| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Starr King, Mt. Waumbek, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Starr King Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, November 7, 2020 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
I was the first one there a couple of minutes before 6am. When I returned at 9am the lot was overflowing. Room for a little over a dozen masts maybe before it really starts to overflow. The road in is about a quarter mile and dirt with some large potholes where low clearance vehicles should exercise some care. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Ice - Black, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
None |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
The trail is occasionally blazed in yellow but is well trodden and easy to follow. There is one pine blowdown that’s probably just a couple days old shortly before the summit of Starr King. Not trimmed but it’s ends where the trail does so it’s very easy to walk around and there’s a herd path forming around it. Hopefully it will get taken care of soon the trail doesn’t just widen. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Saw a few. Some leashed? some unleashed. One of the unleashed ones ran up to but at least it ran up to me because it was friendly rather than because it wanted to bite me 🙃 Saw another story this weekend of a young child that got bitten by a dog... very sad. For the live of god, please either have your dog trained so that it stays near you and doesn’t run up to people, or have them leashed. This would be a fine trail for most dogs but be aware that there’s very little water along it. |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
I saw a yaktrak or whatever they’re called on Saturday but I can’t remember if it was here or on Cabot I saw it... in any case, it was right in the middle of the trail alone a wet ledge and I left it where it was. Somebody probably carried it out by the end of the day though. |
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 | Comments: |
A nice, quick, morning hike to Waumbek. 6th time doing Waumbek. 5th 4000 footer this month. 35 more to go to grid out November. This was my hike one of two of the day.
Started at 6:07am and got down at 8:57am so 2hr50min hiking time which I was happy with :) I believe it was 41F when I started and had already warmed up significantly (57F?? Maybe warmer) when I left. Didn’t use gloves or warm layers much although you could feel the wind through the trees on the ridge. Didn’t see anyone until I started heading back from Waumbek. Saw lots of people on my way down of course but didn’t seem too crazy. That said, it was still relatively early in the morning.
The trail was a mix of dry and wet. Didn’t hit any ice until pretty close to Start King. I guess you could call it black ice. Still lots of rocks uncovered though so it didn’t make much sense to me to use spikes. Mostly avoidable and brief. A little more snow/ice along the ridge but I was fine in trail runners that are not waterproof. I slipped once on the the ice on my way down but didn’t fall. Personally, I don’t think it’s worth bringing microspikes particularly since the warm weather the rest of the day and Sunday has probably melted it by now. That said, someone who isn’t very sure footed may have wanted them on Saturday. They just would’ve gotten beat up a lot. On brief section of snow that was lore like frozen granular but nothing at all that was deep and not much slushiness either as it wasn’t too warm yet. Oddly enough, although there were a lot more places with mud than when I did this hike the previous two months, the mud never seemed very deep and I wasn’t afraid to step right in the middle of it with my trail runners. |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2020-11-09 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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