Wildcats, Carters, & Moriah Traverse - 5/3/15

It was a beautiful spring day for a Wildcats, Carters, Moriah Traverse. Covering six 4,000-footers, up and down we went for 18 miles, enjoying some sunshine and good views. Warm temperatures and relatively good trail conditions all combined to make it a great hike. There is still lots of snow above 3000! Although it was a little sloppy, and we walked with soaking wet boots for over 8 miles, it was a fun day.  Thanks to Jason & Brent for a great hike!

Lost Pond 

Wildcat Ridge Trail 

Wildcat Ridge Trail 

Mt. Washington from Wildcat D 

Carter Dome and Range from Wildcat A 

Carter Lake beneath Wildcat A 

Nice views from Carter Dome 

A really nice afternoon on the Carter Range, looking at the Presidentials 

Still work to do in the trees before Moriah 

Nice views still before heading down into Gorham

Highlights:
Carter Dome - 10th Round
Wildcats, Middle & South Carter, Moriah - 9th Round
Wildcat A - 100th White Mountain 4,000-footer in 2015
6th Complete Wildcats, Carters, Moriah Traverse.
Beautiful, warm, spring weather and great views and company

Trail Conditions:
We bare-booted on a surprisingly packed monorail from Lost Pond Trail, up and across Wildcat Ridge Trail, down and up through Carter Notch to approximately North Carter, where we switched to snowshoes.  We wore snowshoes to just below Mt. Surprise on the descent, where it is mostly bare ground below that. Early in the day, we had a good, dry monorail from the cooler overnight temperatures, but slowly, the snow became softer and wetter, eventually soaking our boots completely through about halfway through the hike.  There are a ton of blow-downs and loose trees and branches across the Carters to Moriah.  Its been like that since winter, but everything is melting and broken trees are becoming exposed.  We moved a few off the trail when we could.  Although it was less traveled in the area between Imp and Moriah, throughout the hike, the trail was mostly easy to follow.

Hike Stats

Trails: Lost Pond Trail, Wildcat Ridge Trail, Carter-Moriah Trail, Carter Dome Trail.

Distance: 17.4 miles

Elevation Gain: 7,053 ft.

Actual Book Time: 11:56
Garmin Adventure
Photo Album Link

Moriah, Carters, Wildcats Traverse - 8/24/13

With meteorologists everywhere raving about perfect, cloud-free weather for Saturday, August 24th, I forced myself to make a decision on what to hike. Now that I'm well into my 4th round of the 48 and working on various other peak lists, its sometimes a tough decision! My hiking had been light so far in August, so I wanted to get into something around 20 miles. Come Thursday night though, my gear was packed and my mind was set to take on a Wildcats, Carters, Moriah Traverse, and for the first time, do it in reverse - Gorham to Pinkham Notch. For me, this traverse would knock off six more 4Ks for the month of August, five of the six peaks for my 4th round, and lastly one Trailwright 72 peak in Middle Carter.

Hiking this one solo, I brought my mountain bike along and at about 4:30AM, dashed into the woods in the parking lot of Pinkham Notch Visitor Center and secured my bike and tire to a tree. At 5:00AM on the money, I was off up the Carter-Moriah Trail in the dark from Bangor Street. It was nice and comfortable to start. The climb to Moriah is really gradual, and at the top it can be tiring once you hit the ledges. From the ledges and Mt. Surprise, the pink sky over the Presidentials was amazing. I always love when the sky is pink like that, its an awesome sight. I made relatively good time on the 4.5 miles to the summit of Moriah in 1:45. I missed sunrise by a little bit, but it was still a perfect morning.

Crap, it looks like I'm not going to make sunrise :( 

The moon and pink morning sky over the Presidential Range

Mt. Moriah summit, looking south 

The Presidentials from Mt. Moriah

The last time I did the section between Moriah and the Carters without snow was the first time I did these peaks and did the full traverse. Although I picked up my pace considerably to a run through this section and until Zeta Pass, I enjoyed the solitude as I passed atop the ledges and over the bog bridges. Eventually, I made it to the junction with the North Carter Trail and hurried up to Middle Carter. Without much delay, I took a summit photo and continued on to the summit of South Carter, doing the same

Ledge on the Carter-Moriah Trail 

The Carters (route ahead) from Carter-Moriah Trail , and the moon too!

