NH Cohos Trail: Crossing the Kilkenny Part 3 and on to Devils Rest

All packed and ready to go at dawn

The Unknown Pond tentsite was beautiful, with views of the Presidential Range from some of the ridgetop sites like the one I chose, but during the night a brutal wind arose that blasted my tent and ripped out one of the stakes. The tent pad there was too small for my tent's foot print, so it wasn't staked in well. The unmoored tent wall kept smacking me, disturbing my sleep. Finally around 4:15 am decided to just get up and go. Taking down the camp was all by headlamp, but once I was all packed, the first pink light of the sun was appearing, and I had a front row seat. I hung out there for maybe twenty minutes, just watching the pink sky and the dark clouds racing by.

Unknown Pond. Sadly, no moose.

I had to stop at Unknown Pond for water. I was also hoping to see a moose. Seemed like the perfect time and place, but I struck out. There is so much moose poop on this ridge, you would think I'd get to see an actual moose while hiking. So that item is still on the bucket list.

Sunrise through the birch carcasses on the Kilkenny Ridge Trail

The Cohos guidebook talks about all the dead paper birch in the area. It was all over. According to the book, loggers clearcut the area, and then fires spread through the slash in 1903. Paper birch seeds blew into the burned areas, germinated easily on the bare ground, and proliferated. But pioneering birch don't live very long, and these have come to the end of their life cycle.

Cotton Grass

After descending the hill from Unknown Pond, the trail crosses a low boggy area with extensive bog walks, culminating in Kilback Pond. I loved this area. With every turn it seemed there might be a moose up ahead (there wasn't). The trail work was impressive. Looks like they had to make their own timber with nearby trees and axes, and then go stand in the water to construct the bog walks. Impressive.

A crib in deeper water holds up the bog walk

At one point there was a view of Rogers Ledge off in the distance, the place I had hoped to camp the night before. I never would have made it.

Rogers Ledge off in the distance

The bog walks continue

I have a lot of photos of this area because it was one of my favorites. Low sun, water, solitude. Gorgeous.

That's not good

Parts of the bogwalk are getting pretty old and rotten, and there was once section in particular that was far too gone to even attempt. Fortunately, this was right up against an old beaver dam that was so solid there were shrubs growing on it. What looked impossible at first turned out to be a couple easy steps to the side on the beaver dam. That was easy.

Kilback Pond

Kilback Pond capped off the beautiful bogwalk section. What a treat. Still no moose.

Evidence that Moose use bogwalks

There were a couple spots where it looked like the moose were making good use of some of the lower bog walks. And why not? It was good, firm footing.

Creeping Snowberry

I love running into something different (for a Connecticut hiker). Creeping Snowberry, with white berries, was something I'd never encountered. Loved it. White berries are unusual. I feel like they would be poisonous, but apparently people pick them and say they are minty. Now I regret not tasting them.

This is the trail

There was one last climb left while crossing the Kilkenny, and it was the steepest. There were even some stairs. But before too long, I reached to top of Rogers Ledge, named after Major Robert Roger of Roger's Rangers fame.  There was a beautiful wooded plateau on top perfect for setting up tents. And just beyond that was the ledge.

View to the east from Rogers Ledge

The wind was blasting and the clouds whipped by. A cold front was supposed to move through later in the day, but it was still warm and humid.

Rain clouds to the west

Looking off to the west, it almost looked like it might be misting a little. Hmmm. I sent a text letting my husband know where I was and asked what the weather forecast was. "Cloudy in the morning and thunderstorms later in the day." This was at 8:30 am. Twenty minutes later it started raining. And kept raining all the way down the Kilkenny. Seemed like it was going to rain all day, a repeated of Monday. It was disheartening.

South Pond

On the plus side, the trail going down the ridge got easier and easier and even though it was raining I could finally stretch my legs and not have to constantly worry about the footing. After about two hours I reached South Pond and the rain tapered off.

The Cohos Trail along South Pond

And then the sky started spitting again, so when I got to the deserted beach at the South Pond Recreation Area, I took refuge under the canopy of building there and cooked up some lunch. It was a great place to hang out for awhile. The rain stopped and started and after an hour or so it seemed to be all done with for the time being.

Lunch at the South Pond Recreation Area

So that was pretty much it for the Kilkenny. I went up in the rain and came down in the rain, and had some great hiking in between. Coming up was the Nash Stream section, which looked to be easier hiking. The trail headed down the park road for a good spell. The main route shown on the Cohos map shows the trail staying on the road all the way out to Rt 110, and that's what I did. There's alternate route on the map that's a bit longer but gets you off the road that some people take. It was raining again by that time and I just felt like walking on the road, so I skipped it.

