Mt. Starr King, Mt. Waumbek, South Weeks, Middle Weeks, North Weeks, South Terrace, Middle Terrace, North Terrace, Mt. Cabot - US 2, Starr King Trail, Kilkenny Ridge Trail, Bunnell Notch Trail, York Pond Trail, York Pond Road - 7-17-2016

Hiking Trail Conditions Report
	Peaks	Mt. Starr King, Mt. Waumbek, South Weeks, Middle Weeks, North Weeks, South Terrace, Middle Terrace, North Terrace, Mt. Cabot, NH

	Trails:	US 2, Starr King Trail, Kilkenny Ridge Trail, Bunnell Notch Trail, York Pond Trail, York Pond Road

	Date of Hike:	Sunday, July 17, 2016

	Parking/Access Road Notes:	Started at Carter-Bridgman Spring on US Route 2. Finished at York Pond Road fish hatchery gate which was locked at 6:30 am.

	Surface Conditions:	Dry Trail, Wet Trail

	Recommended Equipment:

	Water Crossing Notes:	Easy

	Trail Maintenance Notes:	Kilkenny Ridge Trail between Mt. Waumbek and Willard Notch needs a good hack job. I counted 164 blowdowns and large branches across the trail. All other trails are in good shape!

	Dog-Related Notes:	Not much water on Kilkenny Ridge Trail.

	Bugs:	Annoying deer flies on lower Bunnell Notch and York Pond Trails and York Pond Road.

	Lost and Found:


	Comments:	This was the final day of my version of the White Mtn. Direttissima, 10 days hiking from 7/4 - 7/17. Full report at www.runsuerun.blogspot.com Today's start is the Carter-Bridgman Spring on US Route 2. Running along the highway at 4:30 a.m. is a surreal experience. Traffic is very light at this hour on a Sunday morning, and I am SO glad to have saved these road miles for today. Much of the time I run down the middle of the road with my light off, jumping to the side and turning on my light the few instances a vehicle passes by. It is very quiet and I hear a pack of coyotes howling and yipping in the distance. Awesome!! It is almost exactly 5 miles to the Starr King Trailhead, and, surprisingly, I am actually sad to have to stop running and start hiking. Chris meets me near the trailhead, I grab my pack and head up while Chris drives over to the fish hatchery… well, the fish hatchery gate since the gate is still locked at 6:30 a.m. Once beyond Mt. Waumbek, the trail is much less traveled and is overgrown with beautiful thigh-high ferns. It starts to rain ever so gently… then a little less gently. I don my shell and pop open my umbrella which keeps my head and upper body pretty dry. However, the waterlogged ferns are doing a good job of soaking legs and feet. As I head east across Waumbek Ridge, both the wind and the rain pick up in intensity, and blowdowns become numerous. Kilkenny Ridge Trail is a GEM. It is not designated wilderness (where such blowdowns seem to be allowed, or even encouraged it seems), so it is sad to see so many of them. Last year I hiked the Cohos Trail and noted all these blowdowns, so they are apparently not cleared with any regularity. After about an hour it stops raining. I spy a deer on my way up North Weeks, then Chris waiting for me on top! We do the rest of the day’s miles together. We continue down to Bunnell Notch and over the Terraces, where we meet a couple who are thru-hiking the Cohos Trail. I give them a heads up on a couple of sketchy spots farther north. Nice to see more folks tackling this wonderful challenging trail. The trail over the Terraces is beautiful, better maintained, and there are far fewer blowdowns. The trail up Cabot is much more heavily used, and after meeting just 2 people all morning, we meet another 15 or so on the way up/down Cabot. The last summit is anticlimactic as these things often are. Mostly we just want to get down to our celebratory beers waiting in the cooler, especially after lower Bunnell Notch Trail drags on longer than expected; THEN we have to walk the 2+ miles on York Pond Road to the gate with lots of dive-bombing deer flies. I walk down the middle of the road so that if anyone comes from behind, they HAVE to stop and pick us up! No one drives by. Finally, we are done. The beer tastes extra good.

	Name:	Snowflea

	E-Mail:

	Date Submitted:	2016-07-20

	Link:	https://www.runsuerun.blogspot.com
		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.