Arising at 5am, we were ready to head off by 6am. Brilliant, deep colors painted the eastern sky as we headed along the ridge towards the summit of Mount Cabot, only a few hundred metres away.
The summit of Mount Cabot was completely wooded, and offered no views. Ewart celebrated the summiting of his final New Hampshire 4000-footer.
Ewart's last NH 4000-footer
There were two more bumps to cross over before we started our final descent to the northern trailhead and the end of our two-day journey. Mount Cabot has three principle bumps - Mount Cabot itself, and two others, known as "the Bulge" and "the Horn". The Bulge is a completely forested peak, but the Horn has a rocky lookout at its summit. It is reached on a short spur path from the main ridge trail, and we dropped our packs and went for a look. As it turned out, it was the best lookout of the entire two days, with views in almost all directions. The beautiful early morning light didn't hurt, either!
Looking West from the Horn
Mount Cabot from the Horn
Looking back over our journey
Looking back over our journey (annotated)
Back at the junction where we dropped our packs, it was time for a quick descent to the car, so that we could get back to Ottawa in time for a Canadian Thanksgiving Dinner with Jenn's family. The trail traversed down and around the base of the Horn, descending to a flat spot at about 3000 feet where a little picturesque pond was located. The pond, known as Unknown Pond, is situated such that the perspective from its eastern shore includes a nice view of The Horn.