View from Rt 110, Bald Mountain in foreground.

The next destination was the notch up behind Bald Mountain via the appropriately named Bald Mountain Notch Trail. Most of this was pretty easy, following snowmobile roads. It was a nice change to easily stroll up what was essentially a grassy road. The rain had stopped again.

Easy trail

Found some Lobster Mushrooms growing in the middle of the trail. These are weird because they are the product of a mold parasitizing a mushroom and covering the mushroom with a skin the vivid color of a cooked lobster. The mushrooms become misshapen during this process. It sounds disgusting but it's said that the mold improves the flavor of the attacked mushroom, which is usually a Lactarius mushroom. I have not tried it.

Lobster Mushroom

At some point I got a message about a severe thunderstorm warning until 9 pm, and something about a round of hail that had just missed me to the south. Bands of bad weather were racing across New England from the southwest. My husband said he though the next round might hit around 5:00 pm.

Check out the steel I-beam

So I started to pick up the pace, hoping to reach the Devil's Rest Shelter before the storms hit. I didn't actually even know if the shelter existed. It was shown on the trail maps as "planned 2017." But I made time and around 4 pm came to a sign pointing the way to the Devil's Rest Lean-To in 0.5 miles. Hurray! It exists!  The shelter was beautifully made. I parked my gear inside and went down the trail to eat some tuna fish. Didn't want to eat that smelly stuff inside the shelter. Then I went further down the trail to get water for the next day, and when I came back, three older guys were heading for the shelter and it was starting to rain.

Taking shelter from the storm

Joe, Luther, and Mike were a retired trio who had started out southbound from Dixville Notch on Monday, the same day I started, and were going to wrap things up the next day. One of them had previously thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail. It was fun having someone to chat with while waiting out the storms. The line of heavy rain and just one thunderboom passed over us and the Shelter kept us dry. But then the sun came out and it looked like it was all over.

Home sweet home

I had hoped there would be someplace to set up my tent near the shelter, but there was no flat spot for a tent.  I know a lot of people like sleeping in shelters, but wanted to be in my tent.  So I decided to head back up to the grassy path and set my tent up there. It was a perfect spot right there next to the Devil's Rest sign and I slept like a log.

NH Cohos Trail: Crossing the Kilkenny Part 2

Heading down Mt. Weeks with hobblebush crowding the trail

Day two hiking the Kilkenny and no rain! Everything started out pretty wet though (it's surprising how much heavier a wet tent is) and I took my time walking down Mt. Weeks. The trail wasn't particularly difficult, but the overgrowth and wet rocks and roots (which you sometimes couldn't see) could be deceptively hazardous.

Spinulose Woodfern covers many areas

It was a pleasant walk descending the Pliny Range in the fog. I was just about out of water and expecting a stream at the bottom in Willard Notch. Nothing. Hmmm. There was no way I could continue along the ridge without water. I needed something down here at the low point before continuing.  York Pond Trail went along the bottom of the notch and it looked like that trail might take me to a stream if I followed it down the ridge, but how far? I dug out my copied pages of the Cohos Trail  Data book, and saw I had written some notes in there from the Cohos Trail guidebook: "Cross a narrow but healthy stream in all seasons right after leaving notch." Ahh. The stream was not at the lowest point in the notch. I continued up toward Terrace Mountain and almost immediately came upon the stream.

Oh thank goodness

Nothing showed up on the trail map or the databook for this important water source up on the ridge. Good thing I jotted down those notes from the guidebook. At any rate, after my close call with water, and the bad state of important springs up on the ridge, I stocked my pack with 3.5 liters (8 lbs) and spent the rest of the day lugging that up mountains. There was supposed to be a source at Mt Cabot, but that could be dry, leaving Unknown Pond the next water source.

Terrace Mountain

Terrace Mountain was up next, part of the Pilot Range. There's a good rise of about 1000 feet, then a series of three peaks. The heavy pack filled with water slowed me down quite a bit going up the hills but eventually I got there.

Birch Polypore

Terrace Mountain was full of wet moss, lichens, and mushrooms. The ridge undoubtedly gets lots of rain and fog. Birch Polypore was growing all over some of the dead birch trees. Bits of this mushroom in the form of a necklace were carried by the famous iceman Otzi, whose naturally mummified remains were found in the Italian Alps and found to be 5300 years old. They were probably for medicinal purposes.

Old Man's Beard

There was lots of a lichen called Old Man's Beard draped over the trees at the higher elevations, lending a certain mystery to the trail, especially when it was foggy.

North Terrace

While eating a sandwich on the last Terrace peak, I spent some time looking closely at the moss and lichens growing over just about everything up there. So many different kinds.  They carpeted the ground, the trees, even the trail sign.

Moss and lichen were everywhere

There was some bear poo up there, too. Not sure what they might be eating other than hobblebush berries. There were a lot of those all across the Kilkenny.

Bear poo. Hobblebush berries?

After Terrace Mountain came the Mt. Cabot, the tallest peak in the Kilkenny and another 4000-footer. The trail suddenly became wide and well traveled and mostly dry, so the footing was much more secure. But I still had close to eight pounds of water in my pack, so it was a haul up another 1200 feet or so. I passed a young peak-bagger practically running up the trail. First person I'd seen in about 24 hours.

View heading up Mt. Cabot

I stopped at the deserted cabin near the top and hung my wet gear all about to dry in the wind while I cooked up a meal. That wet gear was heavy.

Mt. Cabot Cabin

The cabin was not locked, so I was able to check it out. Dry, but a bit musty. A few crumbs left by the last inhabitants.

Cabot Cabin

As I was heating up some water down below the cabin, a pair of bold Gray Jays, aka Canadian Jays, got in real close, hoping to find food. Yet another exotic northern species. They were adorable.  According to the Internet, Canadian Jays will eat just about anything and have been seen pulling ticks off of winter moose and tearing baby bats away from their mothers. Separating treats from humans would seem pretty simple compared to that.

Canadian Jay examines boiling water

After a good long break at the Cabin, my wet gear had dried out quite a bit, so I repacked and was on my way, continuing a bit further to the top, where the peak-baggers go. There was a good view in a couple direction. The view towards the north was a bit startling. Other than some windmills, it was green forest as far as the eye could see. This was the first time I'd been able to see north beyond Mt. Cabot.

View from Mt Cabot

My best wildlife encounter of the trip was near the top of Cabot. A grouse was on the trail just ahead, not too eager to leave the trail. It finally few up into a tree only a few feet away and patiently allowed me to take a photo with my cell phone. This bird was not like any grouse I had ever seen. I grew up seeing a lot of ruffed grouse and they didn't have a bright red patch near their eyes. This was a Spruce Grouse, the first I'd ever seen. Very cool. I noticed it wasn't very loud when it flew up startled. Ruffed Grouse explode and just about give you a heart attack. These were much quieter. Over the trip I startled up more grouse of the quieter variety, so I assume they were Spruce Grouse.

Spruce Grouse

After descending Mt. Cabot, the Kilkenny Ridge Trail climbs up over a minor peak called the Bulge, then passes a sign for a spur trail to the top of the Horn. The guidebook raved about the views at the top. What the heck. I stashed my pack and scurried (so much lighter!) up the mountain to a large boulder at the top. I was supposed to climb up the boulder to get these 360° view, but there was no way. The boulder was big and smooth and round, and at the bottom was a deep crevice so that if you slipped and fell, you would be injured and trapped in the crevice. I was hiking alone and had seen a grand total of three people in two days. Climbing the boulder alone in this isolated area would just be reckless. I pictured myself stuck in the crevice for a week. I would be like that guy who had to cut off his arm. Nope. Not gonna do it. There was still a great view from the base of the boulder, so I took some photos and started back down the mountain. Almost immediately I passed a thru-hiker coming up the hill. So maybe I wouldn't have been stuck there for a week after all.

From The Horn: Looking back at the Bulge and Mt. Cabot

After the Horn, the day was getting late. I had been hoping to make it to Rogers Ledge, but that wasn't going to happen and I stopped at the Unknown Pond campsite instead. This is said to be a popular tenting site, but it was empty except for one couple.

Unknown Pond looking at the Horn

I had expected a crowded camping area next to a pond. But the tent sites were up on a ridge and I was able to watch the sun set on Mt. Washington in the distance. It was perfect.

Sunset at the campground.

NH Cohos Trail: Crossing the Kilkenny Part 1

Southern part of the Kilkenny

I'd been really looking forward to the Kilkenny. This is the area between Rt 2 in Jefferson and Rt 110 in Stark. It's remote, full of peaks, rarely blazed, and requires backpacking. After the crazy pack of Appalachian Trail thru-hikers I got tangled up with while crossing the Franconia and Twin Ranges, I couldn't wait for some real wilderness hiking and peace and quiet.

A rainy start

Due to my schedule, I needed to start on Labor Day, which was forecast to rain all day. Sigh. On the plus side, there were only four cars in the parking lot off of Starr King Road, so I didn't need to park in the spillover area way down the road.

