It was the morning after Terra completed her NH 48 4000-Footers. We didn’t set an alarm, took our time in the morning, and finally decided we would head over and do a quick hike of Cabot. Along the way, we could stop at the Gorham Wal-Mart to get needed supplies for winterizing the camper, which I wanted to do that night since forecast temperatures were in the 20s.
As we finished our shopping, the rain began. It came down fairly hard on our way to the Fish Hatchery, but by the time we’d reached the parking area at the trailhead, it had passed and the clouds were breaking up. Where they still enshrouded the mountaintops, we could see white – it was snowing up there!
We began by recognizing several cars in the parking area. This seemed to be a popular spot for people we know, and even some we’d meet. We got on the Bunnell Notch Trail with a truly alpine start time of 12:45pm. The foliage was beautiful. The trail begins as a trodden footway among the brush of an old road but eventually turns up onto the ridge, and it was golden every step of the way.
Before we even got to the Bunnell Notch Trail / York Pond Trail junction, though, we ran into our friend AJTIV and his kids. We had just hiked with them the previous day, but this was a complete surprise. They said they’d encountered wind and snow and decided to turn back. We hoped that by the time we got up there, it would calm down.
Several years ago, when the Mt Cabot trail was first closed due to a landowner dispute, the Bunnell Notch Trail became the principal route to Mt Cabot. The alternative is to drive around to Stark and come in from Mill Brook Road on the Unknown Pond Trail, and then take the Kilkenny Ridge Trail over the Horn and the Bulge, which is a fine and beautiful route that I’ve done, but a wicked long drive.
At the time, the Bunnell Notch Trail was poorly marked and very wet. Since then, to support the increased traffic, there has been a lot of trail work. There’s still plenty of water and no lack of wet spots; however, the extensive stonework done has greatly improved, and dried out, the experience.
The trail follows along the brook at the base of the valley leading up into Bunnell Notch, and it’s beautiful in there. Open woods, sunny and airy in the afternoon on the trail, though with each step further up in elevation we picked up a little bit more of a breeze, more of a chill.
About 2/3 of the way up to the Notch we encountered BigNSlow and his partner Nicole. We’d never met them before, but they recognized us from our online posts. We had a nice talk before they continued down and us up.
Finally we reached the height of land. From here to go forward would be to go down, and in fact that’s just what the trail did. We passed the junction with the Kilkenny Ridge Trail and continued onward up towards the summit of Cabot. It would be a 3.6 mile round-trip, and it was already 2:30pm. It wasn’t looking good time-wise, since I needed to get back to camp to winterize, then be up early the next morning to drive directly to work back in Massachusetts. As we debated our options, we had one more encounter: J&J! They said it was very cold and snowy up high, and that they were now headed over to traverse Terrace Mountain and go back down the York Pond Trail. We made a spontaneous decision to go with him.
After a quick backtrack to the trail junction, we started up out of the Notch on the side of Terrace. It’s a tough ascent at first, but quickly mellows out and we made good time before coming out on the summit of North Terrace Mountain, 3630′. From there it’s a very mellow, rolling up-and-down through beautiful old woods. All throughout the trees were small patches of snow, mere dustings but gleaming white in the shade. The snow melted wherever the sun shone upon it.
Around 4 o’clock we came to a turn in the trail. Ahead of us was the spur to the top of South Terrace, and we followed it to the top where there’s a fantastic view towards Mt. Jefferson. The Presidentials had some large, dark clouds around them, but elsewhere there was blue sky in the fading light of day.
Coming off South Terrace, the Kilkenny Ridge Trail passes through some beautiful and extensive birch glades. The trail here is not well indicated, and with enough leaves on the ground or snow, could be hard to follow. Fortunately, the woods are wide open and if off-trail, one could simply head towards Willard Notch in the southeast.
At Willard Notch the trail zig-zags a bit through the wet surface of the height-of-land, a tall old forest with a lot of spruce undergrowth, then finally encounters the York Pond Trail. A sign states that it’s officially unmaintained to the southwest, as it only leads to the Mt Cabot Trail, whose openness remains in dispute. We turned the other direction and began the mellow descent to our cars.
There’s a long, flat portion at the lower end of the York Pond Trail that’s absolutely lovely. A few stream crossings, some extensive boardwalks, it must abound with wildlife and had such a wonderful “Autumn in New England” feeling.
We got back to our cars around 6:15, and while driving out of the Hatchery at dusk saw not one but two pair of moose, in both cases a cow and calf. The photo does not do justice to the size of these creatures! We were pretty late arriving back at the camper, but winterization was successful, and I even got to work on time (for a flexible definition of “on time”) the next morning. It was a really great day. Despite not getting our planned summit, one needed for my second round and one Sabrina and I have not yet done together, it was a treat to hike Terrace, and Cabot will be there for next time.