Carter-Moriah Trail (looking back north)

Middle Carter Summit

South Carter summit 

Then, at the coolest trail junction in the mountains, Zeta Pass, I sat for about 20 minutes and woofed down my Italian sub. It was about 10am, and time for lunch. It was such the perfect day the weathermen had promised, and there was no way in heck I'd miss Mt. Hight this day. It was cool to approach it from the north, which is steeper, and when I reached the summit, I saw first-hand the view from Mt. Hight in all its glory - a much different look than my first time to the summit.

Zeta Pass, Carter Range 

The Northern Presidentials from Mt. Hight 

Looking East from Mt. Hight 

Carter Dome and Pinkham Notch from Mt. Hight 

I moved on and shortly after reached the open top of Carter Dome where I was able to get my first perfect view from its summit outlook. Every other time there has been heavy overcast. Now it was time for the grueling descent from Carter Dome. About a 1/3 of the way down, I got an emergency call for work -  someones ceiling was coming down from a water leak! About 30 minutes later after doing what I needed to do, I continued on, but shortly after, realized that my rhythm had been destroyed from dealing with the call.

Carter Dome summit outlook 

Carter Dome Summit 

Carter Notch from side of Carter Dome 

Carter Lake, Carter Notch 

The views of Carter Lake and to up above were amazing this time around, and certainly a world away from when I crossed the frozen Carter Lake in blowing snow in February. I wished I could have stayed longer, but I felt the need to push on, and without stopping, I was ascending the Wildcat Ridge Trail to A. This was my first time up this section, and I have to say it was pretty rough at this point. I was surprised at the difficulty, but it had been a few weeks since I last hiked, and I was pretty beat. The view from Wildcat A after the haul up was a nice treat. Carter Dome and Carter Notch are so impressive.

Carter Dome and boulder field from Wildcat A  

Mt. Washington from Wildcat D 

The ups and downs of the Wildcat Ridge Trail were pretty brutal. I think I can say that a north to south traverse of Moriah to Wildcats is a bit more difficult than doing it south to north. This is mainly because of the 1,050 ascent to A, and then the 400 or so additional over the Wildcats. On this hike, I mostly enjoyed Mt. Moriah and the northern sections of the Carter-Moriah Trail in the early morning. In my first few rounds, these peaks always were the last several to be done, but for my 4th round, there more in the middle of pack, and I glad to have gotten a day like this on the Carter Range, which included full views of my next objective, the Presidential Range.

Pinkham Notch from Wildcat Ridge Trail

Hike Stats

Trails: Carter-Moriah Trail, Wildcat Ridge Trail

Distance: 18.7 miles

Elevation Gain: 8,250 ft.

Actual Book Time: 11:07

Carter Dome & Mt. Hight - 5/11/13

Last weekend, my brother and I got back to the mountains with a plan to bag the Carters, and whatever else we found ourselves up to. The forecast was iffy, with rain expected. It was warm, and the snow is just about gone on the lower parts of the trails. It was nice to be out, now warmer, and to be able to allow nature to touch the skin - its a different world than winter hiking. The awesome sign of spring and warmer temperatures was prevalent as the 19 Mile Brook roared its way down the slopes and out from Carter Notch.

The Nineteen Mile Brook Trail head 

Nothing quite like standing alongside a beautiful river in the mountains... 

The small creature was on my hat before I set it down here. 

Nineteen Mile Brook Trail bridge

The hike up to Carter Notch on the 19 Mile Brook Trail took a while. We stopped a lot. It was a lot different than in the winter. In the winter, its a flat highway that ascends easily, but in the warmer months, its quite rocky, in my opinion, and requires more effort. As we got closer to the end of the trail, and into the notch, the sprinkles we had turned into a pretty nasty pouring rain. It poured down on us as we rounded the lake, and made our way to Carter Notch Hut for a break.

