Mt. Waumbek (4,006 ft) 11-2-14

Distance: 7.2 mi.
Elevation: 2,466 ft. (overall) 3,173 ft. (total)
Time: 1:57 (Mt. Starr King), 2:27 (Mt. Waumbek) 4:24 (Total)
Trails: Starr King Trail

For the 55th peak this year is Mt. Waumbek in Jefferson, NH. With it's two limited view points along the hike, it's a good hike for a day that was predicted to be overcast and a bit cloudy. This was my first hike of this fall/winter season to have snow on the ground, although there wasn't much of it.

When I got to the trail head, I was the only vehicle there. Maybe I would luck out and have the mountain to myself today. Once I got my gear ready, I headed out. The trail goes into the woods briefly before coming back out onto an old road. It follows the old road up a gentle grade with good footing. Early along the trail you pass on old spring house. The stone wall is all that remains along with some of the old pipes down in the bottom. The actual spring is just behind it.

Spring house

The trail continues up the old road gradually getting narrower and wetter. Things were a bit frozen today though, so mud wasn't an issue. Eventually the trail goes to your right off of the old road. It works into the trees a bit before heading back uphill. Footing is still good, but it does get just a bit steeper. The wet ground and cold temperature did make for a couple patches of ice. In this section is where the snow was starting to cover the ground more evenly.

Snow on the ground

The trail on this route comes to a very well defined transition from open hardwoods to the spruce softwoods. It's like you all of a sudden hit a wall of more dense trees. It's one of the features I enjoy about this hike. As you continue to climb through the softwoods, the trail gets a bit more difficult with exposed roots and rocks, but it still isn't bad. After climbing for a while, you will pass a spring that is just to the left of the trail with a small sign. After this, it gets a bit steeper before coming up to the summit of Mt. Starr King. The summit is actually in the trees next to the trail, but just past it is an opening where a cabin once stood, and the chimney still remains. There is also a limited view from here towards the Presidential Range.

Opening at the old cabin site

Limited view

The trail leaves the opening next to the chimney going downhill gradually. The hike along the ridge to Mt. Waumbek is a nice section of woods with no difficult terrain. It's a quick and enjoyable hike to the summit. The actual summit of Mt. Waumbek is in the trees and has a very small opening. There is a sign with info about the trail, and a cairn made of small rocks. But if you go just a bit past it, you will come to a small opening on the right side of the trail that has nice views to the east and south. While I was here, the clouds covered the Presidential Range, but it was still interesting as they were just above me and I was almost even with them.

Along the ridge

View from just past the summit

As I hiked back to Mt. Starr King, the clouds got a little lower and eventually I was in them. This meant there was no view when I got back to the old cabin site. I took a quick picture to show this, and headed back down the trail. The hike back down went smoothly and eventually I ran into one other hiker. She got a late start and wasn't expecting to make it all the way to Mt. Waumbek before her turn around time. Back down below the snowline, I also met a man that was deer hunting the area. Don't forget something red or hunter orange on your pack this time of year.

BAck on Mt. Starr King, the view is now clouded over

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

Carter Dome (4,832 ft), South Carter Mtn (4,430 ft) & Middle Carter Mtn (4,610 ft) 10-28-14

Distance: 13.3 mi.
Elevation: 3,386 ft. (overall) 4,634 ft. (total)
Time: 3:14 (Carter Dome) 4:34 (Sout Carter) 5:22 (Middle Carter) 7:46 (Total)
Trails: 19 Mile Brook Trail, Carter Dome Trail, Carter-Moriah Trail, North Carter trail, Imp Trail, Dodge Cutoff, Rt 16

To hike the Carters, I decided I would repeat the same loop I did the last time here. Starting up the Nineteen Mile Brook(19MB) Trail to Zeta Pass, then to all the peak along the ridge. Today I would skip Mt. Hight though due to the cloud cover of the day and due to information about icy conditions from other hikers on the trail today.

The hike up 19MB Trail goes quickly. The gain is gradual and footing is pretty good. The trail is easy to follow and stays near the brook. There is one brook crossing where the bridge washed out/away during Tropical Storm Irene. This was the only crossing I was concerned about today, but some rock work has been done here so a couple planks could be placed across it.

Brook crossing with planks

When I got to the first intersection, I headed up the Carter Dome Trail towards Zeta Pass. As soon as I did this, it started to rain lightly and I needed to stop to put my pack cover on. It wasn't hard enough to require a rain coat yet. The Carter Dome Trail crosses a small brook a couple times, but all the crossings are easy and can be done with dry feet. Eventually the trail starts to make a couple switchbacks as it nears Zeta Pass. At the pass, I headed south bypassing Mt. Hight on the way to Carter Dome. Getting higher up the trail, I started to see some ice on the ground. Two days ago there was a rain storm that appears to have been icing conditions higher up. The ice was now falling off the trees as the temperature was above freezing again.

Ice on the ground as I head up the trail

View from Carter Dome

Ice on the trees at the summit

After spending some time on Carter Dome, I headed back down to Zeta Pass. I met some hikers in this section on my way up that said conditions were icy just below Mt. Hight. This combined with with cloudy skies convinced me to skip Mt. Hight. Normally the best views of the hike are here and it's worth the side trip.

