The Feathered Hat
Active member
Unexpectedly, this was a Tuckerman-less hike. Tuck, my seven-month-old puppy who has become a wonderful hiking companion, got a little rambunctious in the yard earlier in the week and twisted one of his back ankles in a hole (a hole he had dug himself, the idiot), and even though he's walking much better now I decided leaving him at home was wise.
After the long drive to the eastside trailhead, I finally got underway on the York Pond and then Bunnell Notch trails about a quarter after 10 a.m. My plan had been to make an abbreviated Kilkenny Ridge traverse over Mt. Cabot, The Bulge and The Horn, descending via the Unknown Pond Trail, but the signs warning that the gate at the Berlin Fish Hatchery, about a half-mile back, is closed and locked at 4 p.m. concerned me. I'd have to really hustle over the traverse's 11.5 miles to make the gate. In the end, I decided to make this an up-and-back, saving the traverse for later in the summer when there's no snow up top and after I learn more about the situation with the gate. (I've heard it's often not closed at all, but I didn't want to chance it.)
Down low, there's a lot of mud and soft areas to contend with. The single crossing of Bunnell Brook that's about a half-mile from the trailhead is not rock-hoppable at this point (there once was a bridge -- you can see the remains stashed back in the brush), but just upstream there's a walkable log that'll get you across with dry feet.
Further up, the often muddy and sometimes water-streaming trail closely follows the beautiful brook, which is tumbling with falls and frothy cascades this time of year. At 2,500 feet elevation I noticed the first small patches of snow on the north (opposite) side of the brook. At 2,850 feet the first snow patch appeared on the trail side -- and right there I made another discovery, a grisly one. Someone had killed a moose, then sawed off the head and left the rest of the carcass to rot right beside the trail. It's a gruesome sight: scavengers have pulled at the meat and bones; fur lies scattered on the ground like disintegrating carpet. Flies buzz, and, later on my way back down the trail, a vulture flew off the carcass as I neared. The smell isn't yet terrible, but as the weather becomes warmer it will be, and there will be maggots, too. I know VFTT doesn't allow political statements and commentary, but I hope the moderators will allow at least this: Killing a moose and leaving the carcass behind is not just illegal, it's immoral.
Hiking on. The water on the Bunnell Notch Trail grows steadily more abundant the closer one gets to the Notch at 3,000 feet; at the Notch, the junction with the Kilkenny Ridge Trail presently lies beneath a large pool of water. All of these pools and streams can be got around and I was able to keep my feet dry the whole day (though not my boots), but knee-high gaiters really helped with the mud.
Bits of monorail began to appear at about 3,400 feet, and at 3,900 feet I strapped on the snowshoes. I met a fellow and his little dog coming down; they had come up the Mt. Cabot Trail, which he said is a watery mess (he's written a report about it in Trail Conditions). The sidetrip on the short spur out to Bunnell Rock was definitely worth the trouble yesterday: outstanding and long views to the south and west.
The area around the old fire warden's cabin near the summit is bare of snow and so is the site of the old fire tower just above the cabin, but I left the snowshoes on for the trudge to the Cabot summit, which is still almost entirely a walk over soft, rotting snow. Stopping at the cabin again on the way back down for a bit of lunch, I met two fellows who had barebooted all the way to the cabin, but since they didn't bring along snowshoes they decided not to go on to the summit. Good thing: getting up there would have been a postholing nightmare for them.
Negotiating the narrow monorail on the upper part of the Kilkenny Ridge Trail isn't much fun at this point, and neither is crossing the snow from the fire warden's cabin to the Cabot summit, but this trip will be entirely barebootable within a month, possibly in just a couple weeks.
I was back to the car by 4:25 p.m. and thought, whew, the gate will still be open. Somehow it got in my mind that it closed at 4:30. Of course the sign says it closes at 4, but in any event it was still open when I drove past.
So: six and a quarter hours to do the 9.5-mile up and back, including probably an hour's worth of non-walking time due to lunch, rest, photography and trailside visiting stops. The most time-consuming stretch right is the upper part of the Kilkenny Ridge Trail, from about 3,600 feet to the Cabot summit, but when the snow's finally all gone this will be a much quicker walk.
It's lovely country out there in the Pilot Range, quiet and remote, and next time I may make the full Kilkenny Traverse, from Terrace Mountain over Cabot, The Bulge and The Horn. I'll definitely take along Tuckerman -- that is, if he keeps his leg out of his own holes!
Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/99682097@N00/3496207299/in/set-72157617544399557/
Steve B
The Feathered Hat
[email protected]
After the long drive to the eastside trailhead, I finally got underway on the York Pond and then Bunnell Notch trails about a quarter after 10 a.m. My plan had been to make an abbreviated Kilkenny Ridge traverse over Mt. Cabot, The Bulge and The Horn, descending via the Unknown Pond Trail, but the signs warning that the gate at the Berlin Fish Hatchery, about a half-mile back, is closed and locked at 4 p.m. concerned me. I'd have to really hustle over the traverse's 11.5 miles to make the gate. In the end, I decided to make this an up-and-back, saving the traverse for later in the summer when there's no snow up top and after I learn more about the situation with the gate. (I've heard it's often not closed at all, but I didn't want to chance it.)
Down low, there's a lot of mud and soft areas to contend with. The single crossing of Bunnell Brook that's about a half-mile from the trailhead is not rock-hoppable at this point (there once was a bridge -- you can see the remains stashed back in the brush), but just upstream there's a walkable log that'll get you across with dry feet.
Further up, the often muddy and sometimes water-streaming trail closely follows the beautiful brook, which is tumbling with falls and frothy cascades this time of year. At 2,500 feet elevation I noticed the first small patches of snow on the north (opposite) side of the brook. At 2,850 feet the first snow patch appeared on the trail side -- and right there I made another discovery, a grisly one. Someone had killed a moose, then sawed off the head and left the rest of the carcass to rot right beside the trail. It's a gruesome sight: scavengers have pulled at the meat and bones; fur lies scattered on the ground like disintegrating carpet. Flies buzz, and, later on my way back down the trail, a vulture flew off the carcass as I neared. The smell isn't yet terrible, but as the weather becomes warmer it will be, and there will be maggots, too. I know VFTT doesn't allow political statements and commentary, but I hope the moderators will allow at least this: Killing a moose and leaving the carcass behind is not just illegal, it's immoral.
Hiking on. The water on the Bunnell Notch Trail grows steadily more abundant the closer one gets to the Notch at 3,000 feet; at the Notch, the junction with the Kilkenny Ridge Trail presently lies beneath a large pool of water. All of these pools and streams can be got around and I was able to keep my feet dry the whole day (though not my boots), but knee-high gaiters really helped with the mud.
Bits of monorail began to appear at about 3,400 feet, and at 3,900 feet I strapped on the snowshoes. I met a fellow and his little dog coming down; they had come up the Mt. Cabot Trail, which he said is a watery mess (he's written a report about it in Trail Conditions). The sidetrip on the short spur out to Bunnell Rock was definitely worth the trouble yesterday: outstanding and long views to the south and west.
The area around the old fire warden's cabin near the summit is bare of snow and so is the site of the old fire tower just above the cabin, but I left the snowshoes on for the trudge to the Cabot summit, which is still almost entirely a walk over soft, rotting snow. Stopping at the cabin again on the way back down for a bit of lunch, I met two fellows who had barebooted all the way to the cabin, but since they didn't bring along snowshoes they decided not to go on to the summit. Good thing: getting up there would have been a postholing nightmare for them.
Negotiating the narrow monorail on the upper part of the Kilkenny Ridge Trail isn't much fun at this point, and neither is crossing the snow from the fire warden's cabin to the Cabot summit, but this trip will be entirely barebootable within a month, possibly in just a couple weeks.
I was back to the car by 4:25 p.m. and thought, whew, the gate will still be open. Somehow it got in my mind that it closed at 4:30. Of course the sign says it closes at 4, but in any event it was still open when I drove past.
So: six and a quarter hours to do the 9.5-mile up and back, including probably an hour's worth of non-walking time due to lunch, rest, photography and trailside visiting stops. The most time-consuming stretch right is the upper part of the Kilkenny Ridge Trail, from about 3,600 feet to the Cabot summit, but when the snow's finally all gone this will be a much quicker walk.
It's lovely country out there in the Pilot Range, quiet and remote, and next time I may make the full Kilkenny Traverse, from Terrace Mountain over Cabot, The Bulge and The Horn. I'll definitely take along Tuckerman -- that is, if he keeps his leg out of his own holes!
Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/99682097@N00/3496207299/in/set-72157617544399557/
Steve B
The Feathered Hat
[email protected]
Last edited:
