"Ahhhh, back in New Hampshire's Golden Zone, the summits above 4,000 ft. Started this challenge when I was 10 and have been chipping away at it ever since. This summer, I put together a 3-day plan to finish once and for all. But after failing to recruit any friends to join me (with a last minute bail boooo), I was on the fence. Then instead of a friend, COVID joined me. Uggh. Fever hit me hard for few days. By the time I could stand again, I only had time for one day out. I decided to go for it. The Cabot/Horn loop looked like the best fit of the remaining 4000er hikes I had left. I once again totally underestimated how burly and difficult these trails are -- and everything was wet and slick from last night's rainstorm. Slow going up streams and muddy conditions into a cloudbank. Caught a limited view from Bunnell Rock. The V/J summit of Cabot (that's Viewless/Joyless) lived up to its ultra-low expectations. But wow, The Horn, what a great summit. A bizarre circle of blue sky hovered directly over The Horn while I ate snacks and checked the weather forecast (perfect cell signal up there). What? 75% chance of a thunderstorm in 1 hour? In the morning the forecast had been no rain u..." — scott • Jul 17, 2024

"Went through Bunnell Notch. Pretty decent weather day. Not many hikers out for a summer Sunday. Very hazy views from the outlook. Lunch at the cabin. Just above the cabin in the clearing was a very large garter snake sunning themselves. Another hiker said it hangs out around the cabin." — Alohabuffy • Aug 20, 2023

"Denise and I headed up Cabot, which we both needed in May. The lower part of the hike was ice free. We had to put spikes on soon after the overlook rock. Decent amount of snow between the cabin and summit. In some places, it was knee deep. We tagged the summit and headed out. It was hot outside too. I hit up Big Day Brewing afterwards. " — newenglandwarrior • May 13, 2022

"Pretty nice weather for the 11 mile loop. Lots of color now appearing. Been a few years since we've been up here, the cabin is freshly painted and looks good. Came down via Bulge, Horn and Unknown Pond. Lots of mud and water on the trail." — Alohabuffy • Sep 25, 2021

"Mt. Cabot is such a beautiful mountain, full of lush greenery and a misty forrest quality. But between its moderate isolation, distance from home, and somewhat awkward trail access, it never quite seems to fall into that "convenient hike" category. We decided to finally bite the bullet and make it our 41st out of 48 NH 4,000-footers. We chose the [now] most frequently used route that begins at the Berlin Fish Hatchery on York Pond Rd. Word to the wise #1: call ahead. The Hatchery gate is usually scheduled to close at 4pm each day, limiting access, but they sometimes keep longer hours and have shown some flexibility with hikers in the past. It's nice to go in knowing how much time you actually have to work with. We spent a short time on York Pond Tr before transitioning to Bunnell Notch Tr, followed by Killkenny Ridge Tr which brought us to the summit. We chose to return the same way instead of taking the longer but scenic loop over to Unknown Pond Tr. Word to the Wise #2: the lowest parts of York Pond and Bunnell Notch Tr are tight with overgrown grasses/plants/young trees craving intimacy, and includes a nice crop of poison ivy. It all comes together in a way that screams, "Ticks ..." — gooner • Jul 16, 2021

"Set up camp at Unknown Pond the night before and headed up to Cabot the next morning, grabbing The Horn and The Bulge on the way. Mostly in the clouds on The Horn, but we were able to catch a few glimpses of the nice foliage happening in the distance. Met a few folks on the trail too. " — ElectroSpecter • Sep 24, 2020

"Solo. 19/48. Humid and in the 50’s, extremely overcast all day. Didn’t see a single other person all day long. Started out at 0745 and the gate to the fish hatchery was open. Decided on the Bunnell Notch trail to start, hoping that perhaps by the time I hit the Horn I would get some kind of view. I would say that probably 65-70% of the time I was hiking today I was being touched by some kind of plant- whether it was ferns or little fiddly tree branches or other greenery along the trail, it was near-constant. If you don’t like being touched by stuff while you hike maybe hit this in the winter. Lol. The Bunnell Notch Trail starts out nice and easy, very narrow & mostly dirt with some tiny steam crossings, and lots and lots of ferns. Tall ones! It was very quiet in the woods today, barely even a bird chirping- so around half a mile in when I heard something large moving off trail I was sure it was Bigfoot (probably a fat squirrel though.) I did see some moose signs on the trail in a few areas though which was exciting and a bit nerve wracking. The trail is a nice easy or moderate ascent all the way up to Cabot summit, steep in some areas with rocks or bedrock b..." — kellieirene • Sep 17, 2020

"Molly needed Cabot, so that is where we went. We had to park about a mile before the trailhead because of logging operations. We went up, tagged the summit, and came back down. " — newenglandwarrior • Mar 15, 2020

"Busy day on Cabot. Around 20 degs. A little breeze at the top. Some sun but a lot of clouds. Was spitting snow half the way up. Lunch in the cabin. Felt like a refridgerator. But very good trail conditions, no ice, easy walk with spikes. Thought about looping over to Unknown Pond but that trail looked a little rough at the summit." — Alohabuffy • Dec 30, 2018

"Trail was packed out but still pretty soft in spots, especially after the turn from Bunnell Notch up the mountain on the Kilkenny Ridge Trail, so I stuck with snowshoes the whole way up and down. Stream crossing were mostly easy step/hop-overs, with a couple of the bigger crossings having well-trodden detours where the main ice bridges were looking pretty thin. A surprisingly sunny morning meant I got some views I didn't expect at Bunnell Rock and the Cabot Cabin. All in all, it was a tough day grinding the hike out in the snow, but a victorious one in knocking another 4000-footer off the list." — HikeLikeMike • Mar 24, 2018