Wildcats and Carters, 1/31/2009 - Views From The Top

LRiz · 02-02-2009, 08:56 PM

The Cats, the Carters, potentially Moriah - It was a hike that we'd been planning for quite a long while... and after postponing it for weeks, this past Saturday Cath, Drew, Eric and I decided to venture over to Pinkham Notch and give it a shot.

Our journey began with a car spot... well, four car spots, to be precise: Carter-Moriah, Stony Brook, Nineteen Mile, and the Wildcat Ski Area - plenty of opportunities for potential bailouts. Upon readying our gear (to the bemused look of skiers who couldn't entirely understand our heavy packs and snowshoes), we made our way towards the Polecat trail and prepared for our ascent.... bumping into mtnpa (out to enjoy the slopes), Steve, John, and June along the way. The climb began almost instantly, albeit at a moderate incline... and although the trail certainly bare bootable, I decided to put my snowshoes on for some additional traction. Nevertheless, I was fighting a pretty nasty cold. Despite the two Red Bulls and copious amounts of coffee that I'd downed pre-hike, I felt sluggish and a little weak. However, I refused to let it get me down, and determinedly pressed on. Wildcat Ridge was in the clear as we slowly made our way towards D Peak, stopping occasionally to chat with skiers... most of whom would exclaim in amazement that we were going the wrong way!

To our west, the Presidentials were enshrouded in a heavy mass of ice fog. Switchbacking our way up the trail, we soon reached the top of the express quad (to the congratulations of many skiers exiting the lift

). After stopping briefly to refuel, we turned onto the Wildcat Ridge trail and within a few minutes were on the very underwhelming summit of D Peak. I let one of my customary summit yelps and struck a rather strange pose:

Not wanting to linger, we were soon on our way again, Cath in the lead. Rocket21's trail breaking efforts from the day prior were still readily apparent, and made our journey across the ridge remarkably pleasant... with the exclusion of the ridiculous overgrown branches which never ceased to whack me at every possible opportunity. Shortly before C peak, I bounded my way towards the front so that I could snap a few pictures of the striking views towards Washington, still covered omniously in a thick blanket of clouds:

In seemingly no time at all, we reached the summit of A Peak, on which I, for reasons unbeknownst to me, decided to impersonate a wildcat:

...and whilst the summit itself is wooded, the views from the ledges were particularly striking:

Ah... but now the real fun was to begin. Up until this point, we'd had the pleasure of traveling on marvelous broken trail. No longer was this the case. Making our way down towards Carter Notch, the snow depth ranged from under a foot to waist-deep (for 75% of us

). Nonetheless, when you have a happy trail breaker up front it's difficult not to stay in good spirits!

Upon reaching the infamous Wildcat A slide, we paused for a second, and then proceeded very carefully across the steep snowy bank... which fortunately held firm. From that point onwards, the journey into the notch itself was remarkably fast, as we scurried down the trail with surprising energy. I became particularly excited when I realized that we were going to have the opportunity to cross a lake! Furthermore, it was exciting to look upwards and realize just how far we'd descended...

After some deliberation, we decided to continue directly up to Carter Dome instead of stopping for a short break at the hut. Initially, the trail appeared to be broken out. However, within a few tenths of a mile... the tracks stopped.

Uh oh.

Trail breaking was tough. I quickly became frustrated by the constant slipping of my snowshoes on the steep terrain. Knowing that we had a lot of work ahead of us, we opted to break the trail in shifts, using the Cath's rope on occasion to navigate over some of the difficult sections. As slow, tedious, and thoroughly exhausting as it was, we persevered... and about one 1/3 of a mile from the summit, to our delight, we encountered a group of five hikers heading down the trail. Suddenly filled with energy, I took the lead once more, and as we neared the summit I let out a huge shout of joy. Huddling around the (deeply embedded) trail sign, we posed for a picture, thrilled to have earned such a tough peak:

LRiz · 02-02-2009, 08:57 PM

Carter Dome itself was surprisingly windy. Pulling on my wind layer, I scarfed a few GU gels and jogged my way down to Zeta Pass. Nevertheless, as cold as it was, it was truly a spectacular day to be out on the Carters... and the luxury of meandering down lovely, packed trail was certainly a treat!

