Outdoor Diversion: Stellar Winter Hike to Mount Cabot

Summit: Mount Cabot (4,170')

Trail route: York Pond Trail, Bunnell Notch Trail, Kilkenny Ridge Trail

Trail conditions: Trail had a well packed foundation with some loose snow on top

Weather: Cold with temps in the teens and 20's, steady breeze making it feel colder, lots of blue sky and sunshine

Total miles: 10

Total time: 5:57

It's been over a month since I hiked a 4,000 footer due to a health issue. After feeling better last week I did a few non-4,000 foot hikes to gain back my strength and it was good to get out again. I felt ready to try a 4,000 footer today and chose one close to home. Both weather and trail reports looked like optimal mid-winter conditions.

The trailhead for Mount Cabot is fifteen minutes from my house. As I was going into the fish hatchery there was one car ahead of me and one other up ahead of it that pulled over and we passed by. Just to mention, the gate going into the hatchery stays open all winter and is buried in a snow bank.

I arrived at the parking lot with one car already there, the other car ahead of me pulled in and I took the last space. The car that we passed parked in front of the other car that just pulled in after talking to the driver. He was back out before they were.

I put on snowshoes to start and they stayed on for the entire hike. There was a well packed snowshoe trough with just a coating of loose snow on top that didn't change much other than a few more inches of loose snow toward the summit. It was a great path and perfect for snowshoes. There were other hikers that wore microspikes, some with snowshoes and a few were bare booting. All were fine as there was no postholing.

As I got to the Kilkenny Ridge Trail the snow along the sides was deeper and hanging heavy on the trees. I made a quick stop at Bunnell Rock where I enjoyed some spectacular views. I continued up and when I got to the hut the trail was broke out going across the front porch. There was a four foot drift behind the hut where the actual trail goes. Apparently no one wanted to break through that, including me.

In past hikes that I've been on to Mount Cabot in the winter there is usually a myriad of paths going every which way after leaving the site of the fire tower foundation. That was not the case today and there was one solid path along the actual trail leading right to the summit signs. The path to the actual summit had not been broke out today and there was a couple that came up behind me just as I was going there so I let them pass by me and followed.

This was my turn around point. There were many hikers arriving at the summit as I was about to descend. It was a nice hike back down as the trail was even more packed down with the number of hikers that were coming up.

I have now hiked to Mount Cabot in eleven different months with only the month of August remaining to grid it out. The weather and trail conditions today were absolutely spectacular and it made for a great day to start hiking the 4,000 footers again!

Enjoy the photos and videos!