Heading up the well-traveled Starr King Trail

It was around 11 am before I got started, after five hours in the car, and I didn't take many pictures because it was raining and cell phone touch screens do not work in the rain. I had a rain cover for the phone, but to get a clear picture you have to pull the phone out of the cover. Then the phone gets wet, and when you put it back in the plastic cover, the water is trapped in there with the phone. Something I learned.

Mt. Starr King

The trail up was probably an old bridle trail and therefore is not overly steep even though it rises relentlessly about 2500 feet. Near the top is a spring, which I was counting on, because who wants to carry excess water up a hill. There was a "water" sign at the site, thankfully, but the water was just trickling. I mean there was more water on the trail than in the spring. A father-son team came down the trail, soaked. They were the only people I saw all day.  I filled up on water, ate a sandwich, and continued on up.  Mt. Starr King had no view in the rain, then the trail climbed more gradually to Mt. Waumbeck, a 4000-footer.

Mt Waumbek summit, a 4000-footer.

At the summit of Waumbeck, the big wide trail came to an abrupt end. I guess that's as far as most people go. They come up to bag their 4000 foot mountain and then head back down. I cast about looking for a way to continue on, and saw a faint path through the trees. I tried it out, hoping it wasn't some pee path.

The Cohos Trail via the Kilkenny Ridge Trail

The path was faint as it ran through dense ferns. Could this be the trail? There didn't seem to be any other, but it was so overgrown, I had my doubts. I pulled out my phone and checked the Maps.ME app, where I had loaded a couple tracks for the trail. Yup. This was the trail. I was happy to have the gps track on the phone while hiking some of the more remote sections of the Cohos. It gave me peace of mind.

Checking to see if I was on the trail. Yup.

You'll notice there are two tracks on the screenshot. The darker one was crudely digitized from the trail map, but it's good enough to see if you are way off track. The brighter red line is a real gps track from a hiker. Very helpful. The trail continued on through the rain and thick vegetation. I went slow, careful not to twist an ankle on the hidden wet rock and roots under the ferns and hobblebush. There were a few parts where the overgrown path headed straight for a solid wall of small spruce, like little Christmas trees. Could this be correct, or did I miss a turn? I put my arms out front, leaned foreward, and bulldozed my way through the trees. After punching through the fortress of drippy spruce, the trail tread reappeared. OK, then, so that's how we do things up on the Kilkenny. Carry on!

Moose poop on South Weeks

After Mt.Waumbek, there are three more peaks up on the Pliny Range: South Weeks, Middle Weeks, and Mt. Weeks. You never drop down below elevation 3,000. On South Weeks, or maybe it was Middle Weeks, it stopped raining for a bit, and the sky brightened. So I finally got a brief glimpse of a view through the fog and few pictures. At this point my phone gps claimed I was back closer to Mt. Waumbek that I thought. It was very disheartening, but I studied the contour lines of my paper map and decided, no, I had definitely gone up and down South Week. My phone was wrong. Pretty sure the water screwed up the gps reception. These tools can be great, but they are no replacement for your own brain.

Brief clearing 

I was getting chilly at this point and it started raining again. Rain had seeped through my rain gear even though I gave it a fresh coating of waterproofing, and my clothing underneath was damp, but I didn't want to put any extra clothing on at that point. Best to keep the clothing dry. I was looking forward to getting to the top of Mt. Weeks, where the guidebook mentioned most people camp if they start after noon. On the way up, I looked for an important spring, but it was bone dry. Not good. Rather ironic, considering all the rain. I still had water, though, and it would due.

Sarsaparilla growing on a stump

I got to the tenting spot around 6 pm.  There was a little side trail marked with a pile of rocks leading to a grassy spot. Perfect. By that time, it had stopped raining again, and I was able to set my tent up and get out of the wet gear. The nice dry clothes and a sleeping bag felt wonderful. But it started raining again before I could hang my bear bag. Drats. It was after dark before the rain tapered off, though still dripping heavily from the trees, when I dashed out with the bear bag and tied it horrible to a nearby tree. At least it wouldn't be in the tent. I have a kevlar bag that bear supposedly cannot open, even if they can crush whatever is inside, and an "odor-proof" plastic bag inside that, so hopefully it would be OK in the morning. Seemed more important to get back in the tent and stay dry than perfectly hang the bear bag.

Mt. Weeks tenting area

Although my clothes were dry, my hair was soaking wet. How did that happen? Well, I forgot that my baseball cap was cotton. Even though it was under a rain coat hood, the cotton brim wicked the rain from the front of the hat to the back, and from there the water proceeded into my hair. I had no idea this was happening until the end of the day. Guess I need a different hat.