BIGEarl
Well-known member
September 1, 2007: Mount Cabot and Mount Hale
Trails:
Cabot – York Pond Trail, Bunnell Notch Trail, Mount Cabot Trail round trip.
Hale – Hale Brook Trail round trip.
Mount Cabot is generally considered a good day-hike. A round trip to the summit or a loop that includes The Bulge and The Horn, which are on the NEHH list will usually take care of the better part of a day. Hale is a small hike but offers a good workout. It is a short 2.2 miles from the trailhead to the summit but includes an elevation gain of 2,300 feet in that distance. I consider 1,000 feet per mile or more to be a really good workout. Trail Trotter (Sue) is in the process of wrapping up the 4K list, and I am wrapping up the 4K list for 2007. Cabot and Hale are the two remaining peaks in common for both of us and I suggested we could get both in one day, with an early start. I’m not sure how much thought went into it but she soon responded with “I’m in”. So we set a plan to hike both. Getting them both in one day also significantly reduces the cost-per-mountain (time and gas).
The plan called for a start of the Cabot portion from York Pond Road at ~8:00am. It’s a three hour drive from Nashua, and Trail Trotter was coming from Southern Massachusetts – you do the math. A very early start was needed to pull this one off. As we traveled north the sky was completely clear, at first. North of Plymouth the clouds started to develop and by the time we hit Lincoln the sky was completely overcast. Franconia Ridge was socked-in and north of the notch wasn’t much better. There were a few holes in the clouds that we noticed on the drive to Berlin and we hoped for the sun to take care of clearing things out for us.
At 8:00am we were heading out from the trailhead lot on York Pond Road. We had broken clouds, very light breeze, and generally great hiking conditions. Our vehicle was the only one there, but we were early. The hike to the Bunnell Notch trail was a wet one. The grass is high on the early part of the York Pond Trail and it was soaked. We had no trouble with any of the stream crossings and soon found ourselves at the stone stairs that led away from the logging road. The Bunnell Notch Trail is completely clear for the full distance, it’s in great shape. There are no significant mud bogs to deal with and the small stream crossings along the way were little more than a hop crossing. With Trail Trotter in the lead we slowly made our way to the height of land and the intersection with the Kilkenny Ridge Trail. There we stopped for quick refreshment and some pictures. Soon we were off for the junction with the Mount Cabot Trail. Just before reaching the intersection we came upon a place where there was lots of moose sign and two beds – one large and one somewhat smaller.
We arrived at the Mount Cabot Trail junction, took a couple pictures, and headed toward the summit. Along the way is a short spur path to the right that leads to an outlook that normally offers some really nice views, but today’s cloud cover was limiting. We kept moving and soon reached the Cabot Cabin. We explored the area and paid a visit to the cabin. Everything inside and out is neat and clean. After a few more pictures we were off for the summit. The last views on the hike came just above the cabin at the site of the former lookout tower. We were happy to see the conditions were improving and the views opening. It’s a quick walk to the summit area where we had another snack, got some summit pictures, and made our u-turn to head back out.
After we passed the cabin we came upon the first other hiker for the day. A solo hiker doing the loop over Cabot, The Bulge, and The Horn – he seemed to be having a very good day. After a short distance we came upon another solo hiker but this guy left the impression he wanted to be somewhere else, I hope his day improved. After the Mount Cabot Trail – Bunnell Notch trail split we came upon the third and last hiker for this section of our day. He was another semi-solo hiker, with his canine partner. The hiker was Lattinhill (VFFT) from Connecticut. We stopped to visit for a while. He said initially he wanted to join us for the hike but was concerned with being late. As it turned out he would have been roughly 2 hours late. I hope he completed the hike without any problems.
Trail Trotter led the way down from the summit and demonstrated the reason for her name. We “trotted” down the mountain most of the way out and made great time back to the York Pond Trail. We quickly moved along the logging road section and were soon back at the trailhead lot and packing to head for Mount Hale. It was a lunch-on-the-run kind of day and we both loaded some nourishment into the front of the truck for our ride to Twin Mountain. At this point, we were comfortably ahead of our plan and feeling really good.
