Waumbek

Total trip duration: 4:22:24

Distance: 7.2 miles
Hikers: Vance and Quinn
4000 footer completion count: Waumbek #21 (4,006 feet)

It was a beautiful snowy day for our hike up Waumbek.  Our plan for the day was an out-and-back on Starr King trail.  We were in the area celebrating Thanksgiving the day before at Pinkham Notch.  So, an easyish/shortish hike was in order because we had some other fun family events planned for the morning.  Thus, we started the hike late morning and Quinn couldn't wait to get moving.  I was putting my gaiters on at the car and looked around and Quinn was gone.  I looked up the trail and he was on a mission!

I finally caught up to him and he was all fired up.

We stopped to check out this rock formation.  An old well?  Not sure...

 The freshly fallen snow made for a beautiful hike!

The hike wasn't too challenging on it's own.  However, the snow made it a bit slow going and tricky in spots.

Quinn loves to befriend creatures on our hikes and today he was in for a real treat.  Have a close look in the tree next to us.  We summitted Starr King and were greeted by a local Gray Jay.  After the hike, we read the Wikipedia Mount Waumbek page to discover that "A colony of gregarious Gray Jays live near the summit of Starr King year-round.

As we made our way to the summit of Waumbek, the snow picked up and filled in the hiker tracks from earlier in the day.  We were eager to get to the top so we forged on.  It definitely would have been easier with some spikes on.

The snow had slowed us during the day and Quinn was ready to take off like a rocket.  We put on our spikes with chilly hands and then took off!

 

Quinn celebrated our return to Starr King with a handful of Sour Patch Kids.  We had hoped to see our Gray Jay buddy again but alas it looked like we were out of luck.

On our trip up Tecumseh, we noticed some neat looking "fury" trees.  Quinn found their cousins on Waumbek.

Half way down, Quinn excitedly alerted me that his buddy was following us down the mountain.  We stopped to see if he was up for a little snack.

Sure enough a few oats were just what he was after!

Quinn offered up a few oats from his granola bar and the happy little Gray Jay hung out in his hand and showed his sincerest thanks. 

Quinn was so excited from his recent experience with his new friend, he lost his footing!!!

We got back to the lot and I got the picture I had been hoping to take at the start (before Quinn took off up the trail).

 

Waumbek was a great way to conclude our Thanksgiving activities.   We continue to really enjoy the snow as we hike our way into the winter season. Not sure if we'll manage another hike before the holidays.  Either way, happy hiking and holidays to all!

Quinn's Take

The day after Thanksgiving we hiked Mount Waumbek.  Even with the snow this was an easy hike.  My favorite part of the hike was when we fed a Gray Jay some granola from our hands.  The bird was fat with gray, black and white feathers.  He was hard to spot because he blended in so well with the trees and snow.  We first saw him when we were heading to the summit, but fed him on our way down the mountain.

The summit was cold but not windy because there were a lot of trees.  We saw one other hiker at the top while we had some lunch.  On the way down we ran because that was the easiest way to descend.

This was a fun hike!