Home States  Connecticut  Maine  Massachusetts  New Hampshire  New York  Rhode Island  Vermont  View All Lists  NE 4,000 Footers  NE 100 Highest  NH 4,000 Footers  NH 52 With A View  NH Belknap Range  NH Ossipee 10 Explanation of Ratings Links Ossipee Mountains Notice Search Trail Conditions Trip Log About	Mt. Starr King, Mt. Waumbek Jefferson, NH, Kilkenny, NH Trailheads, measurements, times, distances, and maps are all approximate and relative to the hike(s) as shown below. The Starr King Trail on the way to Mt. Starr King Route: Starr King Trail After sitting out my first weekend day in quite some time, I had a hankering to get in a relatively large after-work hike. Taking a gamble with the forecast, I tracked radar and satellite imagery and saw an opening. Initially planning to do something near Crawford Notch, I changed my mind in route and decided to head north, as the storm activity had been tracking southeast. After driving over the snowbank and being the first to use the Starr King parking lot this year, I quickly strapped my snowshoes to my pack and headed up the trail in the rain. Initially barebooting, I ended up putting on my Microspikes fairly quickly, as the slush ice was a bit slippery. The first portion of the trail was a mix of running water, slush ice, and mud. As the trail turned off the logging road and headed into the hardwood glade, the base consistently became spring snow. The next section, in the softwoods, seemed to drag on forever. Shortly after reaching it, I stepped into a mild snowstorm. As I reached the ridge, there was a good inch or two of new snow on top of a rotten monorail. The section of trail on the way to Mt. Waumbek was like a game of monorail-minesweeper. With a monorail too narrow in places for snowshoes, I opted to remain on my Microspikes. While staying in the middle of the monorail was generally enough to get through, every so often it would give way, resulting in a knee to waist deep posthole. Like Mt. Starr King, there was nothing to see from the summit area of Mt. Waumbek, due to the snowstorm. I ended up making it back to the parking lot without needing a headlamp - wet, but glad to have had some exercise. Hike Ratings Getting To Trailhead: Easy Destination: Mt. Starr King Length: Moderate Steepness: Moderate Navigation: Easy Views: Minimal (due to weather) Crowds: Minimal Destination: Mt. Waumbek Length: Moderate Steepness: Moderate Navigation: Easy Views: Minimal (due to weather) Crowds: Minimal Hike Stats Date Hiked: Monday, March 30, 2009 Hike Commenced: 4:42 PM Parking Elevation: 1,675' Destination: Mt. Starr King Ascent Commenced: 4:42 PM Summit Reached: 5:53 PM Time Elapsed: 01:11 Trailhead Elevation: 1,675' Summit Elevation: 3,907' Distance: 2.6 miles Vertical Gain: 2,267' Destination: Mt. Waumbek Ascent Commenced: 5:54 PM Summit Reached: 6:20 PM Time Elapsed: 00:26 Trailhead Elevation: 3,907' Summit Elevation: 4,006' Distance: 1 mile Vertical Gain: 239' Hike Ended: 7:39 PM Hike Time Elapsed: 02:57 Hike Distance: 7.2 miles Hike Vertical Gain: 2,628' Starr King Trail trailhead Looking into the clouds from the Mt. Starr King summit The Starr King Trail to the Mt. Waumbek summit Looking into the clouds from Mt. Waumbek Directions to trailhead: Take Route 2 West from Gorham. Shortly after passing Route 115 on the left, take a right onto Starr King Road. Continue straight up the dirt road to the WMNF fee parking area and trailhead. Back to Mt. Starr King Profile Back to Mt. Waumbek Profile
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