Upon reaching the Pass, we were glad to see that the trail towards South Carter was also broken out. After stopping briefly to refuel, we adjusted our layers and slowly made our way towards the peak. Eric, filled with energy, took the lead and was soon well ahead of the group. My cold had started to get the better of me, and I found myself dragging slightly. Reaching the summit of South Carter, my camera batteries had completely frozen (hence no summit shot

). Not wanting to stop for fear of getting cold, we pressed on towards Middle Carter. The descent between the peaks rejuvenated me, and within a few minutes I was feeling quite a bit better. Nearing the summit, we passed two more hikers... and in no time at all... we were there!

5 peaks in one day. Thumbs up.

The trail from this point onwards was unbroken. Knowing that we'd have nearly three miles of trail to break to the Stony Brook junction, we made the collective decision to head down the North Carter trail. The winds had picked up considerably... and relentlessly beat down on us every time we reached an exposed section of ledge. Whilst the going was slow, the views around us were utterly spectacular:

The light began to fade as we headed down the North Carter trail, breaking through a foot or so of heavy, wet snow. Cath and I decided to alternate, in an effort to conserve energy. Reaching the Imp trail junction, and realizing that we still had 3.1+ miles to go, I became simply delirious and started to giggle uncontrollably. We pulled out our headlamps, and continued our descent, the brilliant crescent moon shining brightly above us...

Down we went, trying our very hardest not to fall into the deep rocky cracks of the Imp trail, concealed by a blanket of snow...

...and soon reached the cutoff to Camp Dodge. What a welcome sight! Passing the cabins, I could hear the faint purr of motors in the distance, and knew that route 16 must be somewhere close by. Reaching the gate itself, I let out one final shout of joy. Although we still had a half mile road walk to go... we'd made it!

Funnily enough, we ended our hike in the one location that we'd decided not to spot a car.

1HappyHiker · 02-02-2009, 09:03 PM

Another truly excellent report! Congratulations on 5 peaks in 1 day!

Cath · 02-02-2009, 09:19 PM

Rocket YOU'RE the man

And, I think that F&G should give you a complimentary parking pass for the year, for your efforts on Saturday !!!!!

The photo taken from the drifts on Carter Dome looking over at Mt Hight is beautiful!!!!

gooly · 02-02-2009, 09:20 PM

Great TR for a pretty sick adventure! nice job everyone!

Silverfox · 02-02-2009, 09:23 PM

Scary wildcat..

but otherwise some gteat photos on a good days work!!

rocket21 · 02-03-2009, 05:11 AM

Great trip report and photos! I especially like seeing the heavily underused word 'whilst.'

Cath - I'm glad I could help with the trailbreaking, but I still feel bad for not removing a few of those annoying blowdowns! There were two in particular that were rather vexing, but by the time I came back through Thursday night, I wasn't in the mood to do solo-sawing-by-headlamp-at-4,000-in-winter-with-lots-of-hyphens

TrishandAlex · 02-03-2009, 06:45 AM

Epic -- well done, LRiz and company.

Have you decided which peak you'll finish on?

The Feathered Hat · 02-03-2009, 07:03 AM

Yowza! And all this on a day I couldn't even make it to the top of the Skookumchuck. Ah, to be young again.

Big congrats to all on an impressive accomplishment.

MadRiver · 02-03-2009, 07:03 AM

Nice trip report and hike. Well done. That gives you 39 to my 36. Washington took some wind out of my sails so I hope to get back into it on Sunday after helping a friend move on Saturday. Maybe Carrigain.

BIGEarl · 02-03-2009, 07:13 AM

Terrific report and pics. Congratulations!

There's time for two times through the list.

Go for it!

The-Green-Man · 02-03-2009, 04:30 PM

All I can say is "Wow!"

I'm impressed that anyone could cover that distance in one day with a good portion of the trail unbroken... I need to get in shape!