The full photo album from this hike is online here.
As we finished our shopping, the rain began. It came down fairly hard on our way to the Fish Hatchery, but by the time we’d reached the parking area at the trailhead, it had passed and the clouds were breaking up. Where they still enshrouded the mountaintops, we could see white – it was snowing up there!
We began by recognizing several cars in the parking area. This seemed to be a popular spot for people we know, and even some we’d meet. We got on the Bunnell Notch Trail with a truly alpine start time of 12:45pm. The foliage was beautiful. The trail begins as a trodden footway among the brush of an old road but eventually turns up onto the ridge, and it was golden every step of the way.
Before we even got to the Bunnell Notch Trail / York Pond Trail junction, though, we ran into our friend AJTIV and his kids. We had just hiked with them the previous day, but this was a complete surprise. They said they’d encountered wind and snow and decided to turn back. We hoped that by the time we got up there, it would calm down.
Several years ago, when the Mt Cabot trail was first closed due to a landowner dispute, the Bunnell Notch Trail became the principal route to Mt Cabot. The alternative is to drive around to Stark and come in from Mill Brook Road on the Unknown Pond Trail, and then take the Kilkenny Ridge Trail over the Horn and the Bulge, which is a fine and beautiful route that I’ve done, but a wicked long drive.
At the time, the Bunnell Notch Trail was poorly marked and very wet. Since then, to support the increased traffic, there has been a lot of trail work. There’s still plenty of water and no lack of wet spots; however, the extensive stonework done has greatly improved, and dried out, the experience.
The trail follows along the brook at the base of the valley leading up into Bunnell Notch, and it’s beautiful in there. Open woods, sunny and airy in the afternoon on the trail, though with each step further up in elevation we picked up a little bit more of a breeze, more of a chill.
About 2/3 of the way up to the Notch we encountered BigNSlow and his partner Nicole. We’d never met them before, but they recognized us from our online posts. We had a nice talk before they continued down and us up.
Finally we reached the height of land. From here to go forward would be to go down, and in fact that’s just what the trail did. We passed the junction with the Kilkenny Ridge Trail and continued onward up towards the summit of Cabot. It would be a 3.6 mile round-trip, and it was already 2:30pm. It wasn’t looking good time-wise, since I needed to get back to camp to winterize, then be up early the next morning to drive directly to work back in Massachusetts. As we debated our options, we had one more encounter: J&J! They said it was very cold and snowy up high, and that they were now headed over to traverse Terrace Mountain and go back down the York Pond Trail. We made a spontaneous decision to go with him.
After a quick backtrack to the trail junction, we started up out of the Notch on the side of Terrace. It’s a tough ascent at first, but quickly mellows out and we made good time before coming out on the summit of North Terrace Mountain, 3630′. From there it’s a very mellow, rolling up-and-down through beautiful old woods. All throughout the trees were small patches of snow, mere dustings but gleaming white in the shade. The snow melted wherever the sun shone upon it.
Around 4 o’clock we came to a turn in the trail. Ahead of us was the spur to the top of South Terrace, and we followed it to the top where there’s a fantastic view towards Mt. Jefferson. The Presidentials had some large, dark clouds around them, but elsewhere there was blue sky in the fading light of day.
Coming off South Terrace, the Kilkenny Ridge Trail passes through some beautiful and extensive birch glades. The trail here is not well indicated, and with enough leaves on the ground or snow, could be hard to follow. Fortunately, the woods are wide open and if off-trail, one could simply head towards Willard Notch in the southeast.
At Willard Notch the trail zig-zags a bit through the wet surface of the height-of-land, a tall old forest with a lot of spruce undergrowth, then finally encounters the York Pond Trail. A sign states that it’s officially unmaintained to the southwest, as it only leads to the Mt Cabot Trail, whose openness remains in dispute. We turned the other direction and began the mellow descent to our cars.
There’s a long, flat portion at the lower end of the York Pond Trail that’s absolutely lovely. A few stream crossings, some extensive boardwalks, it must abound with wildlife and had such a wonderful “Autumn in New England” feeling.
We got back to our cars around 6:15, and while driving out of the Hatchery at dusk saw not one but two pair of moose, in both cases a cow and calf. The photo does not do justice to the size of these creatures! We were pretty late arriving back at the camper, but winterization was successful, and I even got to work on time (for a flexible definition of “on time”) the next morning. It was a really great day. Despite not getting our planned summit, one needed for my second round and one Sabrina and I have not yet done together, it was a treat to hike Terrace, and Cabot will be there for next time.
The full photo album from this hike is online here.
