Middle Carter, South Carter, Carter Dome & Mount Hight
For those who know me well know, I can get pretty ambitious in my route planning for hikes. If the mood strikes me right and the weather cooperates (and if I can find a victim, I mean, willing participant) I will go for big miles and elevation gain. This is a lot easier to do in the summertime, when the temperature is much warmer and there are hours more of daylight to play with. The plan for Monday was to spot a car at Wildcat Ski resort then start down the road on the Imp Trail and make our way up and over the Carters, down into Carter Notch then up and over the Wildcats and then finally down the Polecat ski trail and back to the car. It wasn't so much the mileage on this one that was ambitious (roughly over 15 miles) but the elevation gain (over 6500 feet) and the terrain (the climb in and out of Carter Notch is a killer and Wildcat Ridge is nothing but PUDs). Still, we kept it as an option until we reached the summit of Carter Dome. We were about a half hour ahead of schedule but we were both feeling a bit tired. The biggest drawback for me was the lack of sun. It had been trying to break through the clouds all day but it just wasn't happening. It was a relatively mild day temperature wise and the wind had been almost nonexistent which was nice but the sun definitely gives me an extra boost during winter hikes. The other predicament we were facing was that we would be hiking down Polecat mostly in the dark which I am pretty sure is against Wildcat's policy (they allow hikers to use Polecat during the day while they are open for a small fee). So we made the decision to begin our descent and made a quick side trip to Mt. Hight along the way.
Denise and I enjoyed the moderate temperatures, beautiful views and peace and quiet (no wind) all day. We ran into only one other person, a man named Bruce whom I had met last spring on the Tripyramids. He is a very nice man who is very knowledgeable about the mountains (as he should be he is working on his 2nd grid!). We chatted and hiked with him for a little bit until we stopped to take some pictures. I hope he doesn't think we intentionally ditched him, I don't think he noticed we stopped and with his quick pace he was probably a mile away before he even noticed.
The trail conditions were very good for the most part. Everything was packed out and even allowing us to travel quickly. There were only two lumpy and post-holed sections to contend with. One being the section from the junction of Mt. Hight up to Carter Dome and then the trail leading up to the summit of Mt. Hight. Thankfully both these sections of trail are short so we didn't have to deal with the massively deep post holes for too long. After today's snowfall all those should be filled in (just a friendly reminder: time to wear your snow shoes people).
Thanks Denise for another great hike in Whites and for being such good company as always!
Denise and I enjoyed the moderate temperatures, beautiful views and peace and quiet (no wind) all day. We ran into only one other person, a man named Bruce whom I had met last spring on the Tripyramids. He is a very nice man who is very knowledgeable about the mountains (as he should be he is working on his 2nd grid!). We chatted and hiked with him for a little bit until we stopped to take some pictures. I hope he doesn't think we intentionally ditched him, I don't think he noticed we stopped and with his quick pace he was probably a mile away before he even noticed.
The trail conditions were very good for the most part. Everything was packed out and even allowing us to travel quickly. There were only two lumpy and post-holed sections to contend with. One being the section from the junction of Mt. Hight up to Carter Dome and then the trail leading up to the summit of Mt. Hight. Thankfully both these sections of trail are short so we didn't have to deal with the massively deep post holes for too long. After today's snowfall all those should be filled in (just a friendly reminder: time to wear your snow shoes people).
Thanks Denise for another great hike in Whites and for being such good company as always!