BIGEarl
Well-known member
January 19, 2011: Waumbek
Trails: Starr King Trail
Summits: Waumbek
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me
A little later than usual, we arrived to the winter trailhead lot in Jefferson on Route 2. There was a forecast for snow showers, the temperature was in the mid twenties, calm wind, and we had the place to ourselves. There were no other vehicles around – no hiker or snowmobile vehicles. We grabbed our things and with snowshoes in hand we took off. Once we arrived to the end of the plowed section of Starr King Road the snowshoes went on and we were hiking.
The trail all of the way to Waumbek is a nice packed snowshoe track with very little ice. We used snowshoes for the full hike. At the start we had roughly two inches of fresh snow. We made our way to the summer trailhead where the tracked route leaves the trail for a couple hundred yards and simply ascends past the pond along an old wood road and joins the actual trail a short distance higher. With the warm conditions I thought the snow would be perfect for a snowman but after checking it was found to be very dry, fluffy snow; not suitable for a snowman but easy to hike through.
The early part of Starr King Trail is through open hardwoods and this is a beautiful section at any time of year. The visibility is terrific. As we hiked along we passed many sets of deer tracks. In one area we found a very fresh set of tracks that was following the hiking trail. The deer was out for a snack. As it walked along the trail there were many places where she stepped off to browse on small conifer growth, then step back onto the trail, and continue along to another stop. From the amount of tracks in the fresh snow, it looks like there is a pretty good rabbit population in the area as well. I realize one rabbit can leave a lot of tracks, but there is probably no such thing as one rabbit. Mmmm… suddenly I’m thinking about hasenpfeffer.
Eventually we reached the place where the trail goes into the conifers and starts the sheltered section of our hike. This was also the elevation of the bottom of the cloud layer and we were now going in and out of low-hanging clouds. We still had fairly calm conditions but a snow shower had started – I think. It could have been the snow Sue was knocking off the trees onto my head. That’s okay, my hood was up.
The solid trail with light fresh cover continued most of the remaining way to the Starr King summit. A short distance below the summit we came into a section of drifting where the typical snow drift was one to two feet; just plow through. Soon we made the final short climb to the summit of Starr King. After a couple pictures we were on the walk to Waumbek.
Between Starr King and Waumbek we found three sections of significant drifting. The drifts ranged up to three to four feet in depth and were generally all located where the trail is on the south side of the ridge. None of the drifts were supportive at all and again we just plowed through. In a short time we were crossing a flat area and I noticed a familiar tree. After digging through the snow cover and looking under a couple branches we found the trail sign at the summit of Waumbek. I couldn’t tell if the trail past Waumbek toward The Weeks had been broken out – there were only rabbit tracks headed out that way. After a couple summit pictures we made our u-turn and headed back out the way we came in.
The trip back to the trailhead was fast on a solid trail with some loose powder to provide a nice cushion and fun snowshoe slides. A little over five hours after leaving we were back to the winter lot packing to make the drive south. Still, ours was the only vehicle around. Quiet day in the woods.
Thanks Sue - I'm still really enjoying your vacation and hope you are too.
Pictures will follow.
Trails: Starr King Trail
Summits: Waumbek
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me
A little later than usual, we arrived to the winter trailhead lot in Jefferson on Route 2. There was a forecast for snow showers, the temperature was in the mid twenties, calm wind, and we had the place to ourselves. There were no other vehicles around – no hiker or snowmobile vehicles. We grabbed our things and with snowshoes in hand we took off. Once we arrived to the end of the plowed section of Starr King Road the snowshoes went on and we were hiking.
The trail all of the way to Waumbek is a nice packed snowshoe track with very little ice. We used snowshoes for the full hike. At the start we had roughly two inches of fresh snow. We made our way to the summer trailhead where the tracked route leaves the trail for a couple hundred yards and simply ascends past the pond along an old wood road and joins the actual trail a short distance higher. With the warm conditions I thought the snow would be perfect for a snowman but after checking it was found to be very dry, fluffy snow; not suitable for a snowman but easy to hike through.
The early part of Starr King Trail is through open hardwoods and this is a beautiful section at any time of year. The visibility is terrific. As we hiked along we passed many sets of deer tracks. In one area we found a very fresh set of tracks that was following the hiking trail. The deer was out for a snack. As it walked along the trail there were many places where she stepped off to browse on small conifer growth, then step back onto the trail, and continue along to another stop. From the amount of tracks in the fresh snow, it looks like there is a pretty good rabbit population in the area as well. I realize one rabbit can leave a lot of tracks, but there is probably no such thing as one rabbit. Mmmm… suddenly I’m thinking about hasenpfeffer.
Eventually we reached the place where the trail goes into the conifers and starts the sheltered section of our hike. This was also the elevation of the bottom of the cloud layer and we were now going in and out of low-hanging clouds. We still had fairly calm conditions but a snow shower had started – I think. It could have been the snow Sue was knocking off the trees onto my head. That’s okay, my hood was up.
The solid trail with light fresh cover continued most of the remaining way to the Starr King summit. A short distance below the summit we came into a section of drifting where the typical snow drift was one to two feet; just plow through. Soon we made the final short climb to the summit of Starr King. After a couple pictures we were on the walk to Waumbek.
Between Starr King and Waumbek we found three sections of significant drifting. The drifts ranged up to three to four feet in depth and were generally all located where the trail is on the south side of the ridge. None of the drifts were supportive at all and again we just plowed through. In a short time we were crossing a flat area and I noticed a familiar tree. After digging through the snow cover and looking under a couple branches we found the trail sign at the summit of Waumbek. I couldn’t tell if the trail past Waumbek toward The Weeks had been broken out – there were only rabbit tracks headed out that way. After a couple summit pictures we made our u-turn and headed back out the way we came in.
The trip back to the trailhead was fast on a solid trail with some loose powder to provide a nice cushion and fun snowshoe slides. A little over five hours after leaving we were back to the winter lot packing to make the drive south. Still, ours was the only vehicle around. Quiet day in the woods.
Thanks Sue - I'm still really enjoying your vacation and hope you are too.
Pictures will follow.
