MTNRUNR
Active member
I scouted the trailhead and 1st mile of the Starr King Trail Friday on the way to Craftsbury, VT where we would be staying and Donna would be doing the 50K XC Ski Marathon the next day.
Saturday we had an early breakfast and I headed back to the trailhead, which I easily drove to in my subaru. It was -6 when I started out @ 7:36. I had decided to wear my snowshoes(22") and use ski poles. This was to be a "peakbagging" day and my 1st hike of the season so I set a turnaround time of 5 hours in order to be out by dark...don't know why but I feel I must be out by dark or bad things will happen, which I know isn't true...right???
About 2 miles up there was about 50' of the trail covered over in ice. Got over it without any trouble. Reached Starr King in 1:31/2.6 miles, stopped for 2 minutes and got to Waumbek in 2:00/3.6 miles. The trail was packed out to there and could be barebooted...if one were so inclined!
Now the fun begins I think to myself...into the great unknown! Will I be able to find/follow the trail, what conditions would I encounter, etc.???
It was 9:36am as I started onto the unbroken Kilkenny Ridge Trail(briefly thought about "South Park"!...yikes, poor Kenny!). The trail followed the relatively flat Waumbek ridge east for over a mile before dropping down to the saddle on the way to South weeks, which was 2.5 miles beyond the Waumbek summit. My snowshoes were generally sinking only about 6" into the snow and never more than a foot. The trail was pretty easy for me to follow. The old yellow blazes were fairly common(smile)! Only a couple of times did I have to look for the trail and when I did found it in short order! All was going well and I reached the unmarked summit of South Weeks in 3:21/6.1 miles. I was feeling good about the hike so far and it was a beautiful day!! Continued over the unmarked summit of Middle Weeks and with about a mile to go started to lose my "zip"! It didn't bother me as I felt I was making good progress and the way back should go a bit quicker. Reached North Weeks summit in 4:39/8.1 miles...21 minutes ahead of my turnaround time
I turned on the GPS I'd carried in my pack and it showed I was within 50' of the set location! There was a small sign on a tree next to the trail there. After a 10 minute break I started back. It took me 1:10:35 to get back to South Weeks, took 1:16:50 on the way out. So eventhough I was stopping often to catch my breath I was making better time! Finally I reached Waumbek's ridge...the 1 1/4 miles along the ridge to the summit seemed to take a long time! Each time I thought I was there it was another false summit! Felt reeeaaallly great when I reached Waumbek! I'd been out 7:27...doing good! Feeling I was almost done I took a break, changed from the waist up and fueled up some I'd thought earlier if I could be on Starr King @ 4pm that would be good. It took 28 minutes to get there and it was 3:41pm Yahoo!!! all downhill from here! When I got to the icy section I bushwhacked uphill of it til I got by then it was smooth sailin!! Reached the trailhead/my car @ 4:44pm. I'd taken 9 hours, 7 minutes and 49 seconds(but who's counting!) to cover the 16.2 mile out and back and "bagged" 3 more peaks of the NE 100 Highest in Winter...big smile!! 40 down and 60 to go...Oh Boy! It was 25 degrees and the day saw basically no wind, clear blue sky's and incredible views...in and out of the woods(on the few occassions I could see out!)!!
Got back to the Lakeview Inn in Greensboro, VT...where Donna and I exchanged "war stories"...Ahhh, life is Great!!! Hike on!!!
Saturday we had an early breakfast and I headed back to the trailhead, which I easily drove to in my subaru. It was -6 when I started out @ 7:36. I had decided to wear my snowshoes(22") and use ski poles. This was to be a "peakbagging" day and my 1st hike of the season so I set a turnaround time of 5 hours in order to be out by dark...don't know why but I feel I must be out by dark or bad things will happen, which I know isn't true...right???
About 2 miles up there was about 50' of the trail covered over in ice. Got over it without any trouble. Reached Starr King in 1:31/2.6 miles, stopped for 2 minutes and got to Waumbek in 2:00/3.6 miles. The trail was packed out to there and could be barebooted...if one were so inclined!
Now the fun begins I think to myself...into the great unknown! Will I be able to find/follow the trail, what conditions would I encounter, etc.???
It was 9:36am as I started onto the unbroken Kilkenny Ridge Trail(briefly thought about "South Park"!...yikes, poor Kenny!). The trail followed the relatively flat Waumbek ridge east for over a mile before dropping down to the saddle on the way to South weeks, which was 2.5 miles beyond the Waumbek summit. My snowshoes were generally sinking only about 6" into the snow and never more than a foot. The trail was pretty easy for me to follow. The old yellow blazes were fairly common(smile)! Only a couple of times did I have to look for the trail and when I did found it in short order! All was going well and I reached the unmarked summit of South Weeks in 3:21/6.1 miles. I was feeling good about the hike so far and it was a beautiful day!! Continued over the unmarked summit of Middle Weeks and with about a mile to go started to lose my "zip"! It didn't bother me as I felt I was making good progress and the way back should go a bit quicker. Reached North Weeks summit in 4:39/8.1 miles...21 minutes ahead of my turnaround time
I turned on the GPS I'd carried in my pack and it showed I was within 50' of the set location! There was a small sign on a tree next to the trail there. After a 10 minute break I started back. It took me 1:10:35 to get back to South Weeks, took 1:16:50 on the way out. So eventhough I was stopping often to catch my breath I was making better time! Finally I reached Waumbek's ridge...the 1 1/4 miles along the ridge to the summit seemed to take a long time! Each time I thought I was there it was another false summit! Felt reeeaaallly great when I reached Waumbek! I'd been out 7:27...doing good! Feeling I was almost done I took a break, changed from the waist up and fueled up some I'd thought earlier if I could be on Starr King @ 4pm that would be good. It took 28 minutes to get there and it was 3:41pm Yahoo!!! all downhill from here! When I got to the icy section I bushwhacked uphill of it til I got by then it was smooth sailin!! Reached the trailhead/my car @ 4:44pm. I'd taken 9 hours, 7 minutes and 49 seconds(but who's counting!) to cover the 16.2 mile out and back and "bagged" 3 more peaks of the NE 100 Highest in Winter...big smile!! 40 down and 60 to go...Oh Boy! It was 25 degrees and the day saw basically no wind, clear blue sky's and incredible views...in and out of the woods(on the few occassions I could see out!)!!Got back to the Lakeview Inn in Greensboro, VT...where Donna and I exchanged "war stories"...Ahhh, life is Great!!! Hike on!!!
