Mt. Weeks

I find it ironic that as time passes, it seems harder to get away rather than easier. I recently decided I need to make getting away a priority to relax and hike. As with many undertakings, I started with baby steps and set out this past Monday for an overnight camping trip and a hike of Mt. Weeks in New Hampshire.

My trip started with escaping from work a few hours early on Monday and driving to the Moose Brook State Park campground in New Hampshire. I arrived an hour or so before sunset and had time to set up my tent and start a fire for cooking dinner.

I have camped many times at Moose Brook, but this was likely the first time by myself. I finished dinner just after dusk and relaxed in my camp chair listening to music and reminiscing about past trips with Casey and Brian. One of our go-to campfire activities was a game we called, “Who Said It,” in which one of us would say a phrase used by a TV character and the others would guess who said it (e.g., “Missed it by that much”). I also recall reading Treasure Island to them at Moose Brook, I believe two or three campsites down from where I was on Monday.

I woke to good weather on Tuesday with clear skies and a bit cooler than the past few weeks. After a quick breakfast and a short drive, I was at the Starr King Trailhead where I would start a full day of hiking — approximately 17 miles and 5,400′ of cumulative elevation gain. The motivation for the day is I am working on completing the New England Hundred Highest summits, and the north and south summits of Mt. Weeks would be #71 an #72. The first 3.6 miles would cover trail I have hiked twice before over Mt. Starr King to Mt. Waumbeck, followed by 4.9 miles to Mt. Weeks.

I made good time and soon found myself at Mt. Starr King at 3,907′ above sea level. I knew the day would offer limited views, but would make up for it with a chance for solitude on less traveled trails. The summit of Mt. Starr King is treed-in, but just past the summit is an area that offers some limited views.

Another mile found me at the summit of Mt. Waumbeck, one of the forty-eight 4,000′ foot peaks in New Hampshire, albeit one of the shortest at 4,006′. At the summit of Mt. Waumbeck is the end of the Starr King trail, and the start of the Kilkenny Ridge Trail that traverses Mt. Weeks and continues on to Willard Notch, Mt. Cabot, Unknown Pond, Rogers Ledge, and the Devil’s Hopyard. At some future time, I would like to spend some time backpacking in this area.

Just past the summit of Mt. Waumbeck was a nice view point. Given the position of the sun I decided to defer taking pictures until my return, as this would be an out-and-back hike. As I had read online, the trail often had me wading through waist-high ferns and wild raspberries,. However, the trail was actually rather easy to follow as the vegetation was primarily grown in from the sides, but not actually growing in the path. The first mile or so was easy hiking and fairly level, with a limited view of the south summit ahead.

Shortly after the taking the picture above, I descended a few hundred feet before ascending to the south summit of Mt. Weeks at 3,885′. As expected, there was no view from the top awaiting me at the summit.

After enjoying a snack at the summit, I descended into the col between the south and middle summits. Mt Weeks has three summits, North, Middle, and South, two of which are on the New England Hundred Highest list. The descent from the south summit was one of the more difficult sections for the day, but was by no means difficult compared to some other trails in New Hampshire. The ascent and descent of Middle Weeks and ascent of the main (north) summit were relatively easy. By noon I was eating lunch at the Summit of Mt. Weeks (3,901′) with my traverse half complete.

I made good time on the way back to the trailhead. Just before the summit of Mt. Waumbeck, I took a picture from the viewpoint I had passed earlier in the day.

I was back at the trailhead by 6:30, 11 hours and 25 minutes after I had started my day. A very enjoyable day, my spirits dampened only by knowing I had a three-plus hour drive to get home and three days of work to be completed before the weekend.

In addition to getting out more, I also plan to update my blog more often with new adventures and some past adventures that are far overdue for sharing, including a hiking trip in Finland in 2019 and backpacking the Three Sisters Wilderness area in Oregon in 2021.