Mount Cabot

Date: 11/8/2020

Elevation: 4,120’ according to the summit sign, 4,170’ according to my guidebook

Miles: 11.4 miles

Time: 5 hours, 52 minutes

Trails: York Pond Trail to Bunnell Notch Trail to Kilkenny Ridge Trail to Unknown Pond Trail

Sooo here I am, back on the blog, WELL over a month since I actually completed this hike. But I haven’t hiked since Cabot so let’s just reminisce on it through this post, humor me okay.

I don’t remember all the details at this point, but what still sticks out to me is what an unseasonably beautiful and warm day this was. Cabot was my third solo hike and it was the most peaceful day to spend with myself.

After a haul from Boston up to the northernmost 4,000 footer, I made it to the trailhead for an 8:16am start. The York Pond Trail starts within the gates of the Berlin Fish Hatchery, which supposedly close at 4pm but I’ve heard varying reports. There are few actual parking spots, but you can park all along the road too. The first section of the trail is pretty flat and I remember it was already pretty warm; the sun coming through the trees made the world golden.

I don’t remember too much about the ascent, but I know I followed a river for a while. It didn’t get crazy steep at any point but I was definitely working hard. It’s about 4.7 miles to the summit of Cabot and around a mile before then, there’s a decent lookout marked with a tiny sign that says “view.” It’s posted up on a tree and if you have your head down you’ll likely miss it. It leads out to a big slab of rock and a nice view.

Eventually I got to Cabot Cabin, which isn’t really functional at this point. You can stop in and there are two bunks that are kind of gross…I wouldn’t sleep there, but it’s cool to check out.

From there it wasn’t too much further to Mount Cabot, which is another viewless summit with hungry gray jays.

You can choose to end your hike here and go back the way you came, but I was doing the Cabot Loop, which includes two other peaks called the Bulge and the Horn. The Bulge really just means the trail decreases in elevation just to gain it back and doesn’t offer any views, but the Horn has the best view on the loop. To get to it, you have to hike .3 miles off the main trail, but it’s definitely worth it.

2.8 miles from Mount Cabot is Unknown Pond, my favorite pitstop on this hike. The pond is so quiet and calm and the solitude is beautiful. It really feels ~unknown~ and that makes it all the more special.

I finished my hike at 2:08pm feeling a little more whole :)

Sorry for a bland blog post here…hoping to hike this weekend and will record my thoughts sooner for a more detailed account!