Cabot-Waumbek, Part II

The official plan, is the N-S route. MD, tMail and I will be staying in Danville and leaving around 5am. We'll spot a car at Starr King trailhead and mosey up to Mill Brook Road for a planned 7am start. We hope to be done by 5pm Saturday, but we'll have headlamps and warm clothes just in case we're doing the last miles in the dark.

We're all traveling light.

[Update 11/2, 7:30 EST] Pictures are posted [Mutha's Pics] [tMail's Pics]

tMail Trip Report
This "Trip Report" started in 2006 the first time I was put on an email with all of you by Spungie. Since then I have had the Early tMail
opportunity to meet (Mutha, PM, G-$$$, MD) who I consider some of my closest friends/family who over the last two years I have bonded with and trust literally with my life. You are all stand up people and I admire all of your qualities. I have been on more adventures than I could have ever imagined by meeting you guys and I thank all of you for the time spent with me hiking, running, socializing, mentoring and the opportunity to become close friends with all of you...to say friends doesn't go far enough I think more family... Thank you all again!!!

Cabot / Waumbek Trip Report:

1. Okay the cats out of the bag I lied not really a ridge but it was after South Weeks...
2. North Weeks out of Willard Notch was a bitch
3. MD loves the Bail Out
4. MD is my project manager for moving me to Vermont when I lose my job at SSgA.
5. Mutha's display of rock climbing on The Horn impressive
6. MD double short sleeve EMS Techwick...nice touch.
7. Mutha "Now that's what I am talking about"
8. The nightmares of MD..."aaaaa"..."aaaaaa"..."What is it?"
9. EZ-Z, G-$$$ awesome...
10. The Saloon Restaurant in Lancaster...everything on the menu was off the menu
11. The "Ting" sound of rocks off the bottom of MD's Ford 150
12. Mill Pond Road where the F are you?
13. Driving home with Mutha stopping and checking out the Milky Way and 2 shooting stars awesome!!!
14. Hotel Muthaville Sweet!!!!
15. MD and Mutha thanks for those 20 miles yesterday...MD...I got you planned out for your last assaults...

MadDog Trip Report

well boys, nicely done. congrats to tmail for his first patch, congrats to mutha for his second!? good lord.

- great to have g-$$$, ez-e and a bottle of sparkly at the finish. all hikes should end with the pop of cork.
- the views of the dusted whites were just stunning.
- definition of a ridge (n) 2. A long narrow chain of hills or mountains. Also called ridgeline. Don't let Tmail tell you otherwise.
- Watermelon man, is not Herbie Hancock tune from years ago.
- Being speared in the head has a remarkable way of correcting heads-down hiking.
- How many items can a restaurant have on it's menu, and then be out of when guests order?

Mutha's Trip Report

• I'll never eat in Lancaster, NH again. I can't even take the time to explain it. It'll be the topic of another trip conversation.
• I discovered a new use for watermelon Jolly Rancher candies: flavorings for anything, like tea (throw 'em in a cup of hot water), bait, caulk, ..., um, ... I guess that's about it.
  
• I should've looked at the map. What I thought was going to be about 4k ft elevation gain was actually about 7,400ft. The drops into the notches were much more significant than I'd anctipated.... or rather, when tMail said "Once we are up on the ridge, it's ridgeline the whole way." I should've realized it was all ruse to get us on the trail.
  
• Our timing was pretty good, targeting 5:pm and tagging g-$$$'s champagne at 5:15.
• Seeing g-$$$ pull out the bottle of bubbly was more than I could stand. I agree w/ MadDog - this is a tradition that is too great to die. I took a swig and thought "um, that's kind of a big bottle, too bad it'll go to waste". When we handed the empty bottle to tMail for a keepsake I realized that g-$$$ had the right idea.
• The Kilkenny Ridge Trail is lovely, rugged (although not in a bouldery way) and rarely hiked. The trail was difficult to follow at times on some of the switchbacks, but many parts of the north-facing notches were mossy and deep-dark-woods.
• The blowdowns were dramatic. Much of the trail was through what looked like a warzone. What's up with the ravaged trees? Many were uprooted, some were just splintered and broken. What happened there?
• The view of the northern Presidentials was outstanding. See the picture galleries linked at the top of this post (or in the Trip Gallery links for 081101 in the sidebar).
• The cold and wind were manageable with the light clothes we were wearing, but barely. We had the usual 2minute limit on stopping to eat/chat, but in the dark notches it wasn't good to stop too long.
• The air was clear. See pic at right of zoomed in image of observatory on the Bad Boy.