|
Carter Hut, Carter Dome & The Wildcats Backpacking Trip |
|---|
This backpacking trip started at the parking lot for the Nineteenmile Brook Trail off of New Hampshire Route 16 in Greens Grant, New Hampshire. From the parking lot we took the Nineteenmile Brook Trail to the Carter Notch AMC hut. From the hut we took the Appalachian Trail to the summit of Carter Dome and the returned the same way to the hut for the evening. On the second day we took the Appalachian Trail to the summit of Wildcat "A" and then continued along the ridge to Wildcat "D". The trip ended by descending the Polecat Ski Trail of the Wildcat Mountain Ski Area.
|
This AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club) led backpacking trip started at the parking area for the Nineteenmile Brook Trail off of New Hampshire Route 16, just north of Pinkham Notch. This was an exclusive trip open only to people who had taken the AMC's Winter Hiking and Backpacking seminar which was conducted in November and December, 2012 at their Joy Street location in Boston, Massachusetts.
Carter Dome would number 37 on my New Hampshire winter 4000-footer list and the Wildcats ("A" and "D" peaks) would be numbers 38 and 39. We were supposed to be at the parking area at 9:00 sharp and I was there about 10 minutes early. By the time everyone else showed up, and we got the group gear & food distributed, and the cars shuttled to the end point for the hike at the Wildcat Ski Area, it was after 10:00 by the time our boots actually hit the trail.
It was a little chilly hanging around at the parking area and I had on my base later, mid-layer and also my outer shell. I think the temperature was in the low 20s but there was not much in the way of wind. After hiking for about 20 minutes or so I started to warm up and at the first opportunity I got rid of the shell.
The first leg of the hike, up the Nineteenmile Brook Trail to the where the Carter Dome Trail branches off was very easy. The trail was broken well packed and we all started in microspikes. A few of us (myself included) brought snowshoes along for this hike in the event that we might have to break trail at some point but it turned we never needed them.
|
There was no change in the condition of the trail from the Carter Dome trail junction up to Carter Notch. The trail was a little steeper but we climbed at a pretty relaxing pace and I never overheated or felt the need to remove an additional layer.
|
We arrived at the pond next to Carter Notch hut around 12:45 and after standing there for a while taking photos of it and the surrounding peaks we just set off right across it. The surface appeared unblemished and it did not appear that anyone other than us had done this recently but the surface certainly seemed solid enough and it was doubtful that the temperature would get above freezing for very long this high up.
|
We got to the hut right around 1pm and after getting rid of some gear we would not need for the Carter Dome day hike in the bunk houses we all met back down at the main building to have some lunch before starting the day hike.
|
It was right around 2pm when we started the day hike up to Carter Dome. We started this in microspikes but it did not take too long before the steep and snowy trail called for actual crampons. This was the first time using crampons for me and I had some problems with them. I thought I had them on securely but after only hiking a few minutes my boot shifted and first came out of the right one and then the left. I had to stop for a while to get them back on but the right one was not fitting right for some reason and the boot kept shifting. Both crampons were adjusted to the same length and the left one seemed fine. I learned to watch the right one and could shift the boot back towards the center with some effort before the crampon would come off. I would need to check into this better when I had more time.
|
We arrived at the Carter Dome summit right around 4pm. By the time we arrived there the large group had split into two smaller groups with the faster paced hikers in the lead. I was in the back with the slower group (which did not bother me in the least) and I have no idea how much time had elapsed since the fast group had arrived before we finally got there.
|
We were on the summit for the better part of a half of an hour, taking photos, eating summit cookies and other snacks, talking and just generally enjoying the camaraderie and companionship. It was a little chilly up on top but there was not much in the way of wind so it really did not feel bad at all.
|
We started back down to the hut around 4:30 after taking some final group photos on the summit.
On the way down I discovered that boot shifting in the crampon was a much bigger problem on the uphill sections and really wasn't much of a problem at all going down. The heel of the right boot was not seated right in its crampon for some reason and the boot shifted back on the uphill climbs which allowed the front of the boot to shift out of place.
|
We made much better time going down and it only took about an hour to get back to the hut. After dumping our gear in the bunkhouses we all headed back down to the main building for dinner. The wood stove had already been started and it was nice and toasty on the side of the hut were the stove was. I still had too many layers on for this and was a little uncomfortable so after a while I went back up to the bunkhouse to get rid of some and came back with just my base layer and a fleece.
