Trail: Starr King Trail to Starr King Mountain (1:50), cross ridge to Waumbek (35 min). 7.2 miles roundtrip. Hit trail at noon. Back to car by 5:15.
Trail Conditions: Wet rocks, roots, and some mud. There were some blowdowns on the ridge between the two summits but they had been trimmed up a bit to allow them to be negotiated easier. Otherwise, this is a very well maintained RMC trail.
View: None. This mountain is treed-in at the top with no exposure. The weather prevented us from seeing the available views from Starr King.
Group: Mike, Brian and Anai
We made a few stops in Lincoln on the way up, picked up our WMNF parking passes for the year at the Visitors Center, then stopped into the Mountain Wanderer Book and Map Store to meet Steve Smith and pick up his book “The 4000 Footers in the White Mountains”. Steve was very kind to sign my new copy and also signed Brian’s well used copy. I thought about purchasing it earlier in the spring but figured I’d wait and buy it from the source on the way up. Then we were off to Price Chopper because I left my lunch in the fridge at home. Luckily that was the only thing I forgot, aside from sunglasses which I would not need this day.
We knew when we headed out that it would be a rainy day. We considered a few factors and decided to make the trip anyway. First, the summit is treed-in, providing protection if we got caught in a storm and also preventing us from seeing any views even on a sunny day and second, the trail was not technical in any way and we had enough gear to keep us “mostly dry”.
The trail is easy to find. Starr King Road is just off of the state highway and well marked. It dead-ends at the trailhead. It is a small parking lot, but on this day there were only two other cars there.
We started out in a light rain. About a half mile in we decided we were sweating so much in our raingear that we would shed it and allow ourselves to get wet on the way up, knowing we had dry clothes to change into at the top for the descent. The trip up was fairly uneventful. Within a few minutes we met the occupants of the only other two cars at the trailhead and from that moment on we had Starr King and Waumbek to ourselves this day. Starr King is a very steady climb. When we got to the top of Starr King we quickly started to cool off, being wet and no longer producing heat from climbing. So we took a few quick pictures at the fireplace and moved on to Mt. Waumbek. The col was uneventful other than a few blowdowns. Between the treed in summit and the foul weather there wasn’t much to see on Waumbek. As soon as we stopped moving we got pretty cold so it was out of the wet clothes and into some dry ones. Luckily it was not raining while we were at the summit so we could comfortably get into some dry clothes. We all wore raingear for the hike back out – and good thing we did because we hit another steady rain on the descent from Starr King. The wet rocks, roots, and mud made for less than ideal conditions on the way down but we made it back safely.
Brian and Anai shared with me their post hike tradition of eating at the Mad River Tavern off exit 28 in Campton, NH. Great stop for hungry hikers on the way home. I recommend the chili and Thai salmon.
We look like drowned rats in what few photos I took of this wet hike.
Gear Notes
Gear Notes
This was my first hike with my new Gregory z30 day pack. It fits great and no sore shoulders afterwards. It performed as expected. Pretty comfortable. Perhaps a more detailed gear review of the z30 in the future.
With the wet trail on the way down, and my knees feeling a little more than my age, some poles would have been nice. Something I will consider for the future.
A pack cover is a necessity if hiking in rain. I didn’t have one. Brian and Anai did – they learned that lesson after doing the Presidential Traverse. I consider myself lucky that I learned my lesson easier than they did.
I also do not own gaiters and have wanted them for a while. They would have helped keep the rain from getting my socks wet.
I had a blister on my right big toe start to develop in the last mile or so of the descent. At that point, being close to finished and it raining pretty hard, I decided to keep going rather than digging out the athletic tape or moleskin. The right sock was the one that got wet in my pack for lack of a pack cover. I’ve been considering new boots because I think my feet move too much in the ones I have and I wear heavy socks to compensate. I got the green superfeet at EMS hoping it would take up some room but I didn’t notice much of a difference. I had no problems on the way up, just some issues on that last mile. I think the combination of the wet sock and some movement of the foot inside the boot caused the blister.
A pack cover is a necessity if hiking in rain. I didn’t have one. Brian and Anai did – they learned that lesson after doing the Presidential Traverse. I consider myself lucky that I learned my lesson easier than they did.
I also do not own gaiters and have wanted them for a while. They would have helped keep the rain from getting my socks wet.
I had a blister on my right big toe start to develop in the last mile or so of the descent. At that point, being close to finished and it raining pretty hard, I decided to keep going rather than digging out the athletic tape or moleskin. The right sock was the one that got wet in my pack for lack of a pack cover. I’ve been considering new boots because I think my feet move too much in the ones I have and I wear heavy socks to compensate. I got the green superfeet at EMS hoping it would take up some room but I didn’t notice much of a difference. I had no problems on the way up, just some issues on that last mile. I think the combination of the wet sock and some movement of the foot inside the boot caused the blister.
At Brian’s suggestion I picked up some Under Armor heatgear compression boxers. Great product. Never leave for the mountains without them!
No comments:
Post a Comment