m not sure what happened but suddenly I had my hands full; my balance was questionable and I found myself relying on my poles much more than usual, I was perspiring much more than usual, and I was feeling generally weak. I had a quick bio break, took in quite a bit of water and a shot block, and continued to catch up with Sue. Back together I told Sue what was going on. We stopped to rest for a while. Eventually a couple things occurred to me; I was pretty sure we could make it to the summit, I was also pretty sure it would take a very long time with the stops that would be needed.
After discussing it for a while we bailed. There was no need to force it. If we continued with the hike, both of us would pay a price the next day. We will come back and get our “July Tecumseh” another day. After all, it’s almost always on-the-way.
Sorry Sue, next time we’ll finish what we start.
Pictures will follow.
Trails: Starr King Trail
Summits: Waumbek
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me
It’s a new month and we’re working on cleaning up a new Grid list, and July’s is a short one. Our plans for the day included Waumbek in the morning and Tecumseh in the afternoon. We’ll be heading home from Waumbek and Tecumseh is on-the-way. Usually we don’t hike on Sunday. Mostly we hike on Saturday and our finishing time is less important. Sue needed an early wake-up for work on Monday and I was also looking at an early start to my Monday. We decided a return to Nashua by 7:00pm was our timing objective.
We arrived at the trailhead lot for Starr King Trail with several vehicles already there. We would eventually learn they were from people that had camped the night before. We enjoyed surprisingly bug-free final hike prep and were soon on our way.
The lower part of Starr King Trail had all of its usual muddy places but they seemed quite a bit drier than usual. Getting past them and staying clean wasn’t a problem but there were several places where the mud was very slippery and care was needed. We reached the turn away from the old logging road and left much of the mud. There were still a few wet places along the way to the turn into the conifers but most of the usual mud was no concern at all.
Hiking Starr King Trail in the fall or winter is a real treat because of the open nature of the trail. All of the leaves are down and the open hardwoods create a beautiful area. At this time of year it seems like a completely different trail. The area is not very open at all, the views are limited, and the sun is generally shaded from the canopy overhead. Even though what I see as the best features of the trail are gone right now it’s still a very pleasant hike.
Much quicker than expected, we made our way to the start of the traverse through the conifers. From here to the summits of Starr King and Waumbek the hiking conditions change very little through the year; very sheltered trail, dense conifers, and a well defined trail corridor. As we passed the spring I noticed it seemed to have a much stronger flow than usual; it looks like a pretty good water source this year. Next we passed through the small area of blowdowns and on to the summit of Starr King. We enjoyed clear trail for the full distance, no blowdowns, and the water bars all appeared to be in good shape.
The one mile trip to Waumbek from Starr King was more of the same; small amounts of mud but generally clear trail all the way across the short sheltered ridge walk to the summit. At Waumbek we met three others that evidently were backpacking in the area. After a short visit first two left and then a while later the final solo hiker set off. We hung around long enough for summit pictures and a snack. Soon, we made the u-turn and headed back out the way we hiked in.
On the way back to Starr King we passed the pair of backpackers we met on Waumbek but never saw the solo backpacker. Maybe we somehow passed him along the way. At Starr King we started running into additional hikers. There was a fairly steady stream of hikers all of the way back to the trailhead. Starr King Trail became a very busy place. Back to the trailhead and we found the solo backpacker loading his vehicle. He wasted no time in making his way back out. The trailhead lot was completely packed and there was a strong overflow of vehicles parked along both sides of the road approaching the lot.
Since we were on a self-imposed tight schedule we quickly packed and took off. Next stop – Tecumseh. The trip from Jefferson to Waterville Valley ski area went as expected with a quick stop at the Livermore trailhead on the way through. I needed to add water to my pack and we were ready to go. Generally on the late end of our planned schedule we were again hiking.
The Mt. Tecumseh Trail is clear and the relocated section down low is getting very well established. The old route is very heavily blocked with brush. There are new blazes and other markings at the lower crossing of Tecumseh Brook which should remove some of the confusion about the route of the trail. The old road that continues straight along the right bank of Tecumseh Brook from the lower crossing has been blocked with brush and other natural debris. We made the crossing and kept moving.
The day was pretty warm and the humidity seemed very high. A while after the lower crossing the day’s conditions started to register with me. I’m not sure what happened but suddenly I had my hands full; my balance was questionable and I found myself relying on my poles much more than usual, I was perspiring much more than usual, and I was feeling generally weak. I had a quick bio break, took in quite a bit of water and a shot block, and continued to catch up with Sue. Back together I told Sue what was going on. We stopped to rest for a while. Eventually a couple things occurred to me; I was pretty sure we could make it to the summit, I was also pretty sure it would take a very long time with the stops that would be needed.
After discussing it for a while we bailed. There was no need to force it. If we continued with the hike, both of us would pay a price the next day. We will come back and get our “July Tecumseh” another day. After all, it’s almost always on-the-way.
Sorry Sue, next time we’ll finish what we start.
Pictures will follow.
