Summit of Mt Waumbek

[Penobscot]

I recently made a trip to what I thought was the summit of Mt Waumbek. I did not see a sign to indicate the actual summit. Now that I'm home I came across pictures, hopefully old, that show a wooden sign nailed onto a dead tree AND a large pile of rocks near the sign. I made it to the intersection of the Kilkenny Ridge Trail and was told by a fellow hiker that this was "it." Someone please tell me he was right!!!!!

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Sounds about right. If you made a left at the old fireplace (Starr King) and tromped for about another mile, going slightly downward to a col and then climbing up to the final summit, you're there. The section between Starr King and Wambek can be a little tough to follow at times as it blows in frequently.

 

[bill bowden]

Before the Kilkenny Ridge Trail Existed

The Waumbek Trail ended at the summit at a small and forgettable cairn and an aged summit sign. I believe the Kilkenny Ridge trail junction is about 10-15 yards beyond the old summit.
At tha ttime there were quite good views from the Starr King clearing, now pretty grown over.

 

[GlennS]

I have a picture I took when I went up Waumbek in July 2002. There was a sign that read "Waumbek, 4006." I went up there on February 10th and didn't see the sign. I too went to the Kilkenny Ridge Trail sign. My GPS track shows I was clearly past the summit high point.

You're good; you don't have to go up there again. Unless you want to of course.

I can email you a picture showing the track if you want it. Send me a PM.

Glenn

 

[JohnL]

The large spikes that held the summit sign are (or were the last time I was there) still embedded in the tree next to the summit cairn.

JohnL

 

[MtnMagic]

Yes, what the others said. I was there last Saturday and saw what John wrote. Also since then, the ridge has been cleared of blowdowns, just past the double blaze, which obscured the trail causing a lot of wandering. Now thanks very much to Cath's trail maintenance, hikers can easily stay on the trail.

 

[Jim lombard]

I was last up there in March of 2003 and the sign was at our feet. Wonderful views from the summit because we were standing on about 6 feet of snow.

So, another sign ripped down? I wish the people that did that would at least remove the spikes.

Owlshead tree

 

[MtnMagic]

I remember the Owl'sHead spikes to be in the 24-30 penny range. The head the size of a dime. One needs a hefty pry-bar to remove them.

 

[Mike P.]

I was there in mid-to late January & I thought the sign was there. In fact I thought the fruitcake (really a fruitcake not another hiker) advertising another hiking website (not one I belong to but several people here do) was attached to the sign.

Do you remember the sign Earl? Maybe one of the non-hibernating bears got hungry & needed to eat the sign to help digest the fruitcake.

 

[GlennS]

There were actually two signs in the Waumbek summit area. One said:

Starr King Trail
To Mount Starr King
US Route 3
<- (Pointed back to Starr King)

This sign was wrapped in blue tape. Didn't see a cairn. If it was there, it was covered with snow.

The other sign was for the Kilkenny Ridge Trail. This was past the summit.

Didn't see any fruit cake.

 

[RoySwkr]

I also remember a summit sign for Waumbek but didn't see it this month. There was a small cairn and 2 trail signs on different trees, one pointing each way.

Purists may wish to continue to E Waumbek which has the same highest contour and the USGS may decree higher some day. In addition to extra solitude, you get an obstructed view of Weeks, Terrace, and Cabot, with The Horn just peeking over the ridge.
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=19&n=4922844&e=307945&s=25&size=s&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25

 

[MichaelJ]

As of just this past October, there was a significantly-sized cairn at the summit of Waumbek.

 

[Mike P.]

In January the cairn was not as tall but then again the snow was knee deep allowing us a decent but obstructed view of the Northern Presidentials but not as good as the Starr King view.

 

[Darwin]

I havn't been up there since 2004 . I don't remember a sign but the cairn was descent size.

 

[dms]

I wish the people that did that would at least remove the spikes.

Owlshead tree

Jim, as to the summit sign that was recently removed from OH, I understand it was put up by a former member of this board who has bragged about it on another hiking board. He also said he'd continue to put up signs no matter how many OH summit signs the FS takes down.

 

[lx93]

.jpg of summit

Glen,

I took a pic of the summit when I bagged it this past June or July; I can e-mail it to you if you like. (It's too large a file to post here).

 

[Cath]

Waumbek summit sign

The summit sign, of the white-painted variety, was still there as of 2/12/06.
It is nailed to a tree on the North side of the small summit clearing, directly across from the small summit cairn that sits on the South side of the summit clearing. We removed the blue - flagging, that had served as the Yule Log leash, which had been found tied to the summit sign a month earlier. There is a WMNF cedar sign just a short distance further along the trail to the East of the summit.

 

[smitty77]

At tha ttime there were quite good views from the Starr King clearing, now pretty grown over.

Say it ain't so! Back when I did this mountain (1988?) we went past the summit to Starr King just for the views. At least the formerly viewless summit of Tom has been opened a little by nature. Win a few, lose a few, I guess.

 

[bobandgeri]

Geri , Ross and I visited the summit of Waumbek today. The sign is gone as far as we could tell, but the carin is still there! You didn't see because most likely you were walking on top of it!!

This photo taken today shows the top of the carin where we dug it out. If you compare it to MichaelJ's photo you can see the same tree that is at a diagonal in the background. If you wondered where all the snow is - look here - that is a big carin that is under the snow.

http://rbhayes.net/latest/Waumbek-feb-06/1.jpg

Here is a photo of Ross and Geri standing next too/on top of the carin.

http://rbhayes.net/latest/Waumbek-feb-06/2.jpg


Today the trail had 3 inches of fresh snow at the bottom and up to a foot of snow in open areas near the top. We drove up to the trailhead as did a few others that we met on our way down, as they were heading up.

 

[MtnMagic]

It's interesting that a large number of people can see or not something and have many differing descriptions of an event.

Many smiles and many miles!