NH 48 4000 footers: Cabot

Saturday, December 30, 2017
NH 4000 footers climbed: Mt. Cabot
Miles: 9.6 (total, out and back hike)
Elevation gained: 2884'
MapMyRun recording

I woke up at 6am and left the hostel at 6:45am. There was something wrong with the hostel's heat so it was 83 degrees in my room when I woke up soaked in sweat. It was -20 when I went outside to my car (for a 100+ degree difference) and it had warmed up to -18 by the time I started my hike at 8am.

I'd planned ahead and bought hand and body warmers. I tried putting some hand warmers in plastic bags and adding them to my water bottles to prevent freezing but it turns out they only work if in contact with air. So my water bottles froze solid while I hiked. But the hand warmers were a great idea. They helped me defrost after I took my hand out of the glove to take a picture or check my GPS location.

I followed York Pond Trail from the parking lot to the intersection of Bunnell Notch Trail.

I then took Bunnell Notch Trail until it intersected with Kilkenny Ridge Trail, at which point I took a right and followed it up past Bunnell Rock and the Cabot Cabin.

After going through a clearing with a beautiful view and then up a short climb, I found myself at the summit of Cabot.

There wasn't enough snow to cover the sign, but there was at least 2.5 feet of snow along the trail and at the summit, there were drifts up to 4 feet deep. 

Once getting to the summit, I'd hoped to continue forward to make a loop hike, summitted the Bulge and the Horn before heading down Unknown Pond Trail but it wasn't packed down. Everyone else had hiked to the summit of Cabot and then turned around and returned the way they came. 

Using GPS, with a downloaded track of the trail, with no detectable path, I flailed around in the snow for half an hour, trying to find the trail. After getting turned around many times and the only blaze I managed to find being at ankle level, I decided to call it quits and come back in summer when I can see the trail. So I headed back the way I'd come, to return to my car.