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August 14, 2012 / Comments (1)

Mount Waumbek

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Allison is the founder of trailtosummit.com which she began as a way to track and share her first round of the NH 4000 Footers. Now on round 5 (the first round for her dog Ruckus) she has been honored to have taken part of many people’s firsts. She is an experienced trail maintainer, speaker, and passionate member of the outdoor community. In New England, Allison enjoys trekking along the highest peaks, bushwhacking to less traveled areas, and has a fondness for sunrise and sunset trips. Outside of New England Allison has also thru hiked the John Muir Trail and explored mountains in the German and Austrian Alps, Israel, and the Azores. Her goal is to share her passion for hiking and backpacking with others, especially with women, to inspire them to experience the freedom of the trail!

After hiking Carter Dome on Saturday I decided to hike Waumbek. This hike is considered one of the easiest 4000-footers. It is one of the furthest NH 4000-footers from me so it was good to do while I was in the area.

I took the Starr King trail: the shortest trail for an easy hike. I am not ashamed! The trail is 7.2 miles RT and the total elevation gain is 2700 feet.

The trail is very moderate almost the entire way up. There is only one steep section that lasts seconds.

The hike to Mt. Starr King isn’t very notable unless you run into something odd. It is a nice walk in the woods, but no views for the first stretch.

Once you hit the Summit of Mt. Starr King, you do get some nice views. It was a little drizzly and foggy when I started hiking, but the skies cleared up.

You also find a fireplace which is the last remnant of an old cabin. I tried to do some research on the cabin and all I could find was the following “1940s: shelter built near summit of Starr King. Rebuilt 1968, removed ca. 1980. Remnants of fireplace still visible today” (Smith, Steven D., and Mike Dickerman. “Mount Waumbek.” The 4000 Footers of the White Mountains. Littleton, NH: Bondcliff, 2008.) That must have been a pretty fancy shelter. I thought that deserved a fancy citation as well.

The climb from Starr king to Waumbek lasts only .2 miles after a quick dip down to 3750 feet. The geological summit marker I assume is older than those on other 4000-foot peaks as it is different. I haven’t seen the fine amount before.

The views of the Presidentials are seen from a blowdown via a side path from the summit. After I took in some views I retraced my steps back to my car.

Last modified: July 13, 2017

One Response to :
Mount Waumbek

  1. Rebecca Boucher Capo says:
    July 22, 2018 at 7:48 am

    Where is the summit marker? I couldn’t find it yesterday.

    Reply

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