The ladies wanted to get another 4000-footer. BUT it’s leaf peeping season in New Hampshire, AND it was a holiday weekend. So, we went north. An early start to avoid traffic, and go north to avoid crowds on the trail. Mt. Waumbek it is! Bonus is that you have to pass Starr King to get to Waumbek, so a 52 With a View, too! (Note that we know Starr King was de-listed, however Starr King is still honored, no matter when you hiked it).

This was my second time for both. And wow the “gravel” road leading to the trailhead is ROUGH. Some of the potholes are as wide as the road, and a couple of feet deep. Use caution. I’m glad I wasn’t in my MINI!

The plan was to start at 9 AM, and we started at 9:08. Love it!

Starting selfie with Awestruck, Thoreau, the Bartender, and myself

Near the start of the trail is a large well remnant. Not sure how I’ve hiked this twice and both times skipped taking a pic of it.

While the views at the summits aren’t exactly stellar, the trail itself is pretty.

As we approached the summit, a small group was coming down and remarked that just ahead was “where the party” was. We reached the area on Starr King with the remnants of a chimney and fireplace for a shelter that was removed in 1980. Several groups and dogs (unleashed) were hanging out. I suggested we continue on to Waumbek, and could enjoy Starr King on our way back without “the party”.

The actual summit of Waumbek isn’t very exciting.

But if you continue on 50 yards or so, there’s a nice little view thanks to several blow downs.

And a great little area to stop. So that’s what we did. We were then harassed by some grey jays. That’s why you shouldn’t feed them, because they become aggressive in their “begging”. Basically, it kept dive bombing us, hoping for some food. There was also a cute little caterpillar trying to hitch a ride.

Then, as the four of us sat, eating our lunch, in a space that just barely fit four people, a couple walked up. “Sorry for crashing your party!” and literally walked right in between us and sat down one foot away. They then proceeded to strip down sitting directly in our line of sight to the view.

Luckily, we were basically done, so we packed up, took our selfie, and left. (The blue just over my shoulder was one of them, that I tried to block for this photo).

Then it was back at Starr King, and luckily that party had left. I didn’t take a pic of the fireplace because sadly someone has added some graffiti. But here it was seven years ago.

We enjoyed the view and a quick break.

I pointed out Washington (the tallest one and if you zoom in, it has antenna at the summit) and Eisenhower (the very rounded one in the center between two trees), since they had just summited Eisenhower a few weeks ago.

Then it was time to descend.

Not a ton of mushrooms this year. I’m guessing because of the drought conditions we’ve had most of the summer. Another caterpillar. No touchy, even though they look so cute. I don’t remember which ones or if it’s all of them, but you can get a pretty bad rash/reaction from some caterpillars. So definitely a look, don’t touch situation.

And here we are back at the trailhead! As you can see, the ladies were a bit cold, but I was perfect!

• Total distance: 7.2 miles
• Total elevation gain: 2,700 feet (or 1.9 Empire State Buildings)
• Total time: 8 hours, 9 minutes
• Moving time: 6 hours, 30 minutes

Unrelated to the hike specifically, I bought new hiking shoes. I have loved my other shoes, they’ve gotten me through many many hikes. However, lately, on any hike over a few miles, I’ve gotten a big blister on the side of my big toe. And my pinky toe on my other foot eventually feels like I’m walking ON it. So I decided it was time to try new shoes, specifically with a wide toe box. I landed on the Topo Athletic Terraventure 4 Trail Runners. I didn’t have a chance to try them out before this hike, so I ended up bringing my old shoes along for the ride, just in case I needed to switch.

But the Topos were GREAT. My feet felt fantastic at the end of the hike. No blisters, no squashed toe. The grip was great. Almost too great, a couple of times my shoe got caught on a rock and almost tripped me. They do feel “bigger” than my other shoes, and I tripped a couple of times because my toe got caught on a rock or branch, but that’ll just take time for me to adjust. Absolutely loved the shoes and just had to mention it.