We arrived at the trailhead lot for the Hale Brook Trail and quickly were heading out. This trail starts kicking your butt just a short distance from the trailhead and doesn’t seem to let up all the way to the summit. Having just hiked Cabot and cool-down time from the drive probably didn’t help. We found ourselves in the middle of another warm-up process that took nearly as long as the first earlier in the morning.
I mentioned to Trail Trotter that I had something I wanted to show her when we reached the summit. We continued our hike with more frequent stops along the way. There were a few welcomed photo opportunities below the switchbacks. Then we started counting turns that led to the final sweeping approach to the summit. Eventually, the light at the end of the tunnel appeared and we were in the final approach. Just a couple hundred yards and we stepped into the summit clearing.
At the start of the switchbacks I pulled out my compass and set a bearing that referenced the sun. A couple times along the way I re-checked to make sure it was properly set. The reason I was fooling with my compass was to show Trail Trotter the magnetic rocks on the summit. I knew finding an accurate bearing at the summit was unpredictable and wanted to have it previously set. We started to move around to various locations I knew of from past visits and demonstrated how the compass is disturbed with small movements. Having the bearing shift by well over 90 degrees was common. In fact, there is one place where a 180 degree shift is seen (north becomes south). There’s not much of a view from the summit of Mount Hale but it’s still an interesting place to visit.
With the compass work, pictures, and a snack out of the way it was time to head back down. Again, Trail Trotter took the lead and ran us off the mountain. I guess she wasn’t really running but we wasted no time in getting back to the waiting truck. At the trailhead lot we found ourselves even more ahead of plan than when we started out on the Hale Brook Trail.
The only concern left was Labor Day Weekend traffic on the drive south. Well, there weren’t any significant traffic issues. We made our way back to the Park & Ride lot in Nashua an hour ahead of plan. Soon, Sue was on her way south and home.
We had a really nice day in the mountains. Sue’s list is down by two with only three remaining to be completed in two hikes. I hope to join her as she finishes her 4K List. A couple more hikes and I'll finish too.
Thanks for a great day, Sue.
I've posted some pictures from the day.
BIGEarl's pictures.
Straight to the slideshow.
Trails:
Cabot – York Pond Trail, Bunnell Notch Trail, Mount Cabot Trail round trip.
Hale – Hale Brook Trail round trip.
Mount Cabot is generally considered a good day-hike. A round trip to the summit or a loop that includes The Bulge and The Horn, which are on the NEHH list will usually take care of the better part of a day. Hale is a small hike but offers a good workout. It is a short 2.2 miles from the trailhead to the summit but includes an elevation gain of 2,300 feet in that distance. I consider 1,000 feet per mile or more to be a really good workout. Trail Trotter (Sue) is in the process of wrapping up the 4K list, and I am wrapping up the 4K list for 2007. Cabot and Hale are the two remaining peaks in common for both of us and I suggested we could get both in one day, with an early start. I’m not sure how much thought went into it but she soon responded with “I’m in”. So we set a plan to hike both. Getting them both in one day also significantly reduces the cost-per-mountain (time and gas).
The plan called for a start of the Cabot portion from York Pond Road at ~8:00am. It’s a three hour drive from Nashua, and Trail Trotter was coming from Southern Massachusetts – you do the math. A very early start was needed to pull this one off. As we traveled north the sky was completely clear, at first. North of Plymouth the clouds started to develop and by the time we hit Lincoln the sky was completely overcast. Franconia Ridge was socked-in and north of the notch wasn’t much better. There were a few holes in the clouds that we noticed on the drive to Berlin and we hoped for the sun to take care of clearing things out for us.
At 8:00am we were heading out from the trailhead lot on York Pond Road. We had broken clouds, very light breeze, and generally great hiking conditions. Our vehicle was the only one there, but we were early. The hike to the Bunnell Notch trail was a wet one. The grass is high on the early part of the York Pond Trail and it was soaked. We had no trouble with any of the stream crossings and soon found ourselves at the stone stairs that led away from the logging road. The Bunnell Notch Trail is completely clear for the full distance, it’s in great shape. There are no significant mud bogs to deal with and the small stream crossings along the way were little more than a hop crossing. With Trail Trotter in the lead we slowly made our way to the height of land and the intersection with the Kilkenny Ridge Trail. There we stopped for quick refreshment and some pictures. Soon we were off for the junction with the Mount Cabot Trail. Just before reaching the intersection we came upon a place where there was lots of moose sign and two beds – one large and one somewhat smaller.
