1HappyHiker
Well-known member
Got my ususal “well beyond the crack of dawn” start today! Went up Starr-King Road off Route 2 to check out the condition of the spur road to trailhead parking. Could see that a vehicle had recently been up the spur road, but I wasn’t too comfortable with going up it. Didn’t want the possibility of encountering problems and making my start time even later. Below is a photo of the spur road taken today.
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2466962400100435778mEoYHy
So, I decided to turn around and park in the Trail Parking area just off Route 2 (nearly opposite Starr-King Road). Although it seems far away, it literally only takes 5 minutes to trek to the trailhead from this parking area. Below is a photo of the Trail Parking off Route 2.
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2143032450100435778yBPAfw
So, with the car parked, finally, I was off on the trek to Starr-King/Waumbek!! Upon arriving at the trailhead, it was satisfying to see that the trail had been broken out. However, this satisfaction was only temporary. After hiking about 10 minutes I came upon a very nice lady with snowshoes who was walking her dog. She was on her way back down and had only broken trail for perhaps the first 0.3 miles or so. However, she said that two other hikers were ahead of me. I thought to myself “Alright!! Got some trailblazers ahead of me.” Well, in about 5 minutes I caught up with the trailblazers. It happened to be a lovely retired couple that I’d met on this trail a few years ago. They hike this trail on a regular basis. However, today they had no real intentions of going to the summit. They were just out for a nice winter stroll.
So, since I was hiking solo today, this left only me to “break trail” the rest of the way. I checked my altimeter and it read only about 2200 feet. Hmmm! Starr-King is at about 3900 feet. OK, so I’ve got about 1700 feet of elevation gain and about 2 miles of trail to break ALONE!! But you know, I cannot complain. The snow was only about 8 to 10 inches deep, and it was a nice day to be out in the woods. And besides, I got an unanticipated BONUS workout by breaking trail.
Once arriving at Starr-King, the clouds had moved in and there were no views. The first link below is what I saw today from the summit of Starr-King. And, the second link is what can be seen from the summit when there are views (from photo taken in Feb '07):
Today: http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2845599960100435778TIYdnw
Feb '07: http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2086079530100435778ieTgUU
I thought about going on over to Waumbek. However, I said to myself “Really, what’s the point?!” There are no views today. Given my late start, it would mean coming down by headlamp, which would not be a huge problem, but the winds were causing some drifting and filling in my broken out trail, even as I stood there on Starr-King. Also I thought, I’ve been to Waumbek, and given the calendar date, it wouldn’t even count as a winter 4000 footer. Also, I thought, hey!! Perhaps I shouldn’t be greedy. I should save some trail breaking for someone else. Then, they too can get a BONUS workout by breaking trail to Waumbek!!
So today, I turned around at Starr-King, and arrived back at my car just as the sun was setting. Would have liked to have gone onto Waumbek, but overall it was another great day in the Whites!!
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2466962400100435778mEoYHy
So, I decided to turn around and park in the Trail Parking area just off Route 2 (nearly opposite Starr-King Road). Although it seems far away, it literally only takes 5 minutes to trek to the trailhead from this parking area. Below is a photo of the Trail Parking off Route 2.
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2143032450100435778yBPAfw
So, with the car parked, finally, I was off on the trek to Starr-King/Waumbek!! Upon arriving at the trailhead, it was satisfying to see that the trail had been broken out. However, this satisfaction was only temporary. After hiking about 10 minutes I came upon a very nice lady with snowshoes who was walking her dog. She was on her way back down and had only broken trail for perhaps the first 0.3 miles or so. However, she said that two other hikers were ahead of me. I thought to myself “Alright!! Got some trailblazers ahead of me.” Well, in about 5 minutes I caught up with the trailblazers. It happened to be a lovely retired couple that I’d met on this trail a few years ago. They hike this trail on a regular basis. However, today they had no real intentions of going to the summit. They were just out for a nice winter stroll.
So, since I was hiking solo today, this left only me to “break trail” the rest of the way. I checked my altimeter and it read only about 2200 feet. Hmmm! Starr-King is at about 3900 feet. OK, so I’ve got about 1700 feet of elevation gain and about 2 miles of trail to break ALONE!! But you know, I cannot complain. The snow was only about 8 to 10 inches deep, and it was a nice day to be out in the woods. And besides, I got an unanticipated BONUS workout by breaking trail.
Once arriving at Starr-King, the clouds had moved in and there were no views. The first link below is what I saw today from the summit of Starr-King. And, the second link is what can be seen from the summit when there are views (from photo taken in Feb '07):
Today: http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2845599960100435778TIYdnw
Feb '07: http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2086079530100435778ieTgUU
I thought about going on over to Waumbek. However, I said to myself “Really, what’s the point?!” There are no views today. Given my late start, it would mean coming down by headlamp, which would not be a huge problem, but the winds were causing some drifting and filling in my broken out trail, even as I stood there on Starr-King. Also I thought, I’ve been to Waumbek, and given the calendar date, it wouldn’t even count as a winter 4000 footer. Also, I thought, hey!! Perhaps I shouldn’t be greedy. I should save some trail breaking for someone else. Then, they too can get a BONUS workout by breaking trail to Waumbek!!
So today, I turned around at Starr-King, and arrived back at my car just as the sun was setting. Would have liked to have gone onto Waumbek, but overall it was another great day in the Whites!!
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