Mt. Waumbat

Late last year, my oldest son Caleb decided to start climbing the 48 New Hampshire 4,000 foot peaks. He has noted the irony that, having been brought up in the Conway, NH area, he waited until he lived in Southern Massachusetts to begin his quest.

He drove up Friday to spend a belated Mother's Day with his mom and stay overnight with us in Dixfield. Saturday was reserved for a climb, and I suggested Mt. Waumbek (#46 at just over 4,000) near Jefferson. South-facing, and therefore likely to be free of snow at elevation, Waumbek is also a moderate climb of 3.6 miles, crossing Starr King Mountain (3,900+) in the process. A good, first climb of the spring.

Caleb agreed to my suggestion, but in his idiosyncratic way, proceeded to fracture the name of our target; hence, it is now referred to as Mt. Waumbat. (His explanation: "I was pronouncing the mountain's name correctly; I just seem to have picked up a strong Massachusetts accent.")

The day was cloudy, with sun peaking through occasionally and a brisk wind rushing through the forest on the final ridge walk to the summit. Conversation was plentiful through the ascent but disappeared as we headed down, the entire hike covering 4 hours. It might have been quicker but I stopped on the way to get numerous shots of purple Trillium for Beth, who was home writing a brief for the law court. She loves wildflowers.

I'm terrible at remembering the names of these creatures but thought she would appreciate the pictures. This seems to have been a good choice, as her book, "Wildflowers of the White Mountains," refers to these purples as Sweet Beth.

Caleb headed south for Massachusetts and I proceeded east on Route 2, having had a good workout. He's now at 9/48.

I'm one peak short of the 48 and looking forward to my Garfield climb, sooner than later this year. Until last year, I hadn't really thought much about climbing them all, but more on that later.