woodland wanderings: Mt. Starr King and Mt Waumbek

I woke up at 5:30 staring at the rain trying to decide whether or not I wanted to hike today. I looked at the Mountain-Forecast website and it read – cloudy, clearing, precipitation potential 1/10^thof an inch, winds 5 mph. So I decided to head out to check off another 52WAV mountain (Mt. Starr King) and threw in a 4K (Mt. Waumbek) for good measure.

Most of the drive I wondered why I left the heated blankets of my bedroom. The weather did not look promising; it rained most of the drive. As I got close, the clouds were so low to the ground I was unable to see any of the surrounding mountains. ‘Well it will be interesting’, I thought to myself.

I got to the trailhead at 8:45 and was surprised to see the parking lot was almost full. At the trailhead the trail gently ascended, winding through a lovely forest. There is a walk-over blowdown about 15 minutes in and a number of ‘difficult to avoid’ muddy areas. There is another minor walk-over blowdown near the summit.

During the hike, I looked for the elusive morels but was not successful. I ate a number of trillium leaves as I hiked and was surprised to discover just how delicious they were uncooked! I collected some for tomorrow’s lunch, and took photos of more wildflowers. I photographed what I think were wild leaks and contemplated collecting some; but without knowing for sure, I decided to leave them.

Starr King Summit

There was still some ice on the trail as you got closer to the summit of Starr King.

I didn’t know about the fireplace at the top and I got so distracted by it, I didn’t photograph the limited summit views.

I was startled by a male spruce grouse trying to lead me away from his nest with his beautiful display. I followed him for a bit and took some photos.

Not too long after, a marten ran across the trail in front of me!

Then came the rain. It was a light to moderate rain as I hiked toward Mt. Waumbek. (Waumbek isn’t much of a summit! Just a cairn surrounded by trees!) I took a couple of selfies and sat while the ERD (evil rat dog) ate his lunch. As I started my descent, the skies opened up, bringing heavy rain, then hail. Hmm, no one predicted hail! I had gloves and warm clothes so I wasn’t worried. Since I had already reached the summits and was on my way down, I was actually enjoying the change of weather.

Waumbek Summit

Summit Selfie

I watched a number of hikers pass by in a hurry to get to the summit. Some were very unhappy with the weather change. One hiker was very annoyed after asking me how much longer and I replied 20 minutes. “20 minutes, you’re kidding!” she said exasperated as if I was the one responsible for the weather change and the distance to the summit.

Half way down the weather started to clear and the forest was illuminated by an enveloping fog. It was beautiful and serene. I sat for a while, took some photos, and smiled. It was a wonderful close to an eventful hike.