Mt. Cabot (4,161), The Bulge (3,945 ft), & The Horn (3,900 ft) 8-20-23

Distance: 17.1 mi.
Elevation: 2,665 ft. (Overall) 4,431 ft. (Total)
Time: 0:38 (Bunnell Notch Trail) 3:37 (Cabot Cabin) 3:51 (Cabot Spring) 4:10 (Mt. Cabot) 4:45 (The Bulge) 5:15 (The Horn) 9:10 (Total)
Trails: York Pond Rd, Bunnell Notch Trail, Kilkenny Ridge Trail, Cabot Spring Spur, The Horn Spur, Mill Brook Trail

I was going to be up north for the start of the weekend so I took advatage of this to hike a loop of the northern most 4K and two of the New England Hundred Highest peaks. I made this into a bigger loop than normal so that I could get in some good redlining miles while I was at it. The worst part of doing today's loop would be the approximately 2 mile road walk between the two trail heads. Because I didn't want to end the day with a boring road walk, I decided to start the day with it so that I could end my hiking at my truck.

The road walk felt quicker than expected and I was soon (enough) at the other trail head and turning off the road to start the hiking. Today the trail started off dry down low other than minor mud. Since this year has been so wet this summer, that was a nice start, even though it wouldn't last. Once the trail makes the 90 degree left turn a way up it and it starts to actually gain some elevation, things got a bit more wet. It still wasn't bad with standing mud or anything, but you could tell things were just a bit more damp. Once I had had followed along the brook up through Bunnell Notch more and started to gain some real elevation the trail really started to get wet. As I was now hiking through the clouds some, at times the trail was more like a small brook. The water flowing down the trail never got very deep, but it was still running down the trail covering the surface and where you would want to walk.

The trail was wet in many places

The first really wet section was at the junction with the Kilkenny Ridge Trail near the height of land in Bunnell Notch. There was lots of standing water right in the trail here and you either had to make your way around it or just get wet feet. Now the trail was a mix of some standing or running water in the trail and also that of wet rocks. I didn't have any problems with slipping on wet rocks or anything, but it could be a possibility. On the way up the trail I stopped at the view point at Bunnell Rock where I was treated to a view of the inside of the clouds. This is a nice little spot, but not so much today. After this the trail seemed to go quicker and before I knew it the trail was leveling out some and I saw the outhouse for the Cabot Cabin just before rounding the corner to the cabin.

Cabot Cabin

I took a nice break at the cabin to get out of the breeze a bit and adjust my gear some. Inside the cabin is a small map that included where the spring for the cabin is. This provided some nice reassurance as the first bit of redlining for me today would be the spur to the spring. I didn't know it existed the first time here so I didn't hike it, and the second time was winter and it didn't make sense in all the snow. The Cabot Spring Spur is a little ways past the cabin before you get to the summit. There is a wide section where the trail makes a bit of a left turn. The spring heads off to the right and there is a small sign on a tree that is most easily seen when heading from the cabin towards the summit. The spur isn't super wide or noticeable if you aren't looking for it and has the appearance of being a bit better than just a herd path into the woods. The spur ends up being more of a herd path than an actual trail all the way down to the spring. It is narrow, tight, and you do have to climb over a couple downed trees on the way down. The worst part is probably just how much elevation you lose hiking down in such a short distance. This makes coming back up that much more tiring. And if you are just redlining and don't really need the water, it seems more like a waste. Perhaps leave most of your gear near the start of the spur. The spring was flowing well today though, and the white pipe in the ground makes it easy to tell you are in the right spot.

Cabot Spring

Cabot Spring Spur is steep and narrow

After coming back up from the spring, I did the short and easy hike over to the summit of Mt. Cabot. The actual high point is just behind the sign that is in a large open area of the trail. There is a small cairn just into the trees following a short path past the sign. I took a short break here since I had taken a longer break at the cabin. Plus the clouds were starting to break up some and conditions were getting nicer. I was at the highest point of the day, but still had lots of hiking left to do.