Carter Lake 

AMC's Carter Notch Hut on a rainy day

Of course it was so nice to get out of the rain and into the hut for a break. Inside, there was no caretaker present at the time, but there were two hikers inside also taking a break. Both, from Seattle, one of them was here to finish his 48 on Wildcat after starting to hike the 4000-footers 35 years ago. After reading his log entry at the hut it confirmed that regardless of whether you do them in less than a year, all in one winter, or over 35 years, hiking the White Mountain 4000-footers will leave a mark on you forever with memories that will always remain fresh.

After a good snack, they had gone on their way, and we were going up to Carter Dome. We got a little bit of a later start than our norm from the trail head, but it wasn't a big deal. We dealt with patches of snow just before the Notch, and then higher up on the Carter-Moriah Trail. The hike to Carter Dome from here is basically like a natural stair master.

A patch of snow at the start of the trail up to Carter Dome 

Hiking over some pretty crappy trail... 

In 4 times I've been to Carter Dome, I only once had a view... 

The summit marker on Carter Dome that I can't remember ever seeing before - Crazy!

As we left the Carter Dome summit, we were making a decision for the rest of the hike. It was definitely a little late to head beyond Zeta Pass today, but we made the decision to get Mt. Hight for the first time ever. Of the 4 times I've passed through here, I opted out of Hight because there were no views. This time, we decided to bag it, and we would descend to call it a day. The trail beyond Carter Dome summit was a pretty nasty monorail, like walking on a mini knife edge that was constantly collapsing. Not to mention it was still raining steadily at times, but we got there, and it was a pretty cool summit. We defined this as our Trailwright 72 jaunt to Mt. Hight. I can't wait to get this peak with some views, but there is never a bad day in the mountains.

Carter-Moriah Trail in May leaving Carter Dome summit 

Mt. Hight summit ahead 

Mt. Hight 

Bill on Mt. Hight for the first time 

Me on Mt. Hight for a Trailwright 72

 As we left the summit of Mt. Hight, we chuckled over the only tiny little glimpse of sun we had all day. The trail descended from the summit pretty steeply as it went back to the Carter Dome Trail. We dealt with the nasty pine needle and dirt riddled monorail (which got all over our hands, if we had to ease a fall) back to the junction. After that, it was a quick .2 to the always memorable and beautiful Zeta Pass. There is just something about this spot that is awesome, but I can't nail it. I've been here in all seasons, and even camped nearby in a stealth-spot in the summer of 2011. It's always quiet and peaceful, and its an easy spot among the always challenging Wildcat-Carter Ranges that calls for a stop to enjoy it for a few. I bet for sure that the Native Americans and early peoples of the White Mountains also made stops here.

A tiny glimpse of sun on the summit of Mt. Hight, but no view 

The always interesting and intriguing Zeta Pass

After that, we descended the Carter Dome Trail to head back down and get this rainy mess over with. It didn't get any easier, really, as we were faced with a couple of tricky crossings of the raging stream. One thing that dawned on us, was that somehow, the trail led us a way that didn't pass the junction sign at the Carter Dome Trail and 19 Mile Brook Trail. After about 15 minutes, we confirmed that was the case and we were on 19 Mile Brook, but we wondered whether the first of these two crossings was necessary, but it clearly had a path on each side. Anyways, we made it across both without a hitch but with some excitement, which was cool.

At the end of a cloud and rain-filled journey, we arrived back at the trail head to be treated with some late afternoon sunshine and clouds moving out. A big thank you to Eric T. and his friend from Seattle, for spotting and leaving my brother's hat for us at the car, and more importantly, Congratulations for completing the 48 after 35 years!

A warn greeting at the trail head after a wet and messy hike

Hike Stats

Trails: 19 Mile Brook Trail, Carter-Moriah Trail, Carter Dome Trail

Distance: 10.4 miles

Elevation Gain: 3,600 ft.

Actual Book Time: 8:00