Jimmy Legs and Little D
New member
As we planned to hike Mount Waumbek on this trip, we happen upon a quaint Victorian bed and breakfast, the Jefferson Inn, located near the trailhead.
After a delicious hearty breakfast we headed out the door at 9 am. and up a private drive which was speckled with moose prints.
At a four way intersection we went to the right, which led uphill. With the temperatures above freezing, the snow had the consistency of mashed potatoes and would ball up under the toe crampons of the snowshoes. After an hour of trudging along we had suspicions that we may have taken the wrong trail, since we had not seen any landmarks that are described in the White Mountain Guide. Our suspicions were confirmed by a cell phone call to Steve Smith at the Mountain Wanderer, who then advised us to head back down and find the summer parking lot along Starr King road.
On the way back down we met up with Winnie and her beagle Billy, who informed us that we were actually hiking on a local community snowshoe trail.
After some banter, we continued along the same path that we had taken up and soon found the true trailhead to Mount Starr King at 11 am.
It was a long tedious hike with moderately a steep ascent. After about an hour we met a couple that had already reached the summit of Mount Waumbek and were bobsledding down the well packed trail.
Talking with them, we found that they had been staying at the Franconia Notch Motel in the room that had been next to ours. What a coincidence!
We reached the demarcation line between the dark evergreens and the deciduous forest with what seemed to be a mental as well as a physical drain on our spirits. Upon seeing the trail sign for the Starr King trail our spirits were lifted with a sense of accomplishment.
With renewed energy, we continued the final leg across the ridge to the summit of Mount Waumbek.
We reached the viewless summit at 3 pm; # 33 on our list of NH 48.
It began to sleet as we left the summit and eventually turned to snow.
By the time we reached Starr King road the snow turned to a light drizzle.
We knew that if we went back to the Inn we would not want to go out again, so we headed to the General Store across Route 2 and bought a couple of steak grinders and a Long Trail Ale. We sat in the breakfast room eating our simple meal, celebrating Valentine’s Day and summiting another 4,000 footer.
Our hike in pictures can be found here:
http://jimmylegs.smugmug.com/Nature/Hiking/Waumbek-21411/15943600_DrQGX
Mike and Donna
After a delicious hearty breakfast we headed out the door at 9 am. and up a private drive which was speckled with moose prints.
At a four way intersection we went to the right, which led uphill. With the temperatures above freezing, the snow had the consistency of mashed potatoes and would ball up under the toe crampons of the snowshoes. After an hour of trudging along we had suspicions that we may have taken the wrong trail, since we had not seen any landmarks that are described in the White Mountain Guide. Our suspicions were confirmed by a cell phone call to Steve Smith at the Mountain Wanderer, who then advised us to head back down and find the summer parking lot along Starr King road.
On the way back down we met up with Winnie and her beagle Billy, who informed us that we were actually hiking on a local community snowshoe trail.
After some banter, we continued along the same path that we had taken up and soon found the true trailhead to Mount Starr King at 11 am.
It was a long tedious hike with moderately a steep ascent. After about an hour we met a couple that had already reached the summit of Mount Waumbek and were bobsledding down the well packed trail.
Talking with them, we found that they had been staying at the Franconia Notch Motel in the room that had been next to ours. What a coincidence!
We reached the demarcation line between the dark evergreens and the deciduous forest with what seemed to be a mental as well as a physical drain on our spirits. Upon seeing the trail sign for the Starr King trail our spirits were lifted with a sense of accomplishment.
With renewed energy, we continued the final leg across the ridge to the summit of Mount Waumbek.
We reached the viewless summit at 3 pm; # 33 on our list of NH 48.
It began to sleet as we left the summit and eventually turned to snow.
By the time we reached Starr King road the snow turned to a light drizzle.
We knew that if we went back to the Inn we would not want to go out again, so we headed to the General Store across Route 2 and bought a couple of steak grinders and a Long Trail Ale. We sat in the breakfast room eating our simple meal, celebrating Valentine’s Day and summiting another 4,000 footer.
Our hike in pictures can be found here:
http://jimmylegs.smugmug.com/Nature/Hiking/Waumbek-21411/15943600_DrQGX
Mike and Donna
