Today I tackled my second NH48 (the 48 4,000 footer of New Hampshire).  Mt. Waumbek is the second northernmost peak in the NH 48.  It’s 46th in the list in order of descending elevation, coming in at 4,006 feet.

The weather today was gross.  Overcast and foggy in the start, but ohhhh so humid.  I was sweating before I left the parking lot.  I took the Starr King trail, which takes you to Mount Starr King and then Mount Waumbek.  Supposedly a “steady incline”.  aka the ascent feels never-ending.  You don’t really have any breaks.  Many trails will go up, then flat, then maybe even descend a little.  This just went up, and up, and up.  While on Tecumseh I swore on the descent that I would never do this again, this time it was on the ascent.  Who’s dumb idea was all of this, anyway?

Anyway, the summit of Starr King is barely more than the trail and a marker.  You continue on and the trail opens up to find a large stone fireplace, supposedly from a trail shelter, and some views.  If it hadn’t been overcast.

Continue along the trail for another mile and you get to the peak of Waumbek.

Again, not much to see here, just a cairn to mark the summit.  Go past that a bit and you get a nice view of the Presidentials. Of course, it would have been better on a clear day, but I’ll be seeing many of these on future hikes anyway!

7.14 miles, 2,670 feet ascended

7/14/18 at 8:42 am

5 hours, 56 minutes