ColdRiverRun · 02-03-2009, 04:38 PM

I was wondering how long it would take for Drew to go for the double reach around!

una_dogger · 02-03-2009, 05:07 PM

Awesome!
What a great job on a hike I'd like to do someday!!! And GREAT pictures!
I'm with CRR, my fav is the one of the three of you on Polecat !

LRiz, isn't going up to Carter Dome from the hut a tough climb? We did it twice last winter, both times breaking through deep, unconsolidated champagne powder -- two steps forward, two slips back!!

Great job on an epic hike and here's to you for being so close to achieving your goal!

giggy · 02-03-2009, 07:20 PM

sounds like a good one.

Hiked that ridge once in rain and deep rotten snow - that was tons of fun.

actually it kind of was...

I recall frodo and cruddy toes setting the pace up carter dome - that was "interesting"

andy - you must be getting close for 48W X1 - was half-expecting you to come to bridgton sat eve...

02-02-2009, 08:56 PM	#1
LRiz Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Will run for beer Posts: 249	Wildcats and Carters, 1/31/2009 The Cats, the Carters, potentially Moriah - It was a hike that we'd been planning for quite a long while... and after postponing it for weeks, this past Saturday Cath, Drew, Eric and I decided to venture over to Pinkham Notch and give it a shot. Our journey began with a car spot... well, four car spots, to be precise: Carter-Moriah, Stony Brook, Nineteen Mile, and the Wildcat Ski Area - plenty of opportunities for potential bailouts. Upon readying our gear (to the bemused look of skiers who couldn't entirely understand our heavy packs and snowshoes), we made our way towards the Polecat trail and prepared for our ascent.... bumping into mtnpa (out to enjoy the slopes), Steve, John, and June along the way. The climb began almost instantly, albeit at a moderate incline... and although the trail certainly bare bootable, I decided to put my snowshoes on for some additional traction. Nevertheless, I was fighting a pretty nasty cold. Despite the two Red Bulls and copious amounts of coffee that I'd downed pre-hike, I felt sluggish and a little weak. However, I refused to let it get me down, and determinedly pressed on. Wildcat Ridge was in the clear as we slowly made our way towards D Peak, stopping occasionally to chat with skiers... most of whom would exclaim in amazement that we were going the wrong way! To our west, the Presidentials were enshrouded in a heavy mass of ice fog. Switchbacking our way up the trail, we soon reached the top of the express quad (to the congratulations of many skiers exiting the lift ). After stopping briefly to refuel, we turned onto the Wildcat Ridge trail and within a few minutes were on the very underwhelming summit of D Peak. I let one of my customary summit yelps and struck a rather strange pose: Not wanting to linger, we were soon on our way again, Cath in the lead. Rocket21's trail breaking efforts from the day prior were still readily apparent, and made our journey across the ridge remarkably pleasant... with the exclusion of the ridiculous overgrown branches which never ceased to whack me at every possible opportunity. Shortly before C peak, I bounded my way towards the front so that I could snap a few pictures of the striking views towards Washington, still covered omniously in a thick blanket of clouds: In seemingly no time at all, we reached the summit of A Peak, on which I, for reasons unbeknownst to me, decided to impersonate a wildcat: ...and whilst the summit itself is wooded, the views from the ledges were particularly striking: Ah... but now the real fun was to begin. Up until this point, we'd had the pleasure of traveling on marvelous broken trail. No longer was this the case. Making our way down towards Carter Notch, the snow depth ranged from under a foot to waist-deep (for 75% of us ). Nonetheless, when you have a happy trail breaker up front it's difficult not to stay in good spirits! Upon reaching the infamous Wildcat A slide, we paused for a second, and then proceeded very carefully across the steep snowy bank... which fortunately held firm. From that point onwards, the journey into the notch itself was remarkably fast, as we scurried down the trail with surprising energy. I became particularly excited when I realized that we were going to have the opportunity to cross a lake! Furthermore, it was exciting to look upwards and realize just how far we'd descended... After some deliberation, we decided to continue directly up to Carter Dome instead of stopping for a short break at the hut. Initially, the trail appeared to be broken out. However, within a few tenths of a mile... the tracks stopped. Uh oh. Trail breaking was tough. I quickly became frustrated by the constant slipping of my snowshoes on the steep terrain. Knowing that we had a lot of work ahead of us, we opted to break the trail in shifts, using the Cath's rope on occasion to navigate over some of the difficult sections. As slow, tedious, and thoroughly exhausting as it was, we persevered... and about one 1/3 of a mile from the summit, to our delight, we encountered a group of five hikers heading down the trail. Suddenly filled with energy, I took the lead once more, and as we neared the summit I let out a huge shout of joy. Huddling around the (deeply embedded) trail sign, we posed for a picture, thrilled to have earned such a tough peak: Last edited by LRiz; 02-03-2009 at 08:14 AM.

