BIGEarl
Well-known member
November 15, 2008: Waumbek
Trails: Starr King Trail
Summits: Starr King, Waumbek
Hikers: Trail Trotter and me
The last day leading up to the hike we were going back and forth trying to decide on the hike. Not what to do but when to do it. I sent Sue an email concerning our start time; we had a meet time of 5:30am and a target on-trail time of 8:00am. The weather forecast wasn’t great with the National Weather Service posting a 90 percent probability of precipitation for the full day and Weather.com showing only clouds early with a jump to 30 percent probability at 9:00am and a jump to 50 percent probability at noon. An 8:30am start time would mean an ending time of around 1:30pm – most likely in the rain. Sue said she had the impression conditions could head downhill at 9:00am. With that in mind, we better start earlier. I asked when? Sue’s response, “How does 4:00am sound?” Done. Meet at 4:00am, on-trail at 6:30am, and back out around 11:00am. We’re having fun now!
As planned, we were setting off from the trailhead for the Starr King Trail at 6:30am under a cloudy sky, with no wind, and a mild temperature in the mid-40’s. As we were starting up the trail a truck pulled in with a driver wearing an orange hat – this is the opening weekend of deer season. We kept walking, but with Sue up front. I figured it was better to have the smaller target leading the parade. Actually, that’s usually where she is when we hike together. Regarding hunting, one shot was heard while we were there. It was close enough for Sue to hear it but not me, which means it was most likely on a different mountain. Opening weekend, one shot heard all morning, pretty quiet day. Now, back to the hike.
The trail was littered with leaves as expected and they were wet making for very slippery conditions. That’s the bad news. The good news is really good. The trail is in great shape with not a single blowdown for the full length and all water bars have been cleared of leaves and other debris. The tremendous amount of work done by the trail maintenance crew is obvious and deserves a big thank you from all of us that use the trail. Many of the blowdowns that were cleared were in the ten inch diameter class. Clearing one like this is a lot of work and there were quite a few in this size range and many smaller ones as well. Great job! Mud pits were around almost every turn but they were easy to pass.
The weather remained quiet all of the way to the turn into the spruce (approximately 3000 feet) where a few raindrops were felt. Within a couple hundred yards we decided to pull out the rain gear. A short time after the sprinkles stopped and that was it for the hike. We worked our way past the spring, running very strong right now, through the blowdown field where a good number of blowdowns were cleared, made a quick stop for Sue to build a miniature snowman, and on to the summit of Starr King. We stopped at the USGS summit marker to check the view – pretty nice. Then we wandered to other view locations for some pictures before heading to Waumbek.
We had only one mile to go for Waumbek. I wondered to myself if the trails crew had continued past Starr King. In no time I knew. The crew did in fact continue to Waumbek. Many more blowdowns were taken care of and we had a clear-sailing hike to our target for the day. After a few pictures to document the accomplishment and a quick snack we were off for our return hike.
The hike back to Starr King was exactly the reverse of the hike to Waumbek and uneventful. Once we reached Starr King we again stopped for more pictures of the northern Presidentials and Franconia Ridge. Pretty nice views’ considering the cloud cover – but it was generally high cloud cover. Soon we were heading for the trailhead lot. It’s a short 2.6 miles of all downhill. But, watch the mud because it’s really slippery stuff. It wasn’t the wet leaves or the wet rocks or the wet roots, it was the mud that we needed to be careful with. We made our way back through the spruce to the open hardwoods at ~3000 feet and finally heard the single gunshot for the day. Perhaps all of the Jefferson area hunters are of the fair-weather variety. The deer are having an easy day.
Within an hour we were at the trailhead and making preparations to leave. We changed into our comfortable footwear and packed our things in the back. In no time Sue pulled out of the trailhead lot and we were off, headed south to take care of other obligations. Throughout the hike, except for a few very light sprinkles, we had no precipitation at all. We never found any until reaching Franconia Notch. The National Weather Service is in a real batting slump these days – I hope they pull out of it soon. Weather.com with their usually more optimistic view of things seems to be the better choice right now (purely subjective view).
Thanks Sue, it was a real treat hiking Waumbek with you, and another great day in the mountains.
