Date of Hike: 4/27/15
Starr King Trail: 6.9 miles (2,730 feet elevation gained)
Trip Report:
- I wanted to get in one last April hike and wanted it to be an easy one so I could squeeze it in before work. I headed over to Jefferson and jumped on the Starr King Trail at 6:45 a.m. with the least amount of gear in my pack since October! I had my winter pack with just one liter of water, my mittens, gloves, windbreaker, and an extra long sleeve. I left the snowshoes in the Jeep and brought along my microspikes which I put on almost immediately.
- My goal for this hike / run was for under two hours. On the ascent I wanted to keep my miles under twenty-five minutes and for the descents I would run them as fast as conditions would allow. Luckily, the snow was still firm enough that I had no issues with post-holing throughout the whole hike.
- The weather hovered around the mid thirties for the entirety of the hike and there were absolutely no views to be had, although the overnight dusting of snow made the forest look really pretty. It's nice to have the winter look still going strong without the brutal sub-zero temperatures.
- I kept a decent pace ascending Mount Starr King and then over to Mount Waumbek. It will be fun to head back here once the snow melts with my ultra-light gear to see how much my ascending time improves. It took me 1 hour and 13 minutes to get to Mount Waumbek, I think I could get there in an hour on snow and mud free trails.
- The summit cairn is still buried, meaning there's at least three to four feet of snowpack up high which looks like it's in no hurry to melt away. From the summit I descended as fast as I could and felt really strong once past Starr King. The last mile I ran a low seven minute mile which I was thrilled with since I was wearing microspikes and running through packed but soft snow, slush, and mud. I made it from Mount Waumbek's summit back to the Jeep in 31 minutes making my total hike/run time 1 hour and 44 minutes long. This got me back to the car at 8:30 and up to Gorham just before 9:00 where I grabbed a coffee and a muffin while working from my laptop. Not a bad way to start the week!!
Starr King Trail: 6.9 miles (2,730 feet elevation gained)
Trip Report:
- I wanted to get in one last April hike and wanted it to be an easy one so I could squeeze it in before work. I headed over to Jefferson and jumped on the Starr King Trail at 6:45 a.m. with the least amount of gear in my pack since October! I had my winter pack with just one liter of water, my mittens, gloves, windbreaker, and an extra long sleeve. I left the snowshoes in the Jeep and brought along my microspikes which I put on almost immediately.
- My goal for this hike / run was for under two hours. On the ascent I wanted to keep my miles under twenty-five minutes and for the descents I would run them as fast as conditions would allow. Luckily, the snow was still firm enough that I had no issues with post-holing throughout the whole hike.
- The weather hovered around the mid thirties for the entirety of the hike and there were absolutely no views to be had, although the overnight dusting of snow made the forest look really pretty. It's nice to have the winter look still going strong without the brutal sub-zero temperatures.
- I kept a decent pace ascending Mount Starr King and then over to Mount Waumbek. It will be fun to head back here once the snow melts with my ultra-light gear to see how much my ascending time improves. It took me 1 hour and 13 minutes to get to Mount Waumbek, I think I could get there in an hour on snow and mud free trails.
- The summit cairn is still buried, meaning there's at least three to four feet of snowpack up high which looks like it's in no hurry to melt away. From the summit I descended as fast as I could and felt really strong once past Starr King. The last mile I ran a low seven minute mile which I was thrilled with since I was wearing microspikes and running through packed but soft snow, slush, and mud. I made it from Mount Waumbek's summit back to the Jeep in 31 minutes making my total hike/run time 1 hour and 44 minutes long. This got me back to the car at 8:30 and up to Gorham just before 9:00 where I grabbed a coffee and a muffin while working from my laptop. Not a bad way to start the week!!
Down low on the Starr King Trail there is not much snow, in a month this will be lush with green!
Higher up is a different story, this is heading up to Mount Starr King and still looks like winter
Mount Starr King and heading over to Mount Waumbek
The not so thrilling Mount Waumbek summit
Splits and nerdy stuff :). Note how my GPS puts the top elevation just under 4,000 feet. The same happens with Mount Tecumseh, too. Both mountains are just a few feet over 4,000 feet.
Route for the day, click here for details
You're fast and still get some really great pictures of your hike & run. Incredible!
ReplyDeleteLoved reading your blog! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dan! Hope you are enjoying winter so far :)
DeleteSneaking in a quick hike before work sounds really nice! I'm not sure I'd ever have the energy to do that though, haha!
ReplyDelete