02-02-2009, 08:57 PM	#2
LRiz Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Will run for beer Posts: 249	Part II... Carter Dome itself was surprisingly windy. Pulling on my wind layer, I scarfed a few GU gels and jogged my way down to Zeta Pass. Nevertheless, as cold as it was, it was truly a spectacular day to be out on the Carters... and the luxury of meandering down lovely, packed trail was certainly a treat! Upon reaching the Pass, we were glad to see that the trail towards South Carter was also broken out. After stopping briefly to refuel, we adjusted our layers and slowly made our way towards the peak. Eric, filled with energy, took the lead and was soon well ahead of the group. My cold had started to get the better of me, and I found myself dragging slightly. Reaching the summit of South Carter, my camera batteries had completely frozen (hence no summit shot ). Not wanting to stop for fear of getting cold, we pressed on towards Middle Carter. The descent between the peaks rejuvenated me, and within a few minutes I was feeling quite a bit better. Nearing the summit, we passed two more hikers... and in no time at all... we were there! 5 peaks in one day. Thumbs up. The trail from this point onwards was unbroken. Knowing that we'd have nearly three miles of trail to break to the Stony Brook junction, we made the collective decision to head down the North Carter trail. The winds had picked up considerably... and relentlessly beat down on us every time we reached an exposed section of ledge. Whilst the going was slow, the views around us were utterly spectacular: The light began to fade as we headed down the North Carter trail, breaking through a foot or so of heavy, wet snow. Cath and I decided to alternate, in an effort to conserve energy. Reaching the Imp trail junction, and realizing that we still had 3.1+ miles to go, I became simply delirious and started to giggle uncontrollably. We pulled out our headlamps, and continued our descent, the brilliant crescent moon shining brightly above us... Down we went, trying our very hardest not to fall into the deep rocky cracks of the Imp trail, concealed by a blanket of snow... ...and soon reached the cutoff to Camp Dodge. What a welcome sight! Passing the cabins, I could hear the faint purr of motors in the distance, and knew that route 16 must be somewhere close by. Reaching the gate itself, I let out one final shout of joy. Although we still had a half mile road walk to go... we'd made it! Funnily enough, we ended our hike in the one location that we'd decided not to spot a car. Last edited by LRiz; 02-02-2009 at 09:15 PM.

02-02-2009, 09:19 PM	#4
Cath Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: With Brutie at his 48 in 1 Winter celebration on Cannon 3/05 Posts: 196	Rocket YOU'RE the man And, I think that F&G should give you a complimentary parking pass for the year, for your efforts on Saturday !!!!! The photo taken from the drifts on Carter Dome looking over at Mt Hight is beautiful!!!! __________________ Everythings Better Below Freezing Beaver Brook Trail Adopter Moosilauke Androscoggin Valley Search & Rescue NE 4's in 1 Winter 06/07 NH 4's in 9 days 23 hrs 13 min March 2006 NH 4's twice in 1 Winter 04/05 & 09/10 NH 4's in 1 Winter www.48in1winter.com Winter Huts Traverse March 2004 23hrs, 41 mins NH 100 Highest in Winter completed 1999 NE 100 Highest in Winter completed 1998 NH 12 x 48 completed 2003 Last edited by Cath; 02-03-2009 at 06:56 AM.