The climb out of Zeta Pass to South Carter is pretty quick with only a few short steep sections. It didn't take too long to get to the next summit. Just across the trail from the summit is a short path to a small view point. I didn't notice this my first time here, but it was cloudy and rainy that day as well. With limited views and continued clouds and light rain, I didn't spend much time here. I headed off up the trail to Middle Carter. The section through here is quick and has a few nice views along the way to make it better. To me, it doesn't feel like you lose as much elevation as to do through here, so that is nice too. There is only one tricky spot (when wet, like today) where you have to go down a steep rock face that doesn't have many good places for footing.

View from South Carter Mtn

View on the trail between South Carter and Middle Carter

The summit of Middle Carter is similar to South Carter in that there isn't much there. The trees on the eastern side of the trail are thin enough you can get some views in that direction though. There is no sign for the summit, and if you miss the small cairn, you could walk right over it. After a short time here as well, I was back to hiking and starting the trek down.

View from Middle Carter Mtn

The trail has a few ups and downs as it works its way over Mt. Lethe. The North Carter Trail junction seems to be a bit further up the trail than you would think my looking at the map. Having been here a few times now though, I don't start thinking "did I miss it?" As it has been in the past, the North Carter Trail was quite wet with water flowing down it in places. There are some sections with small loose rocks as well. At the junction with the Imp Trail, I took a left and keep going down the mountain. Once getting down into the open hardwoods, the trail levels out some. After this, you want to look for a small logged area on your right. Then there is small woods road on your left with tall grass that brings you into Camp Dodge. If you go down their driveway, you come out to Route 16 just down the road from the trail head. When I came through, they were doing construction to replace a bridge on the driveway and I needed to find another way across the brook. That didn't prove too hard though.

This hike doesn't really have any real hard sections on it. It is however a fair amount of elevation gain over the course of it. That makes it take a bit longer than you would think. And makes it a bit harder/more tiring than you might believe ahead of time.

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

Mt. Whiteface (4,020 ft) & Mt. Passaconaway (4,043 ft) 10-19-14

Distance: 12.0 mi.
Elevation: 2,903 ft. (overall) 4,646 ft. (total)
Time: 3:03 (Whiteface) 5:16 (Passaconaway) 7:37 (Total)
Trails: Dicey's Mill Trail, Tom Wiggins Trail, Blueberry Ledge Trail, Rollins Trail, Walden Trail, East Loop

For Mt. Whiteface and Mt. Passaconaway, I planned on a clockwise loop since I had done them in the other direction the last time I was here. My plan was to take some trails up and down that would be new to me on these peaks. Starting off from the Ferncroft parking lot, I headed up to the end of the road. The house there is cooperative with hikers and allows them up the driveway and across the lawn to the start of the trail. It's easy to follow the path so you don't have to wonder around looking for it.

Looking up from the parking lot

I started up the Dicey’s Mill Trail. The trail was easy to follow and started off pretty gradual. There were quite a few leaves on the ground today, but they weren't creating bad footing yet. After a few small climbs and some easy walking, I was at the Tom Wiggin Trail. The warning on the sign could be a bit discouraging for some people, but I was still game to try it. I headed down the trail, and after a bit of mud, was at the brook crossing. I found a safe place to cross and kept my feet dry.

The river crossing

Heading up the Tom Wiggin Trail, it starts to climb right after the crossing. It isn't too steep to start though. After working a bit further up into the valley, the trail starts to turn more directly uphill and starts to get harder. There are some interesting spots along the trail including one large boulder right next to it. As the trail got steeper, I was expecting the leaves on the ground to cause traction problems, but they never really did. The leaves weren't slick and while the dirt underneath was loose and not compact, it wasn't hard to climb up. After some steep climbing, the trail starts to turn towards the right some and head into the conifers. Footing is still a bit rough. As the trail gets closer to the top, it turns left again and the path gets narrower. Some of the trees could use a bit of trimming through here. You have to push through a bit in some places.

Starting to get steeper

Getting rocky

Up on the ridge now, it was a short hike to the ledges. Everything was nice and dry today, so it was easy going over them. The ledges provide the nicest views of the day. After a nice rest on the false summit and enjoying the views, I made the short hike to the wooded summit of Mt. Whiteface. After a short stop for a couple pictures, I was headed down the Rollins Trail. It was just cool enough and there was just enough water that there were a couple small icy spots and I nearly fell once. There are a few nice viewpoints along the ridge that provide good views to the east. It was impressive to see how much work had been done along the ridge to clean up all of the fallen trees.

Open area along the ledges

View from the false summit (top of the ledges)

After getting down to the intersection with the Dicey's Mill Trail, it was time to start the climb up Mt. Passaconaway. The trail was quite wet with water running down it or across it in many locations. The water was never deep though, and it was warm enough now that none of it was turning to ice. The trail makes its way to the summit with a series of switchbacks before one last final rocky climb. At the top of the climb is a small view point just before the short side trail to the wooded summit. Just past the summit is another view point that has views north and east. After some time here, I continued down the trail making a loop around the summit.

A section of blow downs that has been cleaned up

A section of trail with water running down it

View near the summit

After getting back to the trail I came up, it was a short distance to the intersection with Dicey's Mill Trail. After talking with the group of hikers here, I headed down. The gradual decline of the trail and the good surface make it obvious why this seems to be the most popular route up the mountain. The descent down to the river went quick, even with the thick layer of leaves on the trail that could have been slippery. There are multiple trees down across the river near the crossing which provide dry footing to cross on. From here down, it was again an easy hike over gentle terrain that just had a layer of leaves on it. The hike went quickly and I was soon walking back down the road to the parking lot and my car.

Dicey's Mill Trail

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE