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Attention: The Mount Cabot Trailhead is no longer open |
After briefly meeting at the Irving gas station in Jefferson, we carpooled to the trailhead. We put our snowshoes on right from the start and headed up Cabot Trail at just about 8:30.
Unlike last week, this wasn't an AMC hike although Ed Hawkins was still heading it up. As much as Ed hikes, Ed Hawkins hikes are becoming about as common and well known as AMC hikes. Between last week's hike and this week's hike, I believe Ed bagged 6 more 4,000 footers.
After hiking just a hundred yards or so, we stopped to introduce each other. This was just my 2nd hike with Ed so there were some new faces and names for me to learn. From last week's hike we had Ed, Becca, Jim, Jeff, and myself, but today we also had Tom, Steve, Sarah, Paige, and Vinnie bringing our total to ten.
This particular trailhead is not an official AMC trailhead. It goes across private land before entering the White Mountains National Forest. The landowner and the WMNF have had their differences over the years. Keeping this in mind, Ed suggested we try to keep the noise level down for the next few tenths of a mile.
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Front to back: Tom, Paige, and Sarah
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Followed by Becca, Jeff, and Ed
Last week when I hiked with Jeff I didn't get a chance to talk to him much. This week I learned that he has been hiking just a little longer than me. I've been hiking steady for about 2 years now, and Jeff has me beat by about 6 months. In that time he has bagged well over 200 peaks and is finishing his White Mountain 4000 footer list for the 4th time. (Sounds like a little of Ed is wearing off on him.)
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It was my turn to break trail. We had another sizable storm just a couple of days ago. It looks like Mount Cabot didn't get a great deal. Although we had to break through several inches of fresh snow, you could still clearly make out where the trail was.
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It was an easy ascent until we reached Bunnell Brook which was frozen over.
The trail became steeper after this.
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Who's that hiding?
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Tom's moving right along.
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We reached the junction with Kilkenny Ridge Trail where we took a left. I believe the trail goes by both names from here to the summit. (Kilkenny Ridge Trail and Cabot Trail)
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We packed down a rather nice trail.
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Here comes Steve. It must be slow going with his eyes closed.
(Sorry about that Steve, this was the only picture that I had of you.) |
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Jim struggles to get to his water bottle as we take a short break to regroup.
Last week I learned about "The Grid". The goal of "The Grid" is to hike all the peaks of a particular list in each of the 12 months of the year. In the case of the White Mountains that's 48 x 12 or 576 four thousand footers. Ed was the 2nd person to finish the New England 4000 footer grid. I believe he said it took 9 years. Since then he has completed it a 2nd time and is working on his third. With all the 4000 footers he has completed, I think he should be nicknamed Mr. 4K.
Now I've learned that Jim and Ed are working on another type of list. The goal of this list is to hike a 4000 footer every day of the calendar year (but not necessarily in the same year). Yes, I already checked, they are including February 29th. This is quite a goal getting in a minimum of 366 peaks. A word of caution, this can be a dangerous list to try to complete, not because of any added hiking danger, but hiking on certain days of the year represents a 'clear and present danger'. Hiking on days like your spouse's birthday, your anniversary, and Christmas should throw up an automatic red flag. Warning! Warning! Hike with caution if you are going to attempt this.
Lists, lists, and lists. Summer lists, winter lists, then grids. Hiking on every calendar day of the year. What's next? Just how many different ways can these peaks be hiked. Has anyone completed them walking backward? How about climbing them all at night? or climbing them all barefoot? What will these die hard hikers come up with next?
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We packed the trail down real nice.
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Here comes Sarah.
Sarah works at a law firm here in Norway, less than a half mile from where I work. Small world. She is an ultramarathon runner. For those who are unfamiliar with ultramarathons, an ultra is a marathon that is longer than the traditional 26.2 miles of a marathon. The most common distances are 50 kilometers, 50 miles, 100 kilometers, and 100 miles. Coincidentally, I am attempting my first ultra next month at Capon Valley, WV. It's a 50k. Where Sarah and I both work in Norway, we may try a training run together (if the snow ever melts). She also knows my ultrarunning friends Sue and Jim from Virginia. They met at the Vermont 100 back in 2005.
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Winter Wonderland or Spring Wonderland???
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I can't see the forest (or the hikers) through the trees.
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Vinnie nears Cabot Cabin
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We just stopped for a second at the cabin. We'll make a longer stop here on the way back.
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We had 3/10ths of a mile to go. The clouds wouldn't let up so there were no views today; but the trees sure were pretty. |
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Jim led most of the way between the cabin and the summit. He had been on Mount Cabot many times before, so he stepped aside to let Sarah go first. A minute later Sarah was the first to reach the 4170' summit followed by yours truly. (FYI - My map by Map Adventures lists the peak at 4170' while the summit sign states it is 4180') This peak was a first both of us. I believe it was a first for a couple more in the group as well. Ed has climbed it 44 times! Wow!
This makes #34 for my White Mountains list. I didn't realize it until I got home, but it is #50 on my New England 100 Highest list, halfway exactly.
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Ed took a picture of me on the summit.
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There isn't much elbow room on the wooded summit, so we headed back to the cabin to take a break.
"Table for 10 please." . . . .I don't think so.
We decided to enjoy our break outside the cabin. Maybe we would have stayed inside if the jacuzzi and satellite tv were installed.
Ed shared some mini Hersey bars and Becca shared some Peppermint Patties. I had one of each then went back to finishing my trail mix and orange juice.
Note to self:
Peppermint Patti = yum
Orange juice = yum
Peppermint Patti + Orange Juice = yuck!!
We finished our snacks and headed back over the same route with Becca in the lead. About halfway down we met a group of four who were heading up to the cabin to spend the night. They all had snowshoes, but none of them were wearing them. Obviously, they did not send a representative to the "Geneva Posthole Convention". Ed 'Ed-ucated' them on the importance of wearing snowshoes. They figuratively signed the agreement by putting on their snowshoes before continuing. They had put quite a few postholes in the trail on the way up. I was guilty of this once myself, so I did my best to fill them in as I hiked down. We made it back to the trailhead about 1:30. Thanks everyone for coming today. If I got any of the details of today's hike wrong, then please let me know. Special thanks to Ed for coordinating another great hike.
Keep Hikin'