02-02-2009, 09:20 PM	#5
gooly Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Templeton, MA Posts: 130	Great TR for a pretty sick adventure! nice job everyone! __________________ "Wet leaves are like ice!" Diane Mathewson

02-02-2009, 09:23 PM	#6
Silverfox Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Meredith New Hampshire Posts: 726	Scary wildcat.. but otherwise some gteat photos on a good days work!! __________________ ..350

02-02-2009, 09:03 PM	#3
1HappyHiker Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Bethlehem, NH Posts: 1,480	Another truly excellent report! Congratulations on 5 peaks in 1 day!

02-03-2009, 05:11 AM	#7
rocket21 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 1,856	Great trip report and photos! I especially like seeing the heavily underused word 'whilst.' Cath - I'm glad I could help with the trailbreaking, but I still feel bad for not removing a few of those annoying blowdowns! There were two in particular that were rather vexing, but by the time I came back through Thursday night, I wasn't in the mood to do solo-sawing-by-headlamp-at-4,000-in-winter-with-lots-of-hyphens

02-03-2009, 06:45 AM	#8
TrishandAlex Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: NH Posts: 1,291	Epic -- well done, LRiz and company. Have you decided which peak you'll finish on? __________________ http://www.trishalexsage.com

02-03-2009, 07:03 AM	#9
The Feathered Hat Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Franconia, NH Posts: 180	Yowza! And all this on a day I couldn't even make it to the top of the Skookumchuck. Ah, to be young again. Big congrats to all on an impressive accomplishment.

02-03-2009, 07:03 AM	#10
MadRiver Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Thornton, NH Posts: 1,306	Nice trip report and hike. Well done. That gives you 39 to my 36. Washington took some wind out of my sails so I hope to get back into it on Sunday after helping a friend move on Saturday. Maybe Carrigain. __________________ Circus Boy: Nuff said! Last edited by MadRiver; 02-03-2009 at 07:07 AM.

02-03-2009, 07:13 AM	#11
BIGEarl Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Nashua, NH Posts: 1,216	Terrific report and pics. Congratulations! There's time for two times through the list. Go for it!

02-03-2009, 04:30 PM	#12
The-Green-Man Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Nottingham, NH Posts: 44	All I can say is "Wow!" I'm impressed that anyone could cover that distance in one day with a good portion of the trail unbroken... I need to get in shape!

02-03-2009, 04:38 PM	#13
ColdRiverRun Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Albany, NY Posts: 669	I was wondering how long it would take for Drew to go for the double reach around! __________________ Cory D “I don’t know if momma was right or if it’s Lieutenant Dan. I don’t know if we each have a destiny… or if we're all floating around accidental like.. on a breeze. But, I think… maybe it’s both… maybe both are happening at the same time.” –Forrest Gump.

02-03-2009, 05:07 PM	#14
una_dogger Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Avatar: North Percy Posts: 2,986	Awesome! What a great job on a hike I'd like to do someday!!! And GREAT pictures! I'm with CRR, my fav is the one of the three of you on Polecat ! LRiz, isn't going up to Carter Dome from the hut a tough climb? We did it twice last winter, both times breaking through deep, unconsolidated champagne powder -- two steps forward, two slips back!! Great job on an epic hike and here's to you for being so close to achieving your goal! __________________ NE115~34/48 NH48x3~NE67~ADK46r # 6247~NEHH 99/100~~YAlpine 77/100~2010 BOSTON MARATHON bib # 26266~Terra the Traildog NH4L48 #106 May You Walk Gently Through the World and Know Its Beauty All the Days of Your Life~Apache Blessing doG is my CoPilot

02-03-2009, 07:20 PM	#15
giggy Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Hikin' the scree on Shasta.... Posts: 2,593	sounds like a good one. Hiked that ridge once in rain and deep rotten snow - that was tons of fun. actually it kind of was... I recall frodo and cruddy toes setting the pace up carter dome - that was "interesting" andy - you must be getting close for 48W X1 - was half-expecting you to come to bridgton sat eve...

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