Mt. Cabot

Coming down from Cabot and heading towards The Bulge the trail always feels to me that is turns further to the right (east) than it actually does and it always messes with me somewhat through here. Despite this though, the hike over to The Bulge went pretty quickly and soon I was at the viewless summit that only has a small cairn marking the top which someone could pass right by without really knowing what it was. Part of the descent of The Bulge is a little bit steep and had a tree that had fallen across it. This had the nice surprise though of being where I crossed paths with some my other hiking friends. With the unpopularity of Mt Cabot and even more so going past it to the Bulge and the Horn, it wasn't surprising that I only ran into other people I know that are working on either redlining or their grid of the 48 4Ks.

Soon the trail levels off more and becomes a nice walk to the junction with the trail leading up to the Horn. This trail starts off good and gets steeper as it goes on. Near the actual summit the trail seems to split and go mutiple directions up and over the rocks to get you to the top. At least one of these paths kind of forces you to go through the trees which are a bit tight to get to the top. Once at the top, the real high point is the top of a large exposed rock. This rock is a bit hard to climb up though to get up on top of it. You might need to check out a couple different spots to find which out which one allows you to get on top of it.

The Bulge

View from The Horn

After leaving the Horn it was time to make my way to Unknown Pond. The hiking through this section is pretty gentle without any real big ups or downs. Of course I was also going downhill for any of the elevation change. This was the time of day I started to encounter the most water though other than the water running down the trail near Bunnell Notch. Through here, there were lots of muddy spots with standing water in places as well. There were some bog bridges going over the water, but plenty of places to get your feet wet through here today. After Unknown Pond, the trail goes uphill again for a little bit slowly gaining some elevation. You will then go through a section where there was lots of ferns on both sides of the trail making it feel a bit narrow, but it was still easy to follow. After the ferns, the trail starts to drop downhill steeper than I was expecting and it keeps going for longer than I expected too. After the descent, the trail becomes mostly flat again which also means wet again. There are a couple places where it crosses the edges of some small ponds or bogs. One of these was easy with a bog bridge that was slightly sunken. Another one of these resulted in wet feet as what is left of the bog bridge is at a spot where the beavers have built a dam as well. The crossing starts off ok, but the end of it is basically walking on the beaver dam as there are no more bridge sections and the sticks rolled under my feet resulting in me stepping into the water and mud to keep from falling in.

Crossing the water

You'll likely get wet feet here

After the last pond/bog crossing, the trail all of a sudden widened up. Clearly someone had recently done some trail maintenance through this section. This made for some nice walking to the junction with the Mill Brook Trail. Starting down the Mill Brook Trail required a brief uphill climb leaving the intersection before things leveled out. Once heading back downhill, the trail is a long gradual decline all the way back to the parking area. It follows a bit of a sidehill higher up, then comes down closer to the brook where it then follows along the bank for quite some time as well. This trail had more wet sections just like much of the day had. At least now I already had soaking wet feet and didn't care if I stepped in more water since I knew I had dry shoes back in my truck. At the very bottom of the trail you come to a small pond with a small dam at the outlet. There is a sign saying to keep off the dam, so I turned right and went around the pond this direction before popping over onto the access road which you can follow the short way back to the parking area.

Given the weather to start the day, the length of the route, and the trails picked for the route this was a nice hike for a longer route. There weren't many people that I ran into and I didn't see a single person after passing Unknown Pond. The water on the trail was the biggest detractor of the day, but I still enjoyed the hike and added approximately 6 miles of new trails for the day of redlining.

Following the brook near the bottom of Mill Brook Trail

Given the weather to start the day, the length of the route, and the trails picked for the route this was a nice hike for a longer route. There weren't many people that I ran into and I didn't see a single person after passing Unknown Pond. The water on the trail was the biggest detractor of the day, but I still enjoyed the hike and added approximately 6 miles of new trails for the day of redlining.

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

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Stratton Mountain (3,936 ft) 2-21-21

Distance: 7.51 mi.
Elevation: 1,835 ft (overall) 2,068 ft (total)
Time: 2:17 (Summit) 3:53 (Total)
Trails: Long Trail

With little time so far this winter for hiking, it was time to get in my first "winter" hike of the season. I picked Stratton Mountain because I wanted to get back here when the views were clearer than the last time I was here, and I also knew it would be an easier hike due to the gradual incline and lower elevation gain for a New England Hundred Highest peak. But also, and maybe more importantly, my hiking partner Miles the Mountain Monkey needed this peak to get closer to finishing up his hundred highest peaks.

