We parked by the public pool which is snow covered but I believe it's actually a pond. I didn't quite realize how late of a start we got as we only started on our way at 10:15AM. We walked up to where the road ends and found 2 cars blocking a driveway. This really "Grinds my Gears" to quote The Family Guy. **Rant On** I know that nobody was living at the home the cars were blocking as it appeared to be un-plowed and a seasonal property, but it's actions such as these that cause landowners to despise us hikers. If an emergency vehicle would have needed to access the property, it would not have been able to without towing the two vehicles in the way first. **Rant Over**
We stepped over the snowbank and Shelby put on her snowshoes for traction. In a few hundred yards, we reached the actual trailhead and a few hundred yards after that I gave in and put on my microspikes. We really need to get Shelby a pair of these as they work great.We hiked for a while in the open woods until it distinctly turned into the thicker spruce and fir trees. We stopped for a minute to adjust gear and I poked my pole into the ground to see how deep the snowpack was...Pretty Deep.
Before we knew it, we were at the summit of our bonus peak for the day (Starr King) feeding the Gray Jays. Shelby's seen these birds before but never had a chance to get to feed them so she had fun for a few minutes with them before we took off. I was lucky enough to snap this picture which seemed to be a pretty funky angle to take a picture of a Gray Jay but I thought it was interesting.
We were on our way again and shortly after rounding the corner found the remains of the old cabin's fireplace. I'm unsure what the cabin was used for, but if I had to guess I would say a rangers cabin once sat there. It looked like someone had actually decorated the cabin for the holidays putting boughs on the Mantle.
We were on our way again following the ridge over to Mt. Waumbek. I could not believe how fast the walk over to Waumbek seemed. It took no time at all and we found the summit at 1:45 where the Cairn was under snow.
A gentleman at the summit told us to walk a little further and we would be rewarded with excellent views of the Presidentials. We walked a little further and found the view where we ate a quick lunch and chatted away with the other folks who were there. There were a couple from Manchester and 2 people with a child from Vermont. We also took a few summit photos but they all came out washed out from the light. The photo of the Presi's came out ok though.
After spending the time at the summit, we headed down and arrived back at the car at about 3:45. After hearing from people for a while that this summit had no views, it wasn't too bad. The views were a bit obstructed, but they were there and the mountain was well worth the effort. 2 down this year, 18 to go.
