[at-l] New Hampshire hike day 1

[papabear.nyc at verizon.net (Papa Bear)]

The Killkenny Ridge Trail, Day 1 (July 6): South Pond to Bunnell Notch

I had been thinking about doing Mount Cabot or Waumbek while I was up visiting my son's family (and my new grand daughter) in the Boston area.  I figured if I took off early and returned late from New Hampshire for one day on Thursday or Friday before the 4th of July, they wouldn't miss me.  Then Funky Freddie suggested we do the whole Killkenny Ridge Trail  That was a temptation too great to resist.  Not only would I get to climb Cabot AND Waumbek, but the 4 NE100s along the route as well.  Since my family would surely miss me for a trip that long (minimum 3 days and 2 nights including the night before the hike in Gorham), I suggested to Fred we do it AFTER the 4th, when I was planning to leave the Boston area anyway.  So we agreed to meet at the Hikers Paradise at 9:00 PM on Monday July 5th.  I would take the bus from Boston, and Fred would drive down from Maine where he was spending the long weekend doing some sea kayaking.

The bus ride from Boston was smooth and easy.  No post-holiday traffic.  The driver had to repeatedly wait at each little town so he wouldn't get too far ahead of his schedule.  I got to Gorham before Fred, and Bruno put us in the "executive suite" as he calls it.  This is the small set of rooms on the north side of the hostel on the second floor away from the big bunk room in the back.  There were two others hikers there.  For those who think they are not getting their $15 worth of amenities at HP, ask if you can stay in this area.  It's got a nice big kitchen/living room, and two rooms with two bunk beds each (total capacity = 8).  I think it's much nicer then the regular bunk room and well worth the price.  As Bruno would say "This is a hostel, not  the Waldorf!". 

We set the alarm for 5:00 AM and after one false start we were eating breakfast at the Dunkin Donuts around 5:30 AM.  Then it was off to Jefferson west on Route 2 where we had agreed to meet Peakbagger at the Starr King Trailhead.  Both our car and his arrived exactly at 6:30 AM and after quickly moving our packs to his car we were off to South Pond.  Peakbagger is a wealth of information about the area and we had a delightful trip back on Route 2, up through Berlin, and over to South Pond.  It took us 45 - 50 minutes so if you plan on spotting a car and doing this shuttle, allow plenty of time.  The road is definitely the long way around.  We got to the gate, which was closed, about 7:20 AM, piled out of the car and were off while Peakbagger was off to work.  Thanks for the ride Peakbagger!

We walked the mile or so along the park road to the pond picnic area (where they had thoughtfully placed an out-house), spoke briefly to the caretaker and a little after 7:50 AM we were off on the trail.  It had rained on Monday, quite hard at times, and it had drizzled off and on during the night.  But although the vegetation was rather wet, the cloudy sky showed signs of breaking up and we hoped the forecast of partly sunny skies by afternoon would come true. We decided to skip the side trail to the Devil's Hopyard since the day was still rather foggy and we had a lot of miles to do with our overnight packs.   

At around 9:20 AM, about two hour (and 4.3 miles) after being dropped off at the gate, we passed a set of blue blazes going off diagonally through the forest. Judging from the description in the WMG, we guessed this was the Stark / Killkenny town boundary line.  We then trudged on up the occasionally muddy ascent towards Rogers Ledge.  At one point I missed a bog log and "post holed" with my right foot up to mid calf in mud.  Boy, was I glad I had my gaiters on.  I saved myself from a boot full of mud.  The affect was mostly aesthetic since the mud eventually was scraped away by wet underbrush, so in the end I just had a rather wet boot. But I'm glad to say the Nikwax I had applied the night before at Hikers Paradise did it's job and my feet stayed dry the whole day.

We got to Rogers Ledge just before 10 AM and were rewarded amply for our work.  The views were great. Our only complaint was that the tops of the Presidentials and of Cabot were still socked in by clouds.  But the views of the broad valley west of Berlin and of Berlin itself were good.  The Mahoosucs across the border in Maine were also visible but a bit foggy.  You might say it was a good but not a great day for a view.

