A Short Loop: Shelburne's Mt Cabot, and Wiggins Rock

This is another one of those hikes that will likely be of little interest to most folks.  However, I decided to post it anyway.  My thought is that it's worth it, even if only a handful of folks find it helpful, or if it inspires someone to get out into the woods for just a short hike.

The Berlin, Gorham, Shelburne area offers opportunities to launch major hikes to 4K peaks, as well as a variety of shorter hikes.  While in the Shelburne area On 08-February, there was only enough time for a short hike.   I opted to do a loop hike to the little mountain named Mt. Cabot, which is only 1,512 ft elevation (versus it's 4,170 ft  "big brother" of the same name which lies to the west in the Pilot Range).

This loop involves two trails, i.e. the Red Trail and the Blue Trail.  I did the loop in a clockwise fashion by ascending Mt. Cabot via the Red Trail and descending via the Blue Trail.  The elevation gain is just under 800 ft regardless of whether the loop is done clockwise or counterclockwise.  The total distance for this loop is only about 2.5 miles.  I added another 0.4 mile by doing a short side-trip to Wiggins Rock.

Besides only having a limited amount of time to hike on this day, my other motivation for doing this particular short loop was to check out Mt. Cabot's  improved views which are a result of the fine work done the Shelburne Trails Club (STC).

I began the hike from the Philbrook Farm Inn.  The personnel at the Inn cheerfully accommodated my request to park at the far end of their lot.  How many trailheads look like this (photo below)?!

Conditions were such that I wore snowshoes from start to finish. The photo below shows a typical scene along my route.

Also along my route, was the trail sign shown in the next photo.  I guess that someone had a "bone to pick" with this sign (Ha! Ha! . . . very bad joke!)  Regardless, I'm certain there must be a story to be told about how the bone ended up atop the trail sign.

Upon arriving at the top of Mt. Cabot, I made the slight descent to the ledge just a hundred feet or so off the west side of the trail.  I must say the STC did a marvelous job of opening up the views of the Presidential Range from that ledge (see photo below).  (Please be advised that for now, there is no signage pointing to this short spur trail leading to the ledge.  However, I'm certain that the STC will have a sign in place sometime later this year.)

As mentioned at the top of this report, I extended my trek to make a short side trip to Wiggins Rock where there is a limited view toward the Presidentials (see photo below).

To sum it up,  there's little else to say about this little hike, other than it was an enjoyable romp in the woods.   Another way to look at it is that a short hike is better than no hike!