Cabot

Trip Details
Date: January 10^th, 2020
Total Distance: 12.76 mi (via Garmin fenix 5X)
Total Time: 6 hr 16 min
Total Elevation: 3366 ft gained
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Well it was time to get my butt back on the mountains so BishopX and I could start working on our winter 4000 footers again. The weather was garbage two weeks prior and this one was looking iffy, but it seemed like we may only get a brief window of snow/rain. With the only chance I would get to hike in January we had to take it so we decided on Mt. Cabot. This hike is all in the trees, has a shelter if weather turns to garbage, and is relatively easy. It was a nice way to warm up after taking a few months off (oh boy was I feeling this and I still do cardio a couple times a week). The bad...well driving to Berlin is downright awful and a six hour round-trip in the car just makes for a super long day.

The Berlin Fish Hatchery is currently undergoing logging so the road to the trailhead is closed about 1.2 miles before the trailhead. There is dedicated parking after you make your way around the lake.

Room for three to four cars here and...

another three to four cars here. These two spots are specifically labeled. You could maybe park across the street where I was standing to take this photo, but it is not labeled as hiker parking.

Start of the road walk.

As soon as we started the road walk, the snow/mixed precipitation started coming down hard. I actually ended up moving to a rain jacket and putting my goggles on. I paid for this on the way up though because by the time the precipitation switched to just snow it was starting to slow down and I was too in the zone and now my base layer was getting pretty wet (rain jackets do not breathe). I pushed through with minimal stopping to the cabin where it was nice to strip off my wet layers and get nice dry stuff on. After some food and the aid of some hand warmers I was nice and toasty again in a few minutes. We actually ended up passing Trish, Alex, and Sage (the creators of the Terrifying 25 list that we completed last year) as they were coming down from the cabin and we were heading up. BishopX and I did not put it together until we were at the cabin and were bummed we did not get to say hi and chat about hiking for a minute or two (we conversed via email after the fact to confirm it was in fact them).

Start of the actual trail.

BishopX had some information on accessing this trail during the summer and was hoping we got to ascend it in the winter. No one does this by the looks of it and I am glad we did not attempt to break that trail out.

One of the few views on this hike. We were in the clouds.

The cabin (no longer managed by the forestry service), though usable, has seen better days and unfortunately smelled of stale cigarettes.

Not far from the cabin is the actual summit and thankfully there is a sign so you know where you are on it. If we get much more snow, finding this sign may prove challenging.

It was a winter wonderland up here.

BishopX at the cabin.

Both of us at the cabin.

The way down we tried to cruise as fast as possible to get down before the sunset. We made it, but it was close. There is nothing exciting about this trail. It meanders for a longtime both in its descent and in reaching the trailhead. The road walk just adds to that meandering. Eventually we found our way back to the cars and headed out of the Berlin Fish Hatchery in the dark.

The logging operation is currently right next to the parking spaces.

The track has about an extra 1.25 miles on it from drift.