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Mt Waumbek - page 2 of 3

Beyond the well, the trail continued moderately uphill through a deciduous woods that seemed to go on forever. I was surprised at how high I was climbing without entering the usual spruce/fir boreal  forest. It seems to begin much lower on the slopes of the Presidential and Franconia Ranges.

Finally, I pretty much suddenly entered a spruce/fir woods after rounding a bend in the trail where the trail began angling northwest up the mountain. The trees were spectacularly covered with thick drapes of snow. The higher I went, the more snow clung to the branches. If it had been windy, these trees would have dumped a ton of snow on me as a walked by. Luckily, it was very calm and quiet. I couldn't even detect a hint of a breeze in the treetops.

I was amazed at the amount of snow on the trees, especially considering the thickness of the forest. They looked as if they had been flocked. I would have expected this on an exposed slope in the krummholz, but this was a still a tall sheltered forest where the storm shouldn't have been able to penetrate so deeply. Whenever the storm occurred, it was probably not a good time to be outside without shelter.

As I climbed even higher, the trees began to get smaller and even more plastered with snow. I knew that I must be getting close. Finally, the trail turned sharply right to ascend a short distance to the partially-open summit of Mt Starr King.

The Starr King Trail as it's approaching the beginning of the spruce/fir forest. The deciduous zone seems to grow a bit higher here than it does in the Presidentials or the Franconia Range.

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The Starr King Trail a bit further up. The higher I climbed, the more snow was on the trees. If it had been windy, these trees would have dumped a ton of snow on me as a walked by.

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Snow-covered trees. I was surprised at how much snow was plastered on the trees in the relative shelter of the this thick forest.

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Another snow-covered fir tree. This tree, along with many others nearby, looked liked it had been flocked. There must have been a wild storm not long before.

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  Waumbek page: 

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