For some reason I was thinking that the Stratton-Arlington Road wasn't plowed all the way to the summer trail head and that I would be hiking in from the IP Road to get to the trail crossing there. I was a bit surprised to find it was and that there wasn't any tracks heading out the IP road. From the summer trail head though there was a nice packed trail. This meant a bit longer hike than I initially planned, but probably better conditions and not needing to avoid snowmobile traffic walking up the side of their trail to get to where the Long Trail crosses is.

Starting the hike at the normal summer time trail head

The trail to the crossing of the snowmobile trail is mostly flat and today was well packed. It made for a good warm up for the hike. There are a couple small brooks through here, but they all had bridges or were easy to step across. Once to the snowmobile trail I quickly crosses even though you could easily hear if someone was coming. I took a quick break to adjust just off to the side before continuing on.

A nice easy start to warm up with

After crossing the snomobile trail the hiking trail starts to gain a little elevation, but still stays pretty mellow. There was what appeared to be one brook crossing through here that looked like the terrain under the snow was pretty rocky. This was a bit messy to snowshoe across mostly because it appears recent traffic was more from skiers and it wasn't packed well.

As you continue up the mountain it slowly gets a little bit steeper about two thirds of the way up, but it never really gets that steep. I still think this is one of the easiest hikes on the NEHH list. Gradually you do work out of the hardwoods and into more spruce trees. A lot of snow has accumulated on the branches in places and quite often I had to lean out and around branches or duck under low hanging ones. Near the summit the trail levels out a little bit again before going though a narrower opening in the trees just before the summit area and tower.

Snow covered trees closer to the summit

As expected in the winter, today the tower was covered in snow and ice that had built up on it. That means going up the stairs is a bit tricky since they aren't flat, they can be slippery, and there isn't much room for your feet. I carefully made my way up to get the views and take some pictures. I didn't stay up as long as I normally would have because it was pretty cold and very windy above the trees today. You could go up into the cabin to get out of the wind, but all the windows are also covered in snow and ice so you wouldn't be able to see anything. The views are great in all directions though and it wasn't anywhere near as hazy as the last time I was here.

Summit tower

Summit view to the south

Summit view to the north

The tower had a thick layer of snow and ice

After a fair amount of time on the summit enjoying the blue sky and sun, I left the other hikers that had shown up and headed back down the mountain. The hike down went smoothly considering the snowshoe that I noticed had a broken binding at the start of the hike broke even more. It stayed on well, but twisted side to side too much at times. In the end conditions were good enough I could have used spikes for the descent. About half of the people today were wearing them anyways.

Hiking back down with low branches to duck under

Limited view to the south on the descent

Back to the open hardwoods

Today turned out to be a great hike on a nice gentle peak. It was good to get out for the one winter hike I actually had time for. The only thing that could have been better were if there was less wind so I could have stayed on the tower longer. But below the trees the wind wasn't bad at all so I can't complain.

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go to my gallery on SmugMug

Middle Carter Mtn (4,610 ft) & South Carter Mtn (4,430 ft) 9-12-20

Distance: 11.3 mi.
Elevation: 3,221 ft (overall) 3,737 ft (total)
Time: 3:00 (Flag Location) 3:12 (Middle Carter) 4:03 (South Carter) 6:40 (Road) 6:52 (Total)
Trails: Camp Dodge Cutoff, Imp Trail, North Carter Trail, Carter-Moriah Trail, Carter Dome Trail, Nineteen Mile Brook Trail, Route 16

This year for Flags on the 48 our group decided on Middle Carter Mtn to fly our flag from. We all met at the Great Gulf Parking lot knowing that the lot for Nineteen Mile Brook Trail would likely be overflowing by the end of the day. This required a very short road walk to the entrance to Camp Dodge (AMC requires a face covering crossing through here right now) so we could use the shortcut to the Imp Trail. From there we would head up to the ridge using the Imp Trail and the North Carter Trail.

