| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Starr King, Mt. Waumbek, South Weeks, Middle Weeks, North Weeks, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Starr King Trail, Kilkenny Ridge Trail, York Pond Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, January 22, 2022 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Spotted a car Friday PM at York Pond Trail head. Access to the Starr King parking lot is plowed but not sanded for the last 150 yards. Your 4x4 won't even think twice; your Ford Escort might make it or might get sideways on the road and have to be...removed...so that the 4x4's can get by. We parked at the plowed golf course lot across Rt 2 from Starr King Road, easy peasy. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Everything on York Pond Trail was froze, though you could here some disturbing gurgling underneath on some crossings |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
The Weeks traverse is as finely manicured as any trail in the Whites. Whoever is taking care of this stretch, you are awesome. Couple of inevitable winter blowdowns, but all navigable. Route finding on Kilkenny Ridge Trail was a nonstop chore, but we used the myriad wood cuts to tell when we were (back) on trail moreso than the dimming yellow blazes. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Heard barking OTW up Starr King. It was probably a dog. |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
A fine if cold and rugged day with Annaliza, Denise, John, Tom. The trail to Starr King and Waumbek is a packed superhighway. As long as it's this cold, bare boots or spikes will be fine, your choice. Shoes if you want Karma points, but they won't do anything except make you feel morally superior. Had to pack out Kilkenny Ridge Trail and York Pond Trail. Not bad, not good. Depths varied 1 to 2 feet the entire way of mostly dry powder with deeper drifts common on the steeps. There was a group of campers at Starr King who said they were headed for North Weeks. We were hoping they'd catch up to us and help out. No soap. Kilkenny? You bastards! As previously mentioned, trail finding was a constant hassle. Recent precip was deep enough that any previous tracks were mostly invisible. HOWEVER the moose have been having a party up there and frequently followed the trail, so we got some help from them in packing out and trail-guessing both. If anyone follows our track before it's erased into oblivion (why do we even bother!??), sorry for the competency issues particularly coming off Middle. There were 5 then 4 of us (shoe issues) so it's a somewhat better than rough-packed on Kilkenny Ridge and York Pond trails. |
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 | Name: |
Muench |
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 | E-Mail: |
erik.coder@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2022-01-22 |
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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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