A strong storm that passed through New England early in the week caused widespread flooding, downed trees and power outages. I was anxious to get out there and get a first-hand look at some of the storm damage. I decided to check out the Starr King Trail to Mount Waumbek. This is a short hike and a short drive for me. I had also read a trail report that stated it was passable but with many blowdowns.
It was still dark when I left the house. On the drive to the trailhead I watched the almost full moon setting behind the mountains. As I got closer I could see that Mount Starr King and Mount Waumbek were cloud covered. It was daylight when I got to the Starr King Trail parking area and that was good because I had to navigate over part of the road that had washed out. There was one vehicle already parked there and one more pulled in right after me.
The trail started out with lots of leaves then it got very wet. About halfway up to Starr King a couple of gray jays swooped down on me looking for a handout. My snacks were tucked away in my pack so I kept going. There were several blowdowns before reaching the summit of Starr King. The tree tops were covered in a layer of frosty ice. The temperature was 29°F and there were snow flurries coming down.
I reached the summit of Starr King and took the customary fireplace photo. I didn't linger and was soon on my way over to Waumbek. There were many blowdowns along the way. There were some that required going over, some under and one I had to go around. I got to the summit of Mount Waumbek and kept going to the outlook where I passed under a few leaning trees and discovered there would be no views today. I turned around and started my return trip.
I went over, under and around the same blowdowns on my way back to Starr King. As I came around a bend in the trail I saw a familiar face, it was fellow hiker Mark whom I've enjoyed hiking with on several adventurous hikes. We chatted for a few minutes then continued on our seperate ways. I hadn't gone much further when I let down my guard for a moment and was not paying attention. I stepped on a wet root and immediately slipped and fell down. My trekking pole got caught and helped slow my fall but it bent in two and broke when I tried to straighten it. I was able to lengthen it and continued to use it for the rest of the hike.
I was soon back on the summit of Starr King. It looked like the clouds were starting to lift on my way over but no such luck. There were still no views so I started my descent. There were many hikers on their way up as I was going down. It was a quick trip down and I was back at full parking area.
It was interesting to see the results of the power from the recent storm. I'm sure the same damage can be seen throughout the White Mountains with some places worse than others. I'll be carefully checking trail reports over the next couple of months before venturing out on a hike. It's going to take some time to clean up the mess.
Enjoy the photos from this hike!
Moon setting on my drive to the trailhead
The hike starts here
All that recent rain and the well is still dry
A gnarly burl along the trail
The blowdowns start
Another blowdown before the summit of Starr King
A couple of gray jays were looking for a snack
One last blowdown before the summit of Starr King
Frost on the trail
Frost covered trees
At the fireplace on Starr King
A couple of easy over blowdowns on the way to Waumbek
Partially frozen mud puddles on the trail
A somewhat easy-over blowdown
Easy under
Had to go around this one
Frosty branches
A couple of leaners
Uprooted trees at the Waumbek outlook
No view from the Waumbek outlook
A hiking pole casualty when I slipped and fell
Orange jelly fungus
Sun trying to break through the cloud cover on Starr King
Just a very odd tree
A very wet trail
Mushrooms and ice
Almost back to the parking lot
Back at the trailhead
Having Fun in the Great Outdoors!
No comments:
Post a Comment