Our group broke up into two groups for the hike up as some thought they would be a bit slower. We let them go ahead and the rest of us waited for the last of our group to show up before we headed up with the flag pole on our shoulders, taking turnes carrying it. I have come down this trail twice, but never gone up it. I remember it being rocky on the decent, but it didn't seem as bad today going up. Even when I was carrying the pole on my shoulder for a long stretch.

By the time the second half of the group got to the junction with the North Carter Trail, we had caught up to some of the first group while the rest was still working they way up the mountain. We continued up the North Carter Trail which was a bit rockier, with bigger rocks anyways. It was also a bit narrow which is what I remember too. Some brushing out along the trail could be helpful. Once up onto the ridge it is a much easier hike follwing the Carter-Moriah Trail.

Maybe a quarter mile or so from the summit our group gathered at an open spot along the trail. After a break here and some discussion, we decided to fly the flag from this location as the summit is not open and the trail isn't overly wide. It would be tight for all of us at the summit once the flag was up, and it would be hard for other hikers to get by. From our location we would have more room and the flag could more easily be seen. We got out the flag pole and set everything up here. Our setup has improved over the last few years and it is pretty easy to get the flag up once the pole is secured.

Once the flag was up we put up a couple other small memorials that had been given to us or that team members brought. And before some group members headed out over to South Carter and possibly Carter Dome one of them did a great job singing the National Anthem. Shortly before 2pm, a couple other members of our group and myself headed up and over the summit of Middle Carter and over to bag South Carter as well. The rest of the team would disassemble to flag pole and carry it down. On our way by we would grab the two small handheld flags we had someone put at the true summit of Middle Carter.

Our hike over South Carter went smoothly with a quick break there for some pictures and to ask the remainder of that summit group if they needed help taking down their setup. After that we took another break at Zeta Pass for snacks before hiking back down to the parking lot. If the rest of our group beat us down with the pole they were going to meet us at the Nineteen Mile Brook trail head to save us a road walk. Turns out we beat them by about 10 minutes and we just did the short road walk back to the cars. With how spread out everyone was with where they were staying, we decided not to do a group meal after out hike like we normally do. But even without that it was still a great day in the mountains with a great group of people for a great cause. Yet again, all 48 peaks had coverage this year. Big thanks go out to all the people that volunteer for this event.

Most of our group gathered at the trail head

View of the Presidential Range from where we flew the flag

Our group gathered back up together

Hooking the flag up

A couple of tributes at the base of the flag

The flag flying

Singing of the National Anthem

View of the flag from closer to the summit

A couple small flags at the actual summit

View from between the peaks

Group photo from someone's phone

Group photo from someone's phone

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go to my gallery on SmugMug

Sandwich Dome (3,993 ft) 8-22-20

Distance: 13.2 mi.
Elevation: 2,539 ft (overall) 3,407 ft (total)
Time: 3:30 (Sandwich Dome) 7:06 (Road) 7:38 (Total)
Trails: Algonquin Trail, Black Mountain Pond Trail, Guinea Pond Trail, Sandwich Notch Road

Having finished the New England Hundred Highest last year, I have already hiked Sandwich Dome before. But today I wanted to revisit it using a different route so that I could work on some redlining and see some new trails and sights along the trails. I decided on accessing the mountain from Sandwich Notch Rd so that I could go up the Algonquin Trail and down the Black Mountain Pond Trail while being able to still walk easily back to my truck on the road. Hiking solo means I can't do a car spot with someone else very easily.

Sandwich Notch Road is narrow and a little rough in a couple spots, but a nice drive early in the morning when you don't see anyone else. The parking at the Algonquin Trail is big enough for 3-4 cars off the road at the trail sign and a few other small spots in the area next to the road so you don't block the roadway. Even though there was room in front of the sign, I picked a spot about 100 feet down the road. I don't mind the short walk and this way I would have 100 feet less to walk on the road at the end of the hike.

The Algonquin Trail starts off gradual with a smooth footbed, making for a nice walk and a good way to get warmed up for the rest of the hike. There is one brook crossing, but today it was pretty much bone dry with the drought we have been having this summer. After getting you warmed up, the trail makes a bit of a left turn and finally starts to gain elevation. Still at a good incline so as to not be too steep though. As the trail nears the turn by Black Mountain there are a couple sections where you get a break as the trail levels out for a bit.

