Waumbeck and Cabot: 8.26.06 & 8.31.06

Summary
OwnerMITOC Gallery Administrator
Creation Date2006-09-03 22:39:15 UTC-0400
Description Waumbeck and Cabot: 8.26.06 & 8.31.06
Mike Kokko

Although these were not official MITOC hikes, I decided to write them up anyway for a couple of reasons. First, Cabot and Waumbeck are two seldom-hiked WMNF peaks that are really worth visiting. In particular, I think the Pilot and Pliny Ranges would be great destinations for Winter School trips. Secondly, our ascent of Cabot marked the end of my quest to hike the 48 New Hampshire 4000-footers within the past year. Many MITOCers joined me on various hikes during this time and I’d like to extend my thanks to all of them.



Starr King and Waumbeck



I did Starr King and Waumbeck as a quick afternoon solo hike on Saturday, August 26. Leaving Boston at 12:30pm after spending a couple of hours in lab gave me more than enough time to complete this very enjoyable 7.2 mile hike. The Starr King trail has a fairly steady uphill grade which leaves no one section too difficult. I believe “cakewalk” was the term used by a fellow hiker I met at the trailhead. Starr King’s summit afforded some decent views and there is a great little clearing just beyond it that comes complete with a brick fireplace (see pics)! This might be a nice place for a winter overnight. The summit of Waumbeck is a mile farther down the trail, but there are no significant views (save for a few glimpses of the prezzies between the trees). I returned to the car with plenty of daylight after about 2.5 hours on the trail.



Cabot, The Bulge, and The Horn



When I arrived at MIT last year as an incoming grad student it had been a while since I’d hiked in the Whites. I signed-up for the GSC Orientation hike up Jefferson, and during that trip I decided that I’d like to hike all of New Hampshire’s 48 4000-footers within the following year. On August 31, 2006, with just three days left in that ‘year,’ I invited my dad and our 10.5-year-old dog Shelby to join me on my final ascent.



We pulled-in to the Berlin Fish Hatchery around 10am and decided to park outside the gate since its sign indicated that it would be closed at 4:30pm. From the gate it is about 1.5 miles along a partially-paved road to the Bunnell Notch trailhead. Just as we were about to start up the trail, a white Forest Service SUV pulled-up and parked next to us. We spoke with a very friendly ranger (whose name I believe was Dan) for a few minutes and then started up the trail. It turned out that Ranger Dan was on his way to paint the inside of Cabot Cabin, so he caught up with us quickly and we hiked most of the way up together.



Although 74-ish dog years old, Shelby did a great job on the ascent to Cabot Cabin and probably traveled at least twice as far as the rest of us with all her running back and forth. There were some nice views from the cabin’s porch and it looks like a fun place to spend the night. We weren’t planning on sleeping there this time, so we pressed onward to the top. The lack of views from the ‘official’ summit didn’t stop our little celebration of lunch and (seriously sharp) Cabot cheese. For the record, we discovered that the dog prefers roast beef with mustard to Purina dog chow.



After lunch we decided to hike down around Unknown Pond rather than returning via our ascent route. The Bulge slowed the dog down a bit, but she somehow regained energy by the time we dropped our packs and headed up The Horn spur. Dad wasn’t sure he wanted to do this extra 0.6 mile jaunt, but the absolutely amazing panoramic views made it well worth the climb. After a few minutes we headed back to the main trail and worked our way down to Unknown Pond which yielded more impressive views.



The Unknown Pond Trail is definitely less traveled than Bunnell Notch, and we saw lots of moose tracks and one *enormous* pile of semi-fresh bear scat (but thankfully no bear!). A few more miles brought us to York Pond Road where we were fortunate enough to see three bald eagles soaring over the hatchery. Back at the car Shelby devoured the rest of her food and promptly fell asleep. She woke up when we stopped in Bartlett, however, and was rewarded with her very first dish of vanilla ice cream. It was great to hike my last peak with family, and we celebrated with cake and champagne back at home.