We dropped down off the ridge and the trail turned sharply right where we had the opportunity to see Rogers Ledge from below.  We stood below a 40' - 50' rock ledge with a smattering of brush and trees.  A beautiful New Hampshire back woods picture.  We crossed over a puncheon at a beaver dam and had good vies of the lovely Kilback Pond, and then started the long tiring climb to Unknown Pond. It seemed counter intuitive that we had to climb UP so far to get to a pond, but that's how it was.  For some reason I found this to be the toughest and most exhausting climb of the entire trail, although not the steepest.  When we finally reached the top of the ridge, I jokingly said to Fred "Why don't we bushwhack over and bag that peak off to our left".  In this state of tiredness we were in no shape to enter that impenetrable looking thicket, and Fred just laughed at the suggestion.

Shortly, we came to the shores of Unknown Pond, a little known and seldom visited gem.  There were some nice campsites and even an out-house. We were lounging by the shore taking some pictures when a couple with a big German Shepard arrived from somewhere. We heard and saw them from a distance but apparently they didn't notice us.  Then after a break it was off to the Horn, which stood prominently behind the pond.  This climb was rather steep, with lots of rocks and roots.  Although steeper than the previous climb, I found it easier going.  Maybe with the steeper terrain, my legs switched from climb mode to step mode. Whatever!

We took the side trail to the Horn which lies about .3 miles off the main trail, and were treated to the best views of the day.  Whatever you do, don't skip the Horn! The Pilot Range was jutting off to the west from Cabot.  The Bulge and Cabot stood right in front and the Weeks and Waumbek stood off to the left - with Terrace Mountain in the foreground.  On the Horizon stood the Presidentials with the Wildcats and Carters marching off toward the east.  Seldom do you get views of these peaks from the north, so I highly recommend checking this out.  Thankfully, the weather held and except for the clouds hanging on the tops of the major peaks, the views were unimpeded.  We lounged around for a while on one of the rocky outcrops but our solitude was not complete. One couple was leaving as we arrived and another arrived as we were leaving.  These two couples on the Horn were the only folks we actually bumped into all day (the distant couple and dog at Unknown Pond didn't count) - except for the surprise awaiting us at Cabot. Read on.

We continued along the ridge and crossed the uninspiring Bulge and eventually reached Mount Cabot about 3:20 in the afternoon.  We took a break and had some food and took the obligatory pictures.  The bugs were never bad, but at each summit where we took a break they became annoying.  There were mosquitoes in the lower sections and flies or gnats on the summits.  Thankfully except for a few mosquito bites, I was unscathed.  We got moving again and moved down towards the Cabot Cabin, about a half mile below the summit on a sub peak near the site of a former fire tower.  We passed the open area where the tower had been and the views were good but we did not tarry since we figured we would return there after getting settled in the cabin, our intended destination for the night.  When we got to the cabin around 3:40 PM, we got a big surprise:  12 campers including 2 leaders from some camp were sprawled all over the area.  Considering there were only 8 bunks and no good tenting areas nearby, we had a problem.  One of the leaders said the camp brings a group here every Tuesday night during the summer, so be forewarned.  After a short consultation, we decided to climb down to Bunnell Notch where Fred had camped on a previous trip and quickly said goodbye to the boys.  With a parting shot by Fred: "By the way, did you know this cabin is haunted", we were off.

The slope down was steep, but we made it to the intersection with the Cabot Trail (marked "closed") and next the Bunnell Notch Trail, fairly easily.  There was a soft relatively level area off the trail on the right just before the Killkenny Trail leaves the Bunnell Notch trail and we set up camp.  Being very short of water, I scouted the area for signs of a stream marked on the map, to no avail.  But Fred remembered a stream about a half mile down the Bunnell Notch Trail, so we got our filters and bladders and Nalgene's and head lamps and set off down the trail in search of water.  It was about 5:30 PM.

We followed the trail and listened carefully for the sound of water in the notch down to the right of the trail.  Finally we heard some gurgling and so we carefully whacked down the steep slope about 100' and found a nice flowing stream with some pools perfect for pumping water.  We did our task, climbed back up to the trail and back to our tent site where we cooked supper and organized our stuff and got ready for the night.  It had been a long hard day with full packs. In retrospect, the camp group who drove us from at the Cabot Cabin was a blessing in disguise.  We were now a good mile and a half ahead of where we would have been and well positioned for a good day of hiking tomorrow.  Yes life was good.

Day's mileage (including South Pond extra walk plus side trails): 14 miles, elevation gain: 4880'