An easy start to the day

After the trail passes by Black Mountain, there is a steep rocky scramble before you are rewarded with a couple nice views to the west from on or next to the trail. After this the trail keeps climbing and soon starts to work through some shorter trees and open sections of rock. I was a bit surprised by how much this section is similar to what you see when you near treeline on a bigger peak. This is where you will soon run into the intersection with the Black Mountain Pond Trail coming up from the right.

The first steep section of the day

Some nice views from along the trail

Looking down on Black Mountain Pond

Leaving the intersection, the trail becomes more mellow as it works up towards a subpeak of the mountain before going just to the side of it and back down some. Soon it goes back uphill gradually getting steeper as it nears the summit. You will come to a junction with the Sandwich Mountain Trail, at which you need to go to the right for a short distance before reaching the summit. The summit is a small open area with exposed rock and limited views over and through the trees. Today the lower level of the clouds were almost even with the summit, so the views were even more limited as you could only see parts of the nearby peaks through the clouds. The better views today were from the open spots along the trails.

The last climb before the summit

Views from the summit were hindered by the clouds

The small open summit

After a nice long break and some chatting with other hikers, it was time to turn around and head back down the mountain. The hike back down to the intersection with the Black Mountain Pond Trail was easy and went by quick. Once at the intersection it was time to head down a new trail and say goodbye to one of the hikers I had been playing leap frog with much of the day and had talked with quite a bit on the way back down to here.

A storm passing just south of the mountain

Shortly after starting down the Black Mountain Pond Trail it drops off steeply, steeper than I expected it to be. I guess I hadn't paid as much attention to the guide book as I thought. The trail wasn't too bad as long as you take your time and watch where you step. But if you are uncomfortable going down steep rocky trails or don't like coming up trails this steep, you might want to pick another route. The trail stays steep for quite a ways with some short breaks from it. It also goes next to some interesting and tall rock faces as well as over some very large boulders with some pretty deep drops between them. While steep, rocky, and challenging, it was also interesting and fun too.

Heading steeply down the mountain

The trail passing a cliff face

Shortly after the steep part of the trail ends, you will come to the upper portion of Black Mountain Pond. Little more than a big puddle with some swampy area around it, but it does feed down into the main pond. Just after this the trail passes part of the pond with a short path leading to the shoreline. The area around the pond has had lots of recent work done to eliminate many extra tent spots and allow revegetation to happen. Due to this, it is asked that you don't walk along the shore and try to stay on all trails around the pond. Signs clearly indicate where things are here and some rope is still in place to help keep you on trail and off sites you shouldn't be on.

Black Mountain Pond

From the pond out the trail is pretty gentle with good footing and no more steep or rocky sections. It would have been pretty smooth and fast sailing from here out, but I hadn't packed enough water and didn't bring anything I could have filtered water from the pond with. So I kept at a moderate pace as I still had a good distance to go without much to drink. Even though I didn't expect much water to be coming over it, I did make the short hike out the spur trail to Mary Cary Falls. I was redlining today anyways and didn't want to have to come back just for this section alone. The falls look like they could be quite interesting with lots of water coming over them, but today there wasn't a drop coming down and they were just a pile of rocks.

A dry Mary Cary Falls

The rest of the Black Mountain Pond Trail was a nice walk as it gently lost some elevation. It follows the brook for a while which today wasn't really flowing. It also crosses another brook just before the intersection with the Guinea Pond Trail that was flowing some. It was an easy brook to cross today with dry feet and made for a good place to splash some water on myself to help me cool down a bit. The Guinea Pond Trail was again smooth and good for fast walking. It stays mostly straight except for going around a large swamp. I does come out onto the powerlines briefly near the end before Sandwich Notch Road. Once at the end of the trail, it was a steady slog back to the truck along Sandwich Notch Road. All the while thinking about the big bottle of ice water I had waiting for me in a cooler in my truck.

The trail next to the dry brook

The last water crossing, quite easy today

Guinea Pond Trail

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go to my gallery on SmugMug