A very nice trail loop hike up to Mt Cabot. This started early with roughly 3 hour drive. Kevin and I got an early start anticipating being on trail by about 0700. We followed the directions to the trail head from http://4000footers.com/cabot.shtml . Particularly this section:
“Drive 0.3 miles and turn left onto 2nd Ave. Drive 463 feet and take your second left onto Madigan Street. Drive 374 feet and take your 1st right onto 3rd Avenue. Drive 0.2 miles and continue onto Wight Street. Drive 0.5 miles and continue onto NH-110 W / W Milan Road.”
Sadly we followed it somewhat blindly and got mixed up. After a couple turnarounds and doubting our direction, we found our way back to RT 110. I suspect when this was first written, this was accurate, however, it is no longer needed and is vastly simplified. Suggestion, use your favorite GPS app to navigate to ‘Fish Hatchery Road, Milan, NH’
Our delay in routing turned out favorable. Just as we reached the gate to the fish hatchery, a gentleman pulled up to it in a pickup and opened it. We double checked with him and he directed us up the road to the trail head.
We reached the trail head at about 0715 and readied for our hike. The bugs were flying but not biting. Their population reduced by the drizzle. We expected a bit better weather, but prepared to get wet.
Starting up York Pond Trail was relatively flat through overgrown ferns. They held the rain on them quite efficiently. This wasn’t great, as we made our way through, the water collected on our legs/pants. We pushed on through and the ferns thinned out after we reached Bunnel Notch Trail and began to gain elevation.
The rain continued on and off throughout the trip. With the lush greenery and low cloud cover made this trek seem more like the Amazon than northern NH. Perhaps a weak analogy as it was about 50 degrees cooler than the Amazon 😉 .
We reached the junction of Kilkenny Ridge Trail in decent time even with puddle/mud dodging. The trail has a relatively mild grade and decent footing, except for some mud. As we gain more elevation, becomes more rocky but still decent footing. I can’t speak for the view from the lookout as we were socked in. I bet it’s an amazing scene of northern NH hills.
Not long after, the trail levels off and we are presented with an outhouse just off trail. Seems odd placement, but quickly reach the cabin. This is an older US Forest Service cabin no longer in service. It is small and certainly in need of a little TLC. The step stringers have severed from the porch and were just resting on top. There is no longer a stove inside for heat, but there is a healthy fire pit just outside. It appears as though some overnight campers bring hot rocks inside to radiate warmth during cold stays. We don’t stay long and press on for the actual summit of Mt Cabot, only a short distance from the cabin.
We reach the summit and snap a few photos and begin our descent down the other side of the loop. It is a slightly steeper descent, but still decent footing and we make quick work of it. The photos do not do the green forest floor justice. A quick bump up The Bulge which has a small dilapidated cairn. We blow by on our way to the next stop. We bounce up the spur trail to The Horn. This is another highlight on this loop which is supposed to have beautiful views. Again we missed out on the views due to weather. We still appreciated the mildly challenging scramble to get up to the actual summit pin.
We bounced back down the spur trail and rested a bit and chowed some grub. Continuing down the Kilkenny Ridge Trail, we march on to the Unknown Pond. We’ve been there, it’s now known.
Again this site is supposed to be filled with a certain beauty and again we’ve missed out. Contrary to my comments, I really don’t mind missing the sunlit views. I do enjoy the hikes in less than stellar weather as they offer a different appeal.
At the pond we hear a couple voices… our first siting of other humans.. after about 8 miles of hiking. The weather kept the crowds away. It was a nice couple just bouncing up from Mill Brook Road. They were also enjoying the ponds edge.
Just beyond the pond are the designated campsites. They seem well used, even though this is a bit remote. They were spacious and level.
We started down the final trail, aptly named, Unknown Pond Trail. This is a 3.3 mile stretch back to the parking. This was a nice trail, much our descent is completed. Only about a tenth from the site we see our second couple of folks. They were packing in to the camp site for the night. They asked how much further and questioned how the other trails were. They were wondering as they just walked through miles of wet ferns, too. Apparently the only way in, either way, is through soaking ferns. All 4 of us shared in that misery.
We parted and marched on…down through the ferns. The trail was very wet and muddy at times as it followed the outlet from the pond. The stream ran along the trail pretty much the whole way keeping the vegetation lush. We pushed on with out feet squishing at each step from our thoroughly soaked pants/legs which dripped down to our socks and into our shoes.
We made it out to the other lot, as expected, and bounced up the road ~.1mi to our car. After a welcome change of clothes and footwear we were on our way home. All in all this is an enjoyable loop hike with mild elevation changes and good footing.