|
Dinner was served a little before 7pm and it was a fabulous meal. Joan, the trip leader/organizer had prepared a lot of the food in advance so it just needed to be heated. She started the soup cooking before the Carter Dome day hike so it had been simmering for hours when we finally got to eat it. The soup had corn, tomato and red pepper in it and it was delicious. I had two servings of that because it felt so good to have something warm inside of me. And then there was the cheese toast and fresh salad. There were three different entrees: one chicken, one beef and one vegetarian. There were also two other dishes, one a multi-colored pasta salad and the other something called Quinoa which looked like rice but was not. I had never had it before and it was very tasty. The idea was to serve the beef, chicken and/or veggie dish over the others two. I had been trying to convert myself to a total vegetarian life-style as a New Year's resolution but the veggie dish was mostly mushrooms which I don't really care for so I passed on that one. I went "off the wagon" and had a few pieces of the chicken and beef on top of the other dishes. My bad... but it was so delicious. Joan put together an awesome meal for us. And then there was dessert, three different cakes: a chocolate cheesecake, another chocolate cake that was more like a devils food, and an orange-cranberry cake with nuts. I had a small tasting of each but most people were too full from the main meal to even have any dessert and we ended up packing them out the next day.
|
We were supposed to be out of the hut by 9:30 and I think it was a little after before we finally were. People took turns helping with washing dishes and putting stuff away. The plan was for everyone to be up, breakfasted and ready to go by 8am the next morning.
I think it was around 10pm when I finally crawled into my sleeping bag. I had been a little worried about sleeping in the cold because I was supposed to have a sleeping bag rated for -20°F and the best I could do was a 0°F bag. I am a warm sleep though and one of the group leaders did not think this would be a problem for me. It wasn't and at one point during the evening I actually had to strip off a layer of clothing because I was too warm. I did not sleep so well during the early part of the evening but after that I was fine. I had to get up at one point in the evening for a bio-break and when I went outside the sky was clear and full of stars and it was absolutely glorious. The temperature had to be close to 0°F or even below but there was no wind and it did not feel so bad.
People started moving as soon as it was light enough to see and I think I finally got up around 6:30 and started packing things back into my backpack. After I had everything packed I got on the clothes I would need for the day, took my breakfast food and headed down to the dining hall to eat. It was warmer in the dining hall than I expected it to be but perhaps there was still some residual heat left over from the stove from the night before. The stove was not going in the morning.
|
Plans for an 8am departure did not go so well. I was ready to go and so were many others but there were some stragglers that held up the show. It was closer to 9am before our boots finally hit the trail.
We started off in crampons because the climb up Wildcat Mountain was going to be just as steep as that to Carter Dome the day before. I had problems with the right foot again and the heel of the boot just did not want to sit right in the crampon. It would always slide back just a little when going uphill even though I had the straps as tight as I could get them. At first I thought maybe I had the crampons on the wrong feet the day before but this turned out not to be the case as I was having the exact same problem. At least I knew how to keep an eye on it and shift the foot back again myself to keep it in place. It never came off and some others had more problems with their crampons than I had.
|
The group leaders kept the group together for the 1000' climb up to the summit of Wildcat Mountain - the Wildcat "A" peak. It was slow going and took about 1.5 hours to go a little less than a mile. But we all arrived on the summit together which was nice. It was just before 10:30 when we got there.
|
We made awesome time going along the top of Wildcat Mountain and arrived at the "D" peak in less than 2 hours. The trail across the top was well broken and well packed. We kept crampons on because there were some steeper little sections going up and down the various middle peaks.
At one point I noticed that I was no longer having any problems with the right crampon and the heel of the boot was exactly where it should be and appeared to be staying there. Maybe the boot/crampon just needed a break-in period since it was the first time I was using them?
|
We had summit cookies on top of Wildcat "A" but we were apparently out of summit cookies for Wildcat "D". No matter, there was plenty of other snacky food to go around.
We took lots of photos and were up there for about a half of an hour before starting down the Polecat ski trail of the Wildcat Mountain ski area.
|
Some others continued to have crampon problems on the way down but mine stayed on for the entire day.
The descent down the ski trail was my least favorite part of the trip though. We had to keep to one side of the trail so stay out of the way of the skiers and side the trails were banked on the sides we ended up side-hilling in a many places and for some long stretches and that was tough on my feet. I've had to do this on some of the backcountry routes in the Grand Canyon and I have never been a big fan of it. My feet just don't like it and I was very happy when this last section of the hike was over and we arrived back at the packing area.
|
We made pretty good time coming down the ski trail and it only took about 2 hours to get to the parking area. I think everyone was surprised when we got there and it was not even 2pm yet. The original estimate for the finish time when we left the hut had been between 3 and 4pm so we finished an hour or two earlier than expected. The only slow part was the climb up Wildcat Mountain though and the rest of the hike was relatively fast.
All in all it was a very enjoyable trip and I hope I can do it again next year. The companions for the trip were perfect and the weather was almost perfect. I never thought I would enjoy hiking with a group of that size but the leaders were awesome and it all worked out rather well. The larger group of 21 had been split into 7 smaller groups of 3 each and the two gals I had in my group, Tabitha and Karen, were just wonderful hiking buddies and I think we made an awesome team. Tabitha was very excited for a while there when I told her I had an opening on an upcoming Grand Canyon backpacking trip the following month. I thought I had her on board for it but sadly she was unable to make it work for her.
|
|
|
|---|
|
|---|