Pictures will follow.
Trails: Starr King Trail
Summits: Starr King, Waumbek
Hikers: Trail Trotter and me
The last day leading up to the hike we were going back and forth trying to decide on the hike. Not what to do but when to do it. I sent Sue an email concerning our start time; we had a meet time of 5:30am and a target on-trail time of 8:00am. The weather forecast wasn’t great with the National Weather Service posting a 90 percent probability of precipitation for the full day and Weather.com showing only clouds early with a jump to 30 percent probability at 9:00am and a jump to 50 percent probability at noon. An 8:30am start time would mean an ending time of around 1:30pm – most likely in the rain. Sue said she had the impression conditions could head downhill at 9:00am. With that in mind, we better start earlier. I asked when? Sue’s response, “How does 4:00am sound?” Done. Meet at 4:00am, on-trail at 6:30am, and back out around 11:00am. We’re having fun now!
As planned, we were setting off from the trailhead for the Starr King Trail at 6:30am under a cloudy sky, with no wind, and a mild temperature in the mid-40’s. As we were starting up the trail a truck pulled in with a driver wearing an orange hat – this is the opening weekend of deer season. We kept walking, but with Sue up front. I figured it was better to have the smaller target leading the parade. Actually, that’s usually where she is when we hike together. Regarding hunting, one shot was heard while we were there. It was close enough for Sue to hear it but not me, which means it was most likely on a different mountain. Opening weekend, one shot heard all morning, pretty quiet day. Now, back to the hike.
The trail was littered with leaves as expected and they were wet making for very slippery conditions. That’s the bad news. The good news is really good. The trail is in great shape with not a single blowdown for the full length and all water bars have been cleared of leaves and other debris. The tremendous amount of work done by the trail maintenance crew is obvious and deserves a big thank you from all of us that use the trail. Many of the blowdowns that were cleared were in the ten inch diameter class. Clearing one like this is a lot of work and there were quite a few in this size range and many smaller ones as well. Great job! Mud pits were around almost every turn but they were easy to pass.
The weather remained quiet all of the way to the turn into the spruce (approximately 3000 feet) where a few raindrops were felt. Within a couple hundred yards we decided to pull out the rain gear. A short time after the sprinkles stopped and that was it for the hike. We worked our way past the spring, running very strong right now, through the blowdown field where a good number of blowdowns were cleared, made a quick stop for Sue to build a miniature snowman, and on to the summit of Starr King. We stopped at the USGS summit marker to check the view – pretty nice. Then we wandered to other view locations for some pictures before heading to Waumbek.
We had only one mile to go for Waumbek. I wondered to myself if the trails crew had continued past Starr King. In no time I knew. The crew did in fact continue to Waumbek. Many more blowdowns were taken care of and we had a clear-sailing hike to our target for the day. After a few pictures to document the accomplishment and a quick snack we were off for our return hike.
The hike back to Starr King was exactly the reverse of the hike to Waumbek and uneventful. Once we reached Starr King we again stopped for more pictures of the northern Presidentials and Franconia Ridge. Pretty nice views’ considering the cloud cover – but it was generally high cloud cover. Soon we were heading for the trailhead lot. It’s a short 2.6 miles of all downhill. But, watch the mud because it’s really slippery stuff. It wasn’t the wet leaves or the wet rocks or the wet roots, it was the mud that we needed to be careful with. We made our way back through the spruce to the open hardwoods at ~3000 feet and finally heard the single gunshot for the day. Perhaps all of the Jefferson area hunters are of the fair-weather variety. The deer are having an easy day.
Within an hour we were at the trailhead and making preparations to leave. We changed into our comfortable footwear and packed our things in the back. In no time Sue pulled out of the trailhead lot and we were off, headed south to take care of other obligations. Throughout the hike, except for a few very light sprinkles, we had no precipitation at all. We never found any until reaching Franconia Notch. The National Weather Service is in a real batting slump these days – I hope they pull out of it soon. Weather.com with their usually more optimistic view of things seems to be the better choice right now (purely subjective view).
Thanks Sue, it was a real treat hiking Waumbek with you, and another great day in the mountains.
Pictures will follow.