We arrived at the Mount Cabot Trail junction, took a couple pictures, and headed toward the summit. Along the way is a short spur path to the right that leads to an outlook that normally offers some really nice views, but today’s cloud cover was limiting. We kept moving and soon reached the Cabot Cabin. We explored the area and paid a visit to the cabin. Everything inside and out is neat and clean. After a few more pictures we were off for the summit. The last views on the hike came just above the cabin at the site of the former lookout tower. We were happy to see the conditions were improving and the views opening. It’s a quick walk to the summit area where we had another snack, got some summit pictures, and made our u-turn to head back out.
After we passed the cabin we came upon the first other hiker for the day. A solo hiker doing the loop over Cabot, The Bulge, and The Horn – he seemed to be having a very good day. After a short distance we came upon another solo hiker but this guy left the impression he wanted to be somewhere else, I hope his day improved. After the Mount Cabot Trail – Bunnell Notch trail split we came upon the third and last hiker for this section of our day. He was another semi-solo hiker, with his canine partner. The hiker was Lattinhill (VFFT) from Connecticut. We stopped to visit for a while. He said initially he wanted to join us for the hike but was concerned with being late. As it turned out he would have been roughly 2 hours late. I hope he completed the hike without any problems.
Trail Trotter led the way down from the summit and demonstrated the reason for her name. We “trotted” down the mountain most of the way out and made great time back to the York Pond Trail. We quickly moved along the logging road section and were soon back at the trailhead lot and packing to head for Mount Hale. It was a lunch-on-the-run kind of day and we both loaded some nourishment into the front of the truck for our ride to Twin Mountain. At this point, we were comfortably ahead of our plan and feeling really good.
We arrived at the trailhead lot for the Hale Brook Trail and quickly were heading out. This trail starts kicking your butt just a short distance from the trailhead and doesn’t seem to let up all the way to the summit. Having just hiked Cabot and cool-down time from the drive probably didn’t help. We found ourselves in the middle of another warm-up process that took nearly as long as the first earlier in the morning.
I mentioned to Trail Trotter that I had something I wanted to show her when we reached the summit. We continued our hike with more frequent stops along the way. There were a few welcomed photo opportunities below the switchbacks. Then we started counting turns that led to the final sweeping approach to the summit. Eventually, the light at the end of the tunnel appeared and we were in the final approach. Just a couple hundred yards and we stepped into the summit clearing.
At the start of the switchbacks I pulled out my compass and set a bearing that referenced the sun. A couple times along the way I re-checked to make sure it was properly set. The reason I was fooling with my compass was to show Trail Trotter the magnetic rocks on the summit. I knew finding an accurate bearing at the summit was unpredictable and wanted to have it previously set. We started to move around to various locations I knew of from past visits and demonstrated how the compass is disturbed with small movements. Having the bearing shift by well over 90 degrees was common. In fact, there is one place where a 180 degree shift is seen (north becomes south). There’s not much of a view from the summit of Mount Hale but it’s still an interesting place to visit.
With the compass work, pictures, and a snack out of the way it was time to head back down. Again, Trail Trotter took the lead and ran us off the mountain. I guess she wasn’t really running but we wasted no time in getting back to the waiting truck. At the trailhead lot we found ourselves even more ahead of plan than when we started out on the Hale Brook Trail.
The only concern left was Labor Day Weekend traffic on the drive south. Well, there weren’t any significant traffic issues. We made our way back to the Park & Ride lot in Nashua an hour ahead of plan. Soon, Sue was on her way south and home.
We had a really nice day in the mountains. Sue’s list is down by two with only three remaining to be completed in two hikes. I hope to join her as she finishes her 4K List. A couple more hikes and I'll finish too.
Thanks for a great day, Sue.
I've posted some pictures from the day.
BIGEarl's pictures.
Straight to the slideshow.
Last edited:
