Mt. Waumbek

Saturday we walked up Mt. Waumbek taking the more popular route from the parking lot off RT 2 and crossing over the summit of Starr King Mountain. The honor of naming (and renaming) of the White Mountains seems to follow the rules of war – whoever possesses them gets to name them. For instance, the Presidentials were named by a bunch of hikers from nearby Lancaster, NH who happened to be the first group to climb Washington with necessary supplies for toasting the newly named peaks.*

Whoever (re)named Starr King Mountain must have done so sometime after 1850. Considering Starr King's cache at the time, I'm surprised at at the selection. Don't get me wrong, it is a nice mountain, with a good view South to the Presidentials but Waumbek, less than .5 miles to the East is higher, and has better views, and Starr King was, at the time, the guy who wrote the book on The White Hills: Their Legends, Landscape, and Poetry (Classic Reprint) as he titled it. Part guidebook, part romantic rhapsody the book combines a call for all to visit the Hills as well as preserve it and is credited with being a major cause for the White Mountain tourist pre-Civil War tourist boom.

At one point Starr King Mountain had a summit cabin and a bridal path leading to it, as many of the White Mountains did at the time. The stone hearth now stands in a small meadow. Hikers gather there in the sun to enjoy the views and a snack, often before moving on to Mt. Waumbec. Most do not know about Starr King (full name Thomas Starr King, who was also a famous Unitarian Universalist Minister in Boston, and later San Fransisco where he has another mt named after him.) but everyone who makes the climb has a chance to enjoy what he most enjoyed.

If hiking Mt. Waumbek from the West be sure and walk about 40 yards passed the3 summit. The peak is forested but there is a clearing to the East with views to the South of Adams, Monroe, and Jefferson.

*Forest and Crag, A History of Hiking